Zuloaga and his patrons felt slighted in 1900, when his painting "Before the Bull-fight" was rejected for inclusion into the Spanish representation at the Universal Exposition in Brussels. In 1899, one of his paintings exhibited in Paris had been purchased for the Luxembourg Palace. However, he did exhibit the painting at the Exposition of the Libre Esthetique in Brussels, and did see it acquired by the Modern Gallery in Brussels. He was accepted into the Venice Biennale in 1901 and 1903, and displayed 34 canvases at the Barcelona International exposition of 1907.