"Corrida" Oil on Board by Buckley MacGurrin

In "Corrida", Buckley MacGurrin painted a matador, captured in mid-movement, who seems to both defy and flee. He doesn’t face the bull but runs virtually parallel to it, as if drawn into the same arc—the body tenses, arms raised, at an almost impossible angle.

The paint is quick and nervous. Each stroke leaves a trace, brutal and deliberate. The yellow of the costume catches the light, contrasting with the arena's grayness. The ground—reduced to a pale, pink-beige surface—is pierced by two shadows, bluish, spectral. They echo the figures, stretch them into another plane.

The bull surges up black on the left, without a face or defined shape. It is mass, speed, and threat. Its presence alone dominates. Opposite, the man is just a figure—almost a puppet. Doubt sets in: Who is calling the shots? Who dominates? One seems caught in the other's momentum, carried away, possessed. In his hands—the right of life, the right of death—two raised banderillas, ritual weapons.

Art history has often glorified tauromachia—Goya, Picasso, Bacon. Here, the arena becomes a sacred theater. Each gesture becomes votive. The painting doesn’t resolve the paradox—it holds it. Beauty and violence are not reconciled, only intertwined.

BIOGRAPH
Buckley MacGurrin was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1896 to Irish-American parents.
He graduated at UC Berkely in 1922 and then moved to Hollywood where he began working as a designer for the movie studios. After deciding to become a full-time artist, MacGurrin moved to Paris, where he could further his studies. He remained in Paris from 1922-1933. He attended the Académie Colarossi* and also studied the masterpieces at the Louvre.

In 1926, he was invited to exhibit at the Salon des Tuileries*. That same year he also exhibited at the Salon des Humoristes, and the Salon du France at the gallery Armand Drouant, at which one of MacGurrin's paintings was acquired by the French State. He would continue to exhibit at the Salon des Tuileries for seven more years, the remainder of his time in France.

In 1933 he returned to the States, spending six months in New York before moving back to Los Angeles. His work was represented by Earl Stendahl, whose Stendahl Art Galleries* was at that time located on Wilshire Boulevard, and MacGurrin also kept a studio in the gallery. His first one-man show was in 1933 at Stendhal. Around 1937, MacGurrin changed gallery representation to Dalzell Hatfield Gallery. He also continued to exhibit in Paris, showing his work there at the Salon d'Automne* from 1929-1937.
MacGurrin also worked for Paramount Pictures during this time, designing sets and props for the renowned director Cecil B. De Mille.

He worked on the first Federal Art Project* in 1933, executing murals around Los Angeles, including one in the cafeteria of the Los Angeles County Art Museum called Gastronomy Through the Ages.

In 1934 MacGurrin was invited to work on the second Federal Art Project, eventually becoming the supervisor for Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara. He remained the supervisor until leaving the project in 1938.

After retiring from the Art Project, he took up a teaching position at the San Antonio Art Institute, which incidentally housed one of the best collections of modern French painting west of New York. He did not live full time in Texas however, and always maintained residence in southern California, teaching only part of the year.

MacGurrin's work with the Federal Art Project is significant not only for the numerous murals and other public works he created during his time, but also for the generation of younger artists he taught and inspired.

MacGurrin's work is represented in the collections of the Frederick R Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Gabriel Mission; LACMA (cafeteria mural); LA County Hall of Records; Santa Paula High School; Long Beach Public Library; Museum of Natural History (LA); and the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas.

MacGurrin died in Los Angeles on July 16, 1971.

REFERENCE NUMBER: LU654316145762
PERIOD: 1930-1939
CONDITION: Excellent
MEASUREMENTS: Height: 11" Width: 13.13" Depth: 1"
COUNT: 1
MATERIAL: Oil
CREATOR: Buckley McGurrin