Biography
BY CAMINO PAREDES, DIRECTORA DEL MUSEO
1887
On August 30, Gustavo de Maeztu y Whitney was born in the city of Vitoria. On September 2 he was baptized in the parish of San Miguel Arcángel. His godparents were his brothers Ramiro and Ángela. little.1894
The issue of Cuba and the family's economic ruin forced them to move to Bilbao, where the mother, Mrs. Juana Whitney y Boné, would dedicate herself to teaching.1905
At the age of 17 he participated in his first group exhibition. He exhibits three works at the Bilbao Fine Arts Exhibition. He participates alongside Losada, Alberto and José Arrúe, Regoyos, Larroque, Asarta, Daniel and Ignacio Zuloaga, Iturrino, Uranga, Durrio, Basterra, Huerta, Guiard and Canals.1906
He exhibits four works at the Fine Arts Exhibition, also called Modern Art at the Bilbao Philharmonic Society. Works by Sorolla, Fortuny, Arteta, Losada, Regoyos, Salaverría, Madrazo, Pradilla, Benlliure were shown there.1907

1908

1909
Together with Tomás Meabe, exiled in the south of France, in Saint Jean le Vieux (Department of the Low Pyrenees), he spends much of the year. Send a painting to the Paris Salon des Indépendants.1910

His painting Souletins, sent to the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, was rejected for arriving after the deadline. Concerned about not being able to succeed in painting, he develops his ability as a writer, adding to his literary collaborations in the press as a columnist, that of a book writer. He publishes his novel “Andanzas yepisodos del Señor Doro”. In Mexico he will participate with other Basque artists in a group exhibition to commemorate the first centenary of its independence. His work as a press writer will lead him to launch various ideas about the need for artists to associate to defend and solve their problems. Based on these approaches, the Association of Basque Artists emerged a year later.
1911

1912
He sent a painting to the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid in which he portrayed the artist called La Goya.1913
Connoisseur and lover of the emerging world of cinema, he participated in the filming of Benito Perojo's films “So-and-so falls in love with Manón”. In reality, it is a short film with limited footage shot in Madrid's Retiro Park. Once again, he participates in theII Exhibition of Modern Artheld in the halls of the Philharmonic Society. He exhibits four paintings and reads a manifesto of his with the suggestive title “Our resurgence.” He sent another work to the Paris Independent Salon, titled A religious festival in Monzón.1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

1920

1921

1922
1923
In the months of June and July he exhibits his works at the Museum of Modern Art of Madrid. He presents his theme of the Chinese to the public of the capital. On this topic he will give a lecture in the exhibition hall titled “Fantasy about the Chinese.”1924
On February 9, he opens his exhibition at the Salón Nancy in Madrid. The landscapes reflected scenes from the province of Santander. The Dutch ambassador, Indalecio Prieto, Margarita Nelken, Alcántara, Vegue, José Francés, Méndez Casas, Vázquez Díaz, Edgar Neville, etc. attended the opening ceremony. It is presented at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts with the Portrait of my sister María. In Bilbao and in the halls of the Association of Basque Artists he will show his Chinese figures. On October 25, the Bilbao Museum of Modern Art opens. The painting The Blind Man of Calatañazor hangs on its walls.1925

