Influence

Chillida was born on 10 January 1924 in San Sebastian, Spain. His first exhibition was held in 1950, the year of his marriage to Pilar Belzunce, his lifelong partner. Throughout his lifetime, he was recognized with a variety of awards, including the Venice Biennale International Prize, the Prix Kandinsky, Wilhem Lehmbruck Prize, Premio Príncipe de Asturias, the German Kaiserring, and the Japanese Praemium Imperiale. His life and work continue to be celebrated worldwide with exhibitions in intenrationally recognized museums and galleries, and with honorary awards and publications such as the Order or Constitutional Merit in Madrid or the catalogue Homenaje a Chillida (Bilbao: Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, 2006)

His work is represented in the collections of leading public and private institutions all over the world, with great retrospectives being held in cities such as Houston, Berlin, Madrid, London, Caracas or Palermo. His monumental sculptures can be found by the sea in Spain, or in city squares in Washington, Paris, Lund, Munster, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Guernica or Berlin. His work has been pondered and written about by architects such as Juan Daniel Fullaondo, critics such as Peter Selz or James Johnson Sweeney, philosophers like Martín Heidegger and Emil Cioran, or poets such as Octavio Paz.