The Fountain of Health

A disciple of Carlos de Haes, Arruti was one of the first generation of Basque realist landscape artists, always on the look-out for effects of light and atmosphere. Although Arruti had witnessed the profound urban change in San Sebastian of the 1860s and 1870s, he rarely used it as his subject. He was more interested in depicting the city from its outlying areas, those permeable spaces where the urban environment met the natural.

This work depicts the Amara district and its salt marshes, an area towards which the city was expanding around Mount San Bartolomé, shown on the left of the picture. The area was home to a variety of social classes. Villagers and servants lived cheek-by-jowl with members of the upper middle classes, who flocked to the promenade for recreational walks.

The depth of the perspective is emphasised by the well-lit area leading to the shady promenade, where the criimson parasols of the couple walking tin the background marks the vanishing point.

Mikel Lertxundi Galiana

Inventory number: STM-000401-001