Ramiro Arrue

Ramiro Arrue
Basques jouant aux cartes (Basques Playing Cards), c. 1919. Bilbao Fine Arts Museum.
Born	Ramiro Arrue y Valle 20 May 1892 Bilbao
Died	1 April 1971(1971-04-01) (aged 78) Saint-Jean-de-Luz
Education	Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Known for	founded the Musée Basque at Bayonne; one of the most representative painters of the Basque Country
Style	figurative
Spouse(s)	Suzanne
Awards	Gold medal at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs (1925)

Ramiro Arrue y Valle, generally known as Ramiro Arrue (born 20 May 1892 in Bilbao, died on 1 April 1971 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz) was a Basque painter, illustrator, and ceramist, of Spanish nationality, who devoted his work to the Basque Country.

Ramiro Arrue was born into an artistic family: his three older brothers, Alberto, Ricardo, and José, were also artists and frequently held joint exhibitions with him. He also had two sisters. Their father, Lucas Arrue, was an art collector who sold his collections (including a Goya) to pay for the artistic training of his sons. At the age of nineteen, Ramiro travelled to Paris to take courses at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Living in Montparnasse, he became an associate of his countrymen Ignacio Zuloaga and Francisco Durrio de Madrón, as well as the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, who became a close friend. He was also associated with Picasso, Modigliani, and Jean Cocteau. In 1911, Arrue exhibited at the Salon des Artistes français.

In 1922, along with his friends Philip Veyrin and Commandant William Boissel, he founded the Musée Basque at Bayonne.

In 1925 Arrue won a gold medal at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs. He exhibited in Bayonne, Pau, Strasbourg, Bilbao, and Cordoba. Along with his brother José, he travelled and exhibited in South America, to Buenos Aires and Montevideo. He often, however, returned to the Basque Country, particularly to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where he settled in 1917 and where he found his main inspiration for landscapes, portraits, and everyday scenes. In 1929, he married Suzanne: they went on honeymoon in St. Tropez.