Lluís Ribas, 1949 | Luminist painter

Lluís Ribas is one of the best known luministas of contemporary Spanish art. His profound knowledge of the secrets of light, shade and opaqueness are present throughout his work. His female forms are classics - brilliantly executed and exquisitely drawn.

His palette contains a wide range of colors which give his paintings their great beauty.

The son of fishermen parents, Ribas learned the vicissitudes of a life dependent upon the sea at an early age. In spite of this, he always felt an affinity for the beach as it represented a point of departure for the horizon that marked the beginning of an adventure across the waters. As a young artist, Ribas chose the sea, with its continuous harmonic movement as another favorite theme, which he translates to his canvas with an emotional precision few have mastered.

For Ribas, time is not important. He is an artist who prefers to work slowly - continuously defying his vision in a never-ending search for aesthetic. Although his successful career already spans more than twenty years, Ribas does not produce the quantity of paintings that others may, but each canvas is highly desired by galleries and collectors alike. Ribas is not a prolific painter. His disciplined manner of painting requires years of planning for an exhibition.

Luminism is a late-impressionist or neo-impressionist style in painting which devotes great attention to light effects.

The term has been used for the style of the Belgian painters such as Emile Claus and Théo van Rysselberghe and their followers - Adrien-Joseph Heymans, Anna Boch, Évariste Carpentier, Guillaume Van Strydonck (French), Leon De Smet, Jenny Montigny, Anna De Weert, Georges Morren, Modest Huys, Georges Buysse, Marcel Jefferys (Dutch), Yvonne Serruys and Juliette Wystman (French), as well as for the early pointillist work of the Dutch painters Jan Toorop, Leo Gestel, Jan Sluijters, and Piet Mondriaan.

Both styles have little in common. Emile Claus's work is still close to that of the great French impressionists, especially Claude Monet, whereas Dutch luminism, characterized by the use of large color patches, is closer to fauvism.