Museo Carmen Thyssen

A student and imitator of his brother José García Ramos (1852–1912), Juan studied art at the Provincial School of Fine Arts in Seville, where he was a pupil of the history painter Eduardo Cano (1823–1897). He furthered his training at his brother’s studio and, like him, concentrated chiefly on genre scenes set in Andalusia. He even assimilated his style and models so well that it is relatively common for the works by him that appear from time to time on the market to be confused with José’s, as occurred with the canvas now belonging to the collection of Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Although Juan’s known production is still fairly scant and this has so far prevented his personality as a painter from being defined accurately, his oeuvre displays little creativity and is eclipsed by that of his brother José, whose painterly suppleness he fails to attain despite his undeniable technical prowess. Nevertheless, he took part in some local exhibitions such as the Cadiz Regional Exhibition of 1879 and the Barcelona General Exhibition of 1890. The picturesque nature of his works is conveyed well by titles such as Lavanderas en el río Guadaíra (“Washerwomen by the River Guadaíra”), Molino de Zacatín (“Zacatín Mill”), Orillas del Guadaíra (“Banks of the Guadaíra”), La calle Zafra de Granada (“Calle Zafra in Granada”), Lavanderas de la calle Ancha de Alcalá (“Washerwomen of Calle Ancha in Alcalá”), La cuesta del Aceitunero, La vuelta de la Alpujarra (“The Cuesta del Aceitunero, Return from La Alpujarra”) and Una tarde de primavera (“A Spring Afternoon”).

José Luis Díez