DARÃO DE REGOYOS (Asturias, 1857 - Barcelona, 1913).
"Dernier rayon, côte basque", 1895.
Oil on canvas.
Work reproduced in:
-JUAN SAN NICOLAS, Darío de Regoyos, Catalogue raisonné. Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias. Fundación Azcona, p. 209. Nº254.
Signed in the lower right corner. Signed and titled on the back (on the stretcher).
Measurements: 38 x 46 cm; 65 x 73 cm (frame).
Painted in 1895, this work denotes one of the most prolific and expressive artistic periods of the painter's oeuvre, his pointillist period. Through small touches of the brush, Regoyos reveals a composition which faithfully reflects the colour and movement of the sea at a typical San Sebastian sunset. The clouds are approaching the beach, and the daylight is fading. Thus managing to transfer the real atmosphere to a canvas. The work entitled Derniér Rayón or the last ray, intensifies the artist's idea of capturing the light. Repeated on several occasions by the artist, in fact, this work has the number 16, the title of the last ray and its images of the sunset were a recurring refuge for Regoyos, a testimony to this is the work entitled with a similar name; Dernier rayon, Jaizkibel, ca. 1901, which belongs to the art collection of the Kutxa.
He trained at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he studied landscape painting with the Belgian artist Carlos de Haes as his teacher. It was then that the Asturian artist's knowledge began to expand towards Belgian landscape trends, a taste and interest which he developed by travelling to Belgium in 1879. His stay in Brussels was enriching for Regoyos, who attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels as a pupil. However, the academicism of the institution caused the artist to leave, and he turned to Charles de Haes's former teacher, Joseph Quinaux, in order to acquire new techniques. Regoyos became perfectly integrated in his new place of residence, and he became acquainted with a large number of artists, poets and writers, from whom he learned and who completed himself as an artist. His recognition advanced thanks to his dynamism and artistic skill, which enabled him to join the famous Circle of the XX (act. 1883-1894). It could be said that it was from then on that Regoyos's artistic career began to mature. In 1886, the Asturian artist developed a Pointillist phase, promoted by George Seurat's participation in one of the exhibitions held at the Circle of the XX. The commotion and impact caused by Seurat's treatment led to the creation of a Pointillist group, in which Darío de Regoyos took part. This innovative movement attracted French Impressionist artists such as Paul Signac, another reference point for Regoyos's artistic technique. After the dissolution of Los XX in 1893, Regoyos decided to return to Spain, where the artistic panorama was limited, as the new trends had not yet arrived from France. It could be said that this was the end of his apprenticeship period, when he became a teacher of artists who were liberalised from the "Sorollismo" rooted in the field of landscape painting, and encouraged them to spread his ideas through the media of the time.
The Asturian artist's exhibition career spanned a large number of cities, such as Bilbao, Frankfurt, Berlin, The Hague, Venice, Bayonne, San Sebastian, London, Mexico City, Bordeaux and Buenos Aires, among others. It is also represented in institutions such as the Museo del Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña in Barcelona, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao and the Gerstenmaier Collection, among many other museums and institutions.