Guillermo Larrazábal

Early life and career

Larrazábal was born in Mexico City on February 10, 1907, while his mother was traveling there. His parents, Juan Domingo Larrazábal Basarrate and Daniela Arzubide Villa, were both from Bilbao, Spain; his father was a businessman who dealt in cacao and coffee. Larrazábal grew up in a grand residence in Bilbao, where he was the youngest of nine children. When he was five, he contracted meningitis and was seriously ill; after he recovered, he was mute for some time. During primary school, he would lock himself in his room to practice speaking in front of a mirror, and he overcame his muteness after many hours of practice. (He continued to speak with a slight stutter, however, for some time.) Larrazábal's father died in 1916. Larrazábal's difficult childhood and very religious mother transformed him into an intensely religious child.

Larrazábal switched between several schools as a child, including a school for accounting. He disliked rigid instruction, and felt disoriented by mathematics. He was only happy when drawing and painting, where his talents lay. Adrian Martinez, one of Larrazábal's teachers, recognized and championed Larrazábal's talents. He requested that Larrazábal be allowed to study solely art and recommended Larrazábal to several art academies. Meanwhile, however, the Larrazábal family business was failing. After bad business deals and the Black Tuesday stock market crash, the business declared bankruptcy in 1929. Larrazábal became depressed for some time; his cousin Ricardo Iturria aided in his recovery.

In 1932, thanks to a recommendation from Martinez, Larrazábal joined the studio of Luis Lerchundi, an artist based in Bilbao. There be worked under painter Félix Cañada, who was known for his art nouveau works, particularly in Bilbao's Café Iruña. Larrazábal quickly advanced within the studio and soon began learning the techniques of stained glass. Seeking to continue his education, he won a scholarship in 1936 to study in France, but he was unable to travel due to border closures during the Spanish Civil War. Instead, he spent his time traveling between Spanish cities and studying works of art in their museums. He ultimately returned to Bilbao out of concern for his family.

During the Spanish Civil War, Larrazábal encountered problems with both sides of the conflict. The Republican faction arrested him based on false accusations and took him to a detention camp. He might have been killed, but his mother appealed to her friends within the faction for his release. A few weeks later, he was taken prisoner by the Nationalist faction and again freed at the behest of his family. He attempted to lay low following these incidents, but he was found and conscripted into Francisco Franco's army; he painted stamps and flags for Franco until 1939.

When the war ended in 1939, Larrazábal was penniless. He found work at the studio Vitrieras de Arte (Artistic Stained Glass) in San Sebastián. There, he produced standardized works and felt oppressed by the lack of creativity he was allowed. In 1951, after 12 years working at the studio, he quit his job and moved to a ceramics factory in Madrid. He married in the same year.

Career in Ecuador

In 1955, the Catholic Church in Ecuador was seeking artists in Spain for the construction of the New Cathedral of Cuenca. They chose the Spanish ceramicist Manuel Mora Iñigo as their agent in Spain, and Iñigo contracted with Larrazábal for the creation of the cathedral's stained glass windows. Larrazábal moved to Cuenca, Ecuador in 1955. His wife arrived shortly thereafter, though they soon separated.

Larrazábal completed 60 stained glass windows for Cuenca's cathedral, the largest number of his works in any one location. His work on that cathedral brought him renown throughout the country, leading him to create works for the Cathedral of Guayaquil and Cathedral of Ambato. He also created stained glass windows in Academia Militar de Quito (Quito Military Academy) (closed 1991), Guayaquil's Unidad Educativa San José La Salle, and the Cuenca home of businessman Guillermo Vázquez. In Ecuador, Larrazábal fell in love with the painter Eudoxia Estrella. They began living with each other in 1960, though Larrazábal was still married to his wife from Spain; his divorce was denied. Estrella continued to be Larrazábal's partner until his death.

During the remainder of his career, Larrazábal created 87 stained glass works that are located across the vast majority of Ecuador's provinces. According to Luis Alberto Luna Tobar, Larrazábal was "a theologian who meditated with light and color on stained glass, in search of the face of God". Larrazábal's artistic talents were not limited to stained glass; he was also a talented painter, sculptor, potter, and photographer. In his later years, he devoted a fair portion of his time to photography. Larrazábal died of lung cancer late on July 29, 1983, or in the early morning the following day. His exposure tochemicals used in stained glass making may have caused the disease, given that he had never smoked.

Today, the Gallería Larrazábal in Cuenca, named in his honor, is located at the former site of his studio. The first exhibition of Larrazábal's work took place in Cuenca in 2012 and later traveled to other cities in Ecuador. A second exhibition took place in Quito's Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in 2013.