Ginés Parra

GINÉS PARRA (Zurgena, Almería, 1896 – Paris, France, 1960).
“Still Life with Fish.”
Oil on cardboard.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 27 x 35 cm; 45 x 53 cm (frame).
In this Fish Still Life, Ginés Parra approaches the still-life genre with a highly expressive style. The composition is built up with dense, textured brushstrokes applied with pronounced impasto, giving the surface a remarkable tactile quality. The firm, deliberately marked black outlines define the forms and reinforce their synthetic character, while the combination of intense reds and greens lends the scene a special chromatic tension.
Ginés Parra emigrated with his family at a very young age. After living in Algeria, Argentina, and the United States, he received his artistic training in New York at the Art Students League and the National Academy School of Fine Arts. Around 1920, he moved to Paris, where he continued his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts.
Once established in Paris, he came into contact with leading avant-garde artists and spent most of his career there. He participated in the major Parisian salons and held exhibitions in numerous European and American cities. His work gained particular recognition in the 1930s and 1940s, as he became associated with the New School of Paris. In 1937, he participated in the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition. His work is represented in major museums and public collections, including the Reina Sofía National Art Museum, the Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts, ARTIUM Museoa, the National Museum in Prague, the Moravská Galerie in Brno, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Museu de Arte in São Paulo, and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana.