Zuloaga, “the Great Basque,” hailed from five generations of painters. Influenced by predecessors such as Velázquez and Goya, he painted mostly images of Basque and Andalusian traditions. While his work is uniquely Spanish, his early mentors and colleagues included French painters like Degas and Gauguin, and Dutch-born van Gogh. Later, he befriended Émile Bernard, who taught him the cloisonné technique seen in the “stained glass” quality of the oriental shawl. Zuloaga’s large family portrait combines these stylistic sources, visible in the composition and emotional effect achieved through swirling brushstrokes and a haunting atmosphere.

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