In Chillida Leku, ‘the place of Chillida’, under a magnolia tree, there is a simple but precious cross. It is the place where Eduardo Chillida and his wife, Pilar Belzunce, are buried. She was the one who asked him to do it for his grave. She always thought that she would die before her husband, but she outlived him. The damned Alzheimer’s, who does not understand geniuses, was extinguishing, as if it were a candle, the life of one of the most important Spanish artists of the 20th century. He died on August 19, 2002, with the elegance and discretion that he displayed throughout his life. Tomorrow there will be no commemorative acts. Just an intimate and familiar encounter. The celebrations will be left for 2024, the year of the centenary of his birth. «He was very strict with himself and with his work, but at the same time very tolerant with others» To remember the figure of this universal San Sebastian native, we spoke, by telephone, with Luis Chillida, one of the eight children of the sculptor and president of the Chillida Belzunce Foundation. Not only does he miss his dear grandparent, but also the artist: «It is comforting to live day by day with his work. The artists leave, but they leave a legacy that must be cared for and maintained. It is something that makes you keep it very present at all times. Were the sculptor and the father very different? «No, he kept to a very similar line in both cases. When you admire his work, you see part of what he was. A very hard-working, serious person… he liked to do things right. He sought to have time to reflect, to think. He was very strict with himself and with his work, but at the same time very tolerant with others. He used to say that in order to love freedom, the first thing to do is love the freedom of others.” Eduardo Chillida, when he was a Real Sociedad ABC goalkeeper, did that constant search for perfection frustrate you? «In his life he had many moments of frustration, but they led him to make a change, to do new things. He always liked to work in the unknown. He used to say that what’s done is already done and you always have to take steps forward. The present was for him something essential. It is nothing more than the moment when the past and the future collide, the moment where everything happens and where he liked to be free to make decisions«. He wasn’t one to stay in his comfort zone. Quite the contrary. »He had moments of crisis, of uncertainty, but they helped him to take new steps, to face new materials, to think about other aspects of his work«, points out his son. “He was never afraid of death. He was an exemplary patient. He went out little by little, like a candle »The passions, according to Bach… and Chillida. One of his earliest hobbies was football. He was going to star in this sport, he became a Real Sociedad goalkeeper (‘the cat’, they called him because of his agility). But fate had a surprise in store for him. A knee injury caused football to lose a great goalkeeper, but art gained a great sculptor. And speaking of passions, one of them was music: “It was very important to him. My grandmother, his mother, was an opera singer. Music was always with him. He appreciated many composers: Mozart, Vivaldi…, but especially Bach. He even dedicated a poem to her. He also liked poetry and philosophy very much«. For Chillida, the work should always have something behind it, explains his son: »He believed that it is not simply physical work, but trying to understand, question many things… He thought that time was an unknown, a limit, a moment special. All this was a way of living intensely what he liked the most. He considered himself lucky.” He was not too maniacal, Luis warns: »He adapted very well to things. He liked the tranquility, the silence… But we have been eight children and we have given him a lot of trouble «(he laughs). Eduardo Chillida and Pilar Belzunce, in the garden of Chillida Leku in 2000 Daniel G. López How did he live and how did his relatives live with his illness? “He knew something was happening to him. My mother blamed it on depression over the Tindaya issue, which she was very worried about. But deep down it was something very different. He was realizing that he was running out of that time in which he thought so much during his life. He shocked me the day he didn’t want to go to the studio and stayed home, rereading a catalog of his work. He never did. He was always thinking about what he hadn’t done yet. He shocked me a lot.” It was 1999. »We knew then that it was Alzheimer’s and that it was going at a very fast speed«. Chillida Leku had to be launched without delay. »He always said that the only thing that we have clear in this life since we are born is that we are going to die. Why be afraid of something that is part of life? He was never afraid of death. He was an exemplary patient. He went out little by little, like a candle.” Yes, he was able to see the dream of opening Chillida Leku to the public come true. »My mother was the one who said it had to be done«. «In the Basque Country there is a very strong matriarchy. My father asked my mother for permission for everything: ‘Hey, Pili, can we do this?’” »Pilar Belzunce, Eduardo Chillida’s life partner, was decisive in his career. “They met when they were very young, when they were 15 and 14 years old and they spent their whole lives together. My mother carried all the weight (contact with galleries, factories, etc.) so that my father could focus on his work. In the Basque Country there is a very strong matriarchy. My father asked her permission for everything: ‘Hey, Pili, can we do this?’ She was always there, supporting him and making things work.” Being eight brothers must not have been easy when carrying out the day-to-day activities of the Chillida Succession. How did they manage to reach agreements? “In our case it was simple. I think that being many is not unfavorable. On the contrary. Being many, finally, each one is little. It is more difficult to get along between two or three. In the end, common sense prevails and agreements are reached. In our case, being many has been more favorable than unfavourable». The village of Zabalaga, in Hernani. In the foreground, a sculpture by Chillida ©Zabalaga Leku. San Sebastian, VEGAP, 2019. Succession Chillida and Hauser & Wirth. Photo Iñigo Santiago Chillida Leku opened its doors in 2000. It had to close on December 31, 2010, the family drowning due to the financial situation. Negotiations with the Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Guipúzcoa did not come to fruition. In 2016 an agreement was about to be closed and become a public museum, but again they ran aground. After eight years closed (not completely, there were visits by appointment and they received donations), in 2017 an agreement was signed with the almighty Swiss gallery Hauser & Wirth. Since then he has exclusively represented the Chillida Succession, which manages his legacy, and has allowed the museum to open since April 2019. How did you experience that struggle with the Basque institutions? Is there a grudge? “There were difficult moments when we were trying to find a solution for this wonderful space that our parents created. I think everyone at home was convinced that somehow this was going to be solved. We didn’t know exactly how.” To what do you attribute the slam of the Diputación? “It’s something that happened and, although at first you don’t understand it, when you see things through the prism of time you realize that it helped Hauser & Wirth come to talk to us to help us represent their work worldwide, give publicity to the museum… We are frankly very aligned in doing things with the Swiss gallery. It is a work that continues and will continue”. Luis recounts that his father fell in love with that place, the Zabalaga farmhouse, in Hernani, and set out to restore it: “He worked on it just as he did with his works, without knowing what he wanted to do. It was gestating for 18 years. Until the end it was not thought of as a museum. But it was never the family’s summer home, it was the home of his sculptures. Making this last is a family responsibility. Thank God things with Hauser & Wirth are going very well and may they continue to do so for a long time. They are true professionals.” Did the eight brothers never think of throwing in the towel? “Everyone at home knows what my parents wanted this place. In the end, that break period came in very handy. Many years have passed since Aita’s death, first managing the museum, then closing but negotiating… We had great pressure. And Hauser & Wirth arrived, which has given us tranquility and calm». Historical embrace of reconciliation between Jorge Oteiza and Eduardo Chillida in Zabalaga in 1997 ABC Then there was another break: the forced closure due to the pandemic. S1997alen the numbers? Is Chillida Leku profitable? “A museum is not something profitable. What you need to keep going is a budget.” When there were economic problems, the work had to be sold. Luis Chillida said that it would continue to be sold but in an orderly manner and with common sense. Is it still being done? “Of course, it is necessary. My mother always said that an artist’s work has to move. You can’t stand still. Near the end, but still with a clear head, my father commented that he did not want this place to become a mausoleum. Of course, here there has to be a selection of important works that represent his work. But when the sale of a work for an important place is proposed, it is questioned if it can be carried out». “It continues to maintain its prices and increase its value. It is not a very fluctuating work, it is a solid value »How is the valuation of his father’s work in the market? “It continues to maintain its prices and increase its value. It’s not a very fluctuating piece of work, it’s a solid value.” Do you think that Chillida is more valued and better represented in foreign museums than in Spain? »In Spain there are important collections that have his works, but also in other parts of the world: Germany, the United States, Korea… My father did not make multiples of his works. They are what there are. In the 1950s he made a test of six sculptures with four bronze copies each. When he saw them, he decided that he would never do it again. For him, the works had the value of his effort. How am I going to copy myself? , he said. It is a limit that we will never cross. We will not make copies of my father’s sculptures to sell.” He has measured himself in exhibitions with Tàpies and Miró, two of his great friends. And with Oteiza. It was in Zabalaga where he immortalized himself, on December 15, 1997, the embrace with which they were reunited after decades of confrontation. Eduardo Chillida was not able to realize his utopia on the mountain of Tindaya in Fuerteventura, but he was able to comb the wind in the bay of his hometown that he loved so much.
16