Zuloaga in Belle Époque Paris

Zuloaga arrived in Paris when he was just 19 years old, eager to experience the artistic and intellectual discourses that were emerging in the city of light. He had spent some time in Rome, which deeply influenced his training, along with two years as a copyist at the Museo del Prado of Madrid. But this journey was essential: he wanted to go further.

His look at the world, and hence his conception of painting, developed in leaps and bounds since he arrived in Paris, which was in full cultural effervescence: Paris of the Belle Époque.

It was precisely in the capital of France where he found his true self. He absorbed the most innovative trends of his colleagues and friends -including Paul Gauguin y Edgar Degas-, who portrayed their artistic language in their works.

As a result of this journey, Zuloaga rediscovered his Spanish roots and returned to Spain.

Zuloaga, however, undertook a journey in reverse, and left Spain to live in Paris only to return to find his Spanish roots, providing us with a vision of Spain in which realism and symbolism, tradition and modernity all merge together.