Vicente Urrabieta y Ortiz (1813/23 – 1879) was a Spanish draftsman, lithographer and illustrator, father of the also artist Daniel Urrabieta Vierge.
Biography He was born in Bilbao or Madrid in the first quarter of the 19th century. Urrabieta quickly made a name for himself as a skilled draftsman, illustrating the well-known novel Matilde o Las Cruzadas, which was published at that time by the Gaspar y Roig publishing house. He consolidated his artistic reputation by collaborating with illustrations in the Semanario Pintoresco Español () and by handling the illustrated part of the Escenas Matritenses ()by Mesonero Romanos, of the popular work by Wenceslao Ayguals de Izco, María or of La hija de un jornalero, among others. The magazine La Ilustración () counted him among its most active collaborators, in addition to participating in Álbum Pintoresco (), El Siglo Pintoresco (), Museo de las Familias (), El Artista (The Artist), La Ilustración Española y Americana (), La Risa (), La Educación Pintoresca (), La Aurora de la Vida (The Aurora of Life) and La Lectura para Todos ().
In 1851, he made his first trip to France and England, where he studied the progress of lithography, one of his preferred techniques. Upon his return to Spain he undertook the publication of the novel by Mariano José de Larra El doncel de don Enrique el doliente (), illustrated with lithographs. This collaboration, in which Urrabieta had placed great hopes, failed, it is said due to the mismanagement of the person entrusted with the financial handling. He also made numerous illustrations for the Historia de Cataluña y de la Corona de Aragón () by Víctor Balaguer, published between 1869 and 1863, including that of the frontispiece, a joint work with the engraver Roca. His illustrations also appeared in various Parisian publications, the city where he eventually resided. In 1872, he worked as a correspondent for Le Monde Illustré during the Third Carlist War. That same year, some of his drawings of this conflict also appeared in La Ilustración Española y Americana. He held the title of knight of the Order of San Fernando.
He died on December 26, 1879 in Paris. His funeral, which took place at the Montparnasse Cemetery, was attended by Fernández de los Ríos, various French and Spanish journalists, and representatives from various publishing houses. He had three children from his marriage in 1845 to Juana Vierge, a woman of French origin, all of whom also dedicated themselves to illustration: Daniel, known in the art world by his mother's surname, "Vierge", Samuel, who worked in a chromolithography workshop in Paris, and Dolores.
He was described by Francesc Fontbona as "a classic of romantic illustration in the Spanish state" and in 1904 it was stated that in his time he was considered in Spain as one of the most "effective" illustrators in the country.
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