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Although Iturrino produced his oeuvre, limited almost entirely to landscapes, portraits, groups of women, paintings of animals and nudes, in post-Impressionist vein, his treatment of light and colour bears some relation to Fauvist practices.

Garden is part of an ample series of paintings Iturrino made of the exuberant tropical garden on the La Concepción estate in Malaga, owned by Bilbao industrialist Rafael Echevarría. Iturrino first visited the estate in 1913, at a time when he was producing a large number of landscapes, and in later years the garden provided the setting for several portraits and paintings of women dancing. The work's vibrant brushstrokes features part of the path lined with flowerbeds and palms that cut through the luxuriant vegetation combining plants and trees from some remote corners of the world. Rather than give a detailed description of the garden, Iturrino was more interested here in colour and in capturing the strong southern light.

A painter and an engraver, Iturrino trained in Brussels and Paris, where he came into contact with Symbolism and Impressionism and for some time was close to the aesthetics of the so-called Black Spain. He obtained recognition quite early in France, where he would exhibit regularly until 1911, year in which he showed his work in a hall on his own at the Salon d'Automne. His encounter with the landscape and the light of Andalusia, which he visited for the first time in 1901, proved determinant for the consolidation of his more personal style. His friends included a number of artists, among them Renoir, Derain, Picasso and above all Matisse, with whom he travelled throughout the south of Spain in 1910 and in Morocco in 1912. Indeed, Matisse's influence can be traced in most of Iturrino's mature works, as well as that of Cézanne's. (Miriam Alzuri)

Selected bibliography

• Pintores y escultores vascos de ayer, hoy y mañana. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, vol. I, 1973. p. 311
• Martínez Cerezo, Antonio. La pintura montañesa. Madrid, Iberico Europea de Ediciones, 1975. p. 75
• Bengoechea, Javier de. Catálogo de arte moderno y contemporáneo del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 70. (Con el título Jardin).
• 50 ans d'art espagnol, 1880-1936 [Cat. exp.]. Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, 1984. p. 120, n° cat. 47.
• Mur Pastor, Pilar. La Asociación de Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao ; Caja de Ahoros Vizcaína, 1985. p. 112.
• Barañano, Kosme María de ; González de Durana, Javier. Francisco Iturrinoren grafizko artelaren bilduma-liburua = Catálogo de la obra gráfica de Francisco Iturrino. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Eusko Jaurlaritza = Gobierno Vasco, 1988. p. 33, il. (títulada Jardín de la Concepción)
• Joos, Petra. Francisco Iturrino, Santiago Rusiñol : jardines d'Espanya [Cat. exp.]. Valencia, Obra Social i Cultural Bancaixa, 1993. pp. 90-91.
• Plazaola, Juan. Euskal margolariak Aurrezki Kutxen bildumetan III = Pintores vascos en las colecciones de las Cajas de Ahorros III. Bilbao, Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa ; Gipuzkoa Donostia Kutxa ; Vital Kutxa, 1994. p. 23.
• Joos, Petra. Francisco Iturrino, 1864-1924 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Fundación Mapfre, 1996. pp. 30, 146-147.
• Joos, Petra. Francisco Iturrino, 1864-1924 [Cat. exp.]. Donostia-San Sebastián, Fondación Social y Cultural Kutxa, 1996.
• De Picasso a Bacon : arte contemporáneo en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Segovia, Museo de Arte Contemporánea Esteban Vicente, 1999. p. 48.
• Jardines de España : 1870-1936 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Fundación Cultural Mapre, 1999. pp. 258-259, n° cat. 68.
• Calvo Serraller, Francisco ; González Escribano, Raquel. Las cien mejores obras del siglo XX : historia visual de la pintura española. Madrid, Tf Editores ; Sociedad Estatal España Nuevo Milenio, 2000. p. 56.
• Ruiz de Eguino, Iñaki. Francisco Iturrino. Pamplona, Fundación Caja Navarra, 2003. p. 22.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 124-125.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 124-125.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 124-125.
• Guía Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 46-48.
• Gida Euskal Artistak. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Eder Museoa, 2008. pp. 46-47.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. pp. 124-125, n° cat. 85a.
• Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. pp. 124-125, n° cat. 85a.
• Guide Basque Artists. Bilbao, Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, 2012. pp. 46-47, n° cat. 21b.
• López Sobrado, Esther. Pintura cántabra en París, 1900-1936 : entre la tradición y la vanguardia [Tesis inédita]. Universidad de Valladolid, 2012. p. 184.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 124.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 124.
• Sánchez-Matas Jiménez, Alicia. "Fauvismo español : estilo y cotización de Francisco Iturrino y Juan de Echevarría", Galería Antiqvaria, diciembre. 2016. p. 8, il.
• La furia del color : Francisco Iturrrino, 1864-1924 [Cat. exp.]. Málaga, Fundación Palacio Villalón, 2018. p. 30, il.
• Menchu Gal : margotzeko bizi, bitzitzen margotu : 1919-2019 [Cat. exp.]. Madril, Menchu Gal Fundazioa, 2019. p. 56, il.
• Menchu Gal : vivir pintando, pintar viviendo : 1919-2019 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Fundación Menchu Gal, 2019. p. 56, il.