JIMÉNEZ ARANDA, Luis

Spanish painter of historical genreGLOSSARYIn a broad sense, the term is used to mean a particular branch or category of art; landscape and portraiture, for example, are genres of painting, and the essay and the short story are genres of literature. and naturalist subjects. He was the younger brother of painter José Jiménez Aranda, whose meticulously rendered historical genre paintings greatly influenced the young Luis.

Having studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Seville, Luis went to Rome to work for some time before following his brother to Paris where he settled in 1876. A large number of Spanish painters were working in Paris at that time and together they frequently derived their inspiration from France. However, the character of their work remained essentially Spanish. Luis Jiménez Aranda delighted in representing the lifestyle of Spain and her people. His work was extremely well received in his adoptive country where he exhibited at the Paris SalonGLOSSARYIn the French language of the 18th and 19th centuries it designated an actual exhibition space, as well as the academic art exhibitions staged in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre since 1667. From 1737, the exhibitions took place biennially and, after the French Revolution, annually in the Salon Carré of the Louvre in Paris. Towards the end of the 19th century the official Salon jury was dissolved in order to make way for a committee of state-approved artists, i.e. former Salon members, who created the highly influential Société des Artistes Français. from 1878 onwards, and in Germany, where he exhibited in Munich and Berlin, receiving awards in both cities.

Close observation is the key to his realistic, often highly detailed paintings. His works can be found in museums in Cadiz, New York, Philadelphia and Pontoise.