Antonio Goicoechea y Cosculluela
- 1944
- Oil on canvas
- 120,5 x 101 cm
- Cat. P_191
- Comissioned from the artist in 1944
This portrait of Antonio Goicoechea y Cosculluela was painted by renowned Basque artist Jesús Olasagasti, who had a solid reputation in the genre thanks to works such as his portrait of Díaz Caneja, now hanging in the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, in which post-cubism joins forces with attractive pictorial quality. However, his portrait of Governor Goicoechea does not show the high quality seen in his other works. It is, however, original in terms of its iconography and its ideological connotations, given that Goicoechea was the first governor of the Bank under the Franco regime. The sitter is shown wearing the official uniform and short sword that had not appeared in portraits from the Republican era, and in a surprising daytime, outdoor setting which probably came straight from the mind of the artist.
Governor of the Banco de España 1938 - 1950
Antonio Goicoechea y Cosculluela graduated in Law from the Central University and was an attorney at the Council of State, as was Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, though their political futures would take them in very different directions.
He practised law and went into politics as a member of the Conservative Party, becoming a member of parliament in 1908. When the Conservatives split in 1913, he followed Antonio Maura and became one of the leaders of the Juventudes Mauristas youth movement. In April 1919 he became Minister for Governance in the Conservative coalition government headed by Maura. He subsequently resigned after harsh criticism for election fixing. He took over as party leader on the death of Maura. He agreed to take part on an individual basis in the Consultative National Assembly in 1929 to draw up a new constitution (which never saw the light of day). He was highly active in politics during the Second Republic: in 1933 he led the group of pro-monarchy politicians loyal to Alfonso XIII who founded the Renovación Española ['Spanish Renovation'] Party. In the elections of November 1933, he was one of the spokesmen for the Union of the Right, and was elected as Member of Parliament for Cuenca. However, his party was relegated to a marginal role compared to the power of CEDA.
He took an active part in the preparations for the military uprising against the government in 1936: on 25 July he travelled to Rome with Pedro Sainz Rodríguez to negotiate aid from Italy. He came out in favour of Franco in April 1937 and merged Renovación Española into Franco's single party system. From then on, he continued to play a secondary role in politics. He was appointed as Governor of the Banco de España in the territory held by the Franco forces in 1938, and remained in the post until 1950. In 1938 he was appointed as commissioner for the official banking sector. As such, he chaired the Banco Hipotecario, Banco Exterior and Banco de Crédito Industrial.
Other works by Jesús Olasagasti