1926

1927
1928
In the month of March, he presents his invention of paintings for outdoor facades at the Palacio de Bellas Artes Antiguas de Sevilla. The special jury of the contest awards him the first reward in the free initiative section. This same month, on the 17th, a Maeztu exhibition opens in the Hall of the School of Arts and Crafts of Vitoria. The Vitoria City Council acquires the painting titled Alavés y vizcaíno. Tour the provinces of Seville, Burgos, Extremadura and Ávila. He plans to carry out excavations in San Pedro de Arlanza, for which he obtains the appropriate permits from the Ministry of Public Instruction. It obtains a new award in the Work Contest and Industrial Exhibition organized by the Bilbao City Council.
Participate in July in the Great Basque Week organized by the Attraction and Tourism Center in collaboration with the Association of Basque Artists and the Museum of Basque Art of Bayonne.
On October 26 he gives a conference on his new painting technique at the Association of Architects of Madrid. Shortly after, he went to the VIII Autumn Salon, presenting three paintings.
1929
In the second half of April he exhibits watercolors at the Association of Basque Artists in Bilbao. On May 14, an exhibition of watercolors, drawings and encaustic projects opens in the Sala del Ateneo Guipuzcoano in San Sebastian. Likewise, he presents his project San Sebastian a una queen, to be carried out in encaustic as a tribute to Queen María Cristina.1930
He works as an environmental advisor in the film “The Song of the Day”. Together with David Álvarez, he creates an artistic distribution company located in Tolosa.1931
In the month of June he exhibits individually at the Palacio de los Tiros in Granada. It presents 14 works related to encaustic procedures and his first autolithography.1932

1933
Participates in various group exhibitions of the Association of Basque Artists in Bilbao, Barcelona (Galerías Emporium). On April 24 he inaugurates an individual exhibition of his works at the Library Catalonia Hall in Barcelona. In the month of July he exhibits in Pamplona, in a group exhibition, organized at the School of Arts and Crafts. He gives one of his works to the Provincial Council and another to the Ateneo de Navarra. In October he exhibits his autolithography in San Sebastian. During the autumn and in collaboration with Arturo Acebal Idígoras decorates two large canvases in the Hall of the new Correos headquarters in Bilbao.1934
In May he exhibited his autolithography at the Galerías Layetanas in Barcelona. He attended the National Exhibition of Fine Arts with his graphic work, productions that he would exhibit in Pamplona during the month of November. Participate in the traveling exhibition of Spanish engravers that will tour the cities of Graz, Vienna and Munich.1935

1936
1938

1939
From April 9 to May 30, an exhibition of Painting, Sculpture and Decorative Arts is held in Bilbao under the sponsorship of the City Council, organized by the Provincial Propaganda Headquarters of Vizcaya, at the Carlton Hotel. In the month of June he exhibits at the Singer Gallery in Logroño.1940
The Vitoria City Council commissioned him to make a portrait of his brother Ramiro to be placed in the Main Hall of the Town Hall. In the month of May, the newly painted painting by Maeztu San Francisco Javier is placed in the Parish of San Francisco Javier. Participate during the month of July in the I Exhibition of Navarrese Artists held in Pamplona, in the Palace of the Provincial Council of Navarra.1941
He completes a large painting for the Hospital of San Juan de Dios in Pamplona, with the image of the founder of the Order. In November he exhibits again at the Pallarés Gallery in Barcelona.1942
In the month of June he exhibits in Madrid, at the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid.1943
On April 27, a tribute is paid to Maeztu at the Lhardi restaurant in Madrid. The table was chaired by Ignacio Zuloaga and Mariano Benlliure. On December 11, he exhibited in the store of his friend Anastasio Martínez in Pamplona.1940
In the month of January, the Grupo del Suizo organizes theI National Watercolor Showin Bilbao in which Maeztu participates. On March 28, Mrs. Juana Whitney died in her home on Calle Mayor in Estella. The Civil Government of Pamplona acquires the painting that represents A deer hunt set in the 12th century, in the time of King Sancho the Strong. He goes to the National Exhibition of Fine Arts with the work The Iberian Bull. From March to September, a series of articles written by Maeztu with themes focused on Navarra, its origin and anecdotes are published in the Pregón» magazine of Pamplona. In the month of October he exhibits at the Singer Gallery in Bilbao. It shows a total of 80 colored drawings, to which he will add his collection of autolithography.1946
The Provincial Council of Vizcaya commissioned him to paint the portrait of Bachelor Poza for the Gallery of Illustrious Vascongados of the Guernica Assembly House.1947
