Texas Originals

Luis Jiménez

July 30, 1940–June 13, 2006

Luis Jiménez’s monumental sculptures changed the course of American art in the second half of the twentieth century. His brightly hued figures of mustangs, Aztec warriors, and working-class immigrants challenged not only artistic fashion but also popular notions of the Southwest and its history.

Jiménez was born in El Paso in 1940. Childhood visits to Mexico introduced him to the grand, dramatic murals of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. These experiences—along with learning to weld and spray paint in his father’s sign shop—shaped him as an artist.

When Jiménez emerged in the late 1960s, Pop, Minimalism and Color Field Abstraction were the prevailing styles. By contrast, Jiménez’s works were narrative, socially engaged, and, as one scholar put it, "meaningful at first glance."

One of his most celebrated sculptures is Vaquero, his take on the traditional equestrian statue. Instead of bronze or stone, Jiménez fashioned his mounted rider out of brushed fiberglass painted in glossy shades of gold, maroon, and neon blue. And his cowboy is Latino, connecting this traditional symbol of the Southwest to its historic origins.

The artist died in a tragic studio accident in 2006. His works are now displayed prominently in museums and public spaces throughout the country. His Vaquero greets visitors to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, as well as visitors to Houston’s Moody Park.

For More about Luis Jiménez

Works by Luis Jiménez are on display in museums and public spaces throughout Texas. The city of El Paso commissioned Jiménez’s sculpture Los Lagartos (The Alligators), 1995, which stands in the center of San Jacinto Plaza and serves as an homage to the former reptilian inhabitants of the plaza’s artificial lagoon. On the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso is End of the Trail (with Electric Sunset), 1971. The sculpture depicts a slumped, wounded rider atop his horse, with dozens of light bulbs colorfully illuminating the figure. The El Paso Museum of Art features Jimenez’s Barfly–Statue of Liberty, 1969.

Two sculptures by Jiménez are in San Antonio: Man on Fire, 1969, a permanent installation in the McNay Art Museum’s sculpture garden, and a fiberglass work on The University of Texas at San Antonio campus entitled Fiesta Jarabe (Fiesta Dancers), 1996. The former is an iconic bronze statue that contains references to historical and mythical figures, including Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec ruler