Lesaca, Navarra
Gerona
He studied at the School of Arts and Crafts of Pamplona and later moved to Olot, where he studied at the School of Fine Arts. He held his first exhibition in Barcelona at the age of 22 and became a prominent member of the Olotina school of landscape. His specialty was the landscapes of the Picos de Europa, Olot and Navarra. He exhibited in various galleries throughout Spain: Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao... his technique consisted of painting elaborately, from life. The painter's childhood was spent next to the Bidasoa River, in the shadow of the Peñas de Aya. The landscape world and the high mountains would reveal themselves very early to his eyes. He attended primary school in Pamplona. The outbreak of the civil war in 1936 had an impact on his family, moving to Bayonne. Later, they would reside in Biarritz, where his father, D. Demetrio, worked as a physical education teacher. His love for art was accentuated at the age of 14 by the landscape themes of the Gulf of Gascogne and Lake Chiberta. His hobby reached such a point that his father decided to enroll him in the Academy of the prestigious French professor René Barnadin (poet, writer, painter, very informed about modern aesthetic trends. He cared about cultivating the retention of his students). After time, Demetrio decided to return and request re-entry into the teaching profession. Elías, he enrolled in the School of Arts and Crafts of Pamplona where he suffered disappointment since outdated pedagogical methods were still being used there; copies of plates and plaster bust. However, Elías trained in drawing, the mastery of which he considered fundamental in art. At the same time he received advice from a great Navarrese painter, Jesús Basiano. The re-entry of Demetrio Garralda into the National Teaching was approved; He and he had to suffer "forced transfer" to Olot, capital of Garrocha, a region of the province of Gerona. This was providential for Elías Garralda. Olot was considered the "Catalan Barbizón". In its framework, "impressionism" was anticipated in Spain. The Garralda family moved in 1942. The town enjoyed great prosperity; Its textile and pork industry was combined with its traditional cultivation of imagery; The "saints of Olot" were on the rise. Elías Garralda's artistic vocation strengthened his contact with the cultural institutions of Olot. And he was reunited with the beloved Pyrenees. At the age of 16 he entered the School of Arts and Crafts, an entity that continued "l'Escola de dibuix (1783)", and continued the "Escola Superior del Paisatge (1934)" created by the first Generalitat of Catalonia, prize to Olotina's dedication to landscaping. The famous Escola de Paisatge was developed after the war under the name of the School of Arts and Crafts. But Garralda "made himself" painting alongside the great masters; Soler Jorba, Gussinyé, Olivet Legares, Barnadas, Marsillach... He never lacked advice from a companion. When he was able to acquire a bicycle he pedaled sportily to the foot of the Pyrenees, one of his dreams. The Escola de Belles Arts d'Olot awarded him the highest award it gives, the silver medal.
