The relatives of the painter García Totorika, who died at the age of 83, are preparing a retrospective in tribute

The Biscayan painter José Ángel García Totorika, one of the exponents of Basque customs since the middle of the last century, died last Saturday after a life dedicated to art and leaving a legacy of more than 800 works of his production during six decades, with a collection spread throughout the world. Now, his family is preparing a retrospective exhibition to pay tribute to him with a selection of his best paintings.

As his relatives announced this Friday, García Totorika died on Saturday at his home in Plentzia, where he had resided for years. Born in Galdames in 1941, he has remained active until the last moment and bequeaths to posterity an extensive private collection that in recent years has been opened to the public. With an early vocation, he exhibited for the first time at the age of 25 and for years combined painting with his work as a publicist.

During his extensive career, he exhibited throughout Euskadi, as well as in Madrid, Malaga and Argentina, and carved out a niche for himself among figurative painters of manners. In his first stage, his paintings were framed in traditional Basque themes, portraying man and the sea, the countryside and travel, as well as other scenes of daily life, with a very detailed creation process.

Subsequently, his artistic evolution was marked by the fact that he suffered a stroke in 2002, which gave him a vital and artistic rebirth. From there, he detached himself from all his previous references, creatively freeing himself to undertake a period of research without taboos. In this way, he radically changed his compositions, themes, style and palette to adopt a more expressionist and colorful style.

The work of José Ángel García Totorika is distributed in different places around the world, both in Europe, Japan and the United States. Participation in exhibitions and the work of his dealer and friend for more than 40 years, Félix Didimo, has allowed reach collectors and art lovers around the world.