Francesc Gimeno

FRANCESC GIMENO I ARASA (Tortosa, Tarragona, 1858 - Barcelona, 1927).
"Landscape.
Oil on tablex.
Signed in the lower right corner.
With label of the Sala Parés on the back.
Measurements: 25 x 29 cm; 42 x 46 cm (frame).

In this small landscape Francesc Gimeno unfolds a painting of great material and chromatic intensity, centered on a road that crosses a rural environment animated by the presence of a figure. The motif, simple and everyday, becomes an exercise of direct observation of nature, where the artist privileges the immediate impression of the landscape over the detailed description.

This direct and expressive treatment of oil reflects the deeply personal character of Gimeno's painting, in which the landscape becomes a field of pictorial experimentation and a vehicle to transmit sensations rather than to faithfully reproduce reality.

Francesc Gimeno was a painter and draughtsman initially trained in Tortosa and settled in Barcelona in 1880, where he worked as a painter and decorator. In 1884 he moved to Madrid, where he completed his training with Carlos de Haes and studied the collections of the Prado Museum. On his return to Barcelona he pursued an independent career, outside the art market, focusing on portraits, self-portraits, family scenes and landscapes.

His work was fully appreciated after his first individual exhibition in 1915, promoted by Josep Dalmau. Today he is represented in institutions such as the Prado Museum and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.