Apolo barneliluratua (Heraklitoren hilobirako Frisoa) [Apollo Lost in Thought (Frieze for Heraclitus' Tomb)] - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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Apolo barneliluratua (Heraklitoren hilobirako Frisoa) [Apollo Lost in Thought (Frieze for Heraclitus' Tomb)]

Aquerreta, Juan José

Pamplona, 04/11/1946

Oil on canvas

250 x 372 cm

Aquerreta (bottom right hand corner)

1990-1991

Late 20th century

02/69

Acquired in 2002

  • In Apollo Lost in Thought (Frieze for Heraclitus' Tomb) the reference to the Greek world is evident in the hieratic, frontal nature of the figure, which evokes the canon of archaic sculpture and which, on being repeated, forms a sort of frieze showing four nudes of great delicacy of line. The apparent simplicity of the work, which is like a charcoal drawing done on wrapping paper, conceals the complex treatment of the actual paint, refined to the point of eliminating the imprint of the brush to achieve an appearance close to that of painting in fresco. The technical process, learnt from fellow painter Antonio López, who was one of his teachers in Madrid, is described thus by Aquerreta: "What I also learnt from him was to use flat painting (he showed me how to iron it with sheets of newspaper, and then from my tendency to touch everything, even after ironing the surface layer, I let it degrease for a while and then I polished it with my fingertip)". (Marta García Maruri)

Selected bibliography

  • Adquisiciones 02/07 [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2007. pp. 102-103, n° cat. 42.
  • Guía Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 166-167.
  • Gida Euskal Artistak. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Eder Museoa, 2008. pp. 166-167.
  • Guide Basque Artists. Bilbao, Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, 2012. pp. 166-167, n° cat. 92b.
  • Figurados, figuraciones, figurantes : estar o (tal vez) soñar [Cat. exp.]. [Bilbao], Iberdrola, 2015. pp. 14, 16, 40, 42-43, 202, sin n° cat.
  • Viar, Javier. Historia del arte vasco : de la Guerra Civil a nuestros días, 1936-2016. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2017. p. 529.
  • Después del 68 : arte y prácticas artísticas en el País Vasco, 1968-2018 [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. p. 433, il.