Bores and the First Exhibition of the Society of Iberian Artists

Bores' participation in the First Exhibition of the Society of Iberian Artists, celebrated in the Exhibition Centre in the Retiro Park of Madrid in May and June of 1925, became a decisive milestone in his career. He participated with sixteen oil paintings and watercolours that belonged to the stage he named 'renewed Classicism'. Among these were the portraits of Guillermo de Torre - the earliest one, coinciding with his ultraist stage - and of Ángel Apraiz, main promoter of the Society of Basque Studies. He also showed a series of still life paintings and interior scenes populated with objects that had weight and volume, framed within that new Classicism that was demanded by modernity. His contribution was well-received by the press, which introduced him - together with Benjamín Palencia - as one of the most interesting creators at the time, with their eyes set on what would be his future career. Despite the positive reaction of the press, the exhibition gained the unanimous rejection of the public. Many of the exhibited works were too modern for the audience, who was used to seeing what the manifesto of the Iberian Artists Society would define as 'official painting'straight out of the San Fernando Academy. After confirming the Spanish audience's lack of interest in the new art, represented as well by Salvador Dalí, José Moreno Villa, Benjamín Palencia or Alberto Sánchez, Bores resolved to leave for Paris in the summer of 1925, where he joined his friend Pancho Cossío.