José Jiménez Aranda (Seville, 1837 - 1903). "The seamstresses. Pontoise, 1913. Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower right-hand corner.

Lot description

JOSÉ JIMÉNEZ ARANDA (Seville, 1837 - 1903). "The seamstresses", Pontoise, 1873. Oil on canvas. Signed, dated and located in the lower right corner. Measurements: 85 x 58 cm; 105 x 80 cm (frame). Daily labours were enhanced by the attentive look of Jiménez Aranda, capable of extracting the magic pulse of a domestic instant like the one he shows here. Two girls are engaged in their work in an interior bathed in diffuse light, sifted by the amber net curtains, whose shades permeate the variety of garments scattered on their skirts. José Jiménez Aranda began his artistic training in 1851 at the Seville School of Fine Arts, where he was a pupil of Antonio Cabral Bejarano, Eduardo Cano and Manuel Barrón. He also worked as a lithographer, making copies of works from the Museum of Fine Arts in his native city. He completed his training with a trip to Madrid, where he visited the Prado Museum and studied the works of Goya and Velázquez in depth. In 1871 he left for Rome, where he became friends with Mariano Fortuny, who had a notable influence on his pictorial work. In 1875 he returned to Spain before leaving again in 1881, this time for Paris. He arrived in the French capital attracted by the great acclaim and interest his works aroused among the French critics and clientele. He remained in Paris for nine years, painting works set in the 18th century with notable success. In 1890 he returned to Spain and settled in Madrid. During these years he changed the subject matter of his works, which from that time onwards focused on scenes from everyday life. The deaths of his wife and daughter in 1892 led him to settle permanently in Seville. There he was a teacher and president of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Santa Isabel de Hungría, as well as a professor at the city's Official School. Throughout his life he took part in national and foreign exhibitions and was awarded honourable mentions at the National Fine Arts Exhibitions in Madrid in 1864 and 1866 and third medals in 1872 and 1978. Internationally, he sent his works, among others, to the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878, to the Paris Salon the following year and to the International Exhibition in Munich in 1883, where he was awarded an honourable medal. José Jiménez Aranda is currently represented in the Museo del Prado, the Museo Municipal de Málaga, the Museo de Bellas Artes de Cádiz, the Fundación María José Jove, the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection and the San Francisco Museum (United States), among other public and private collections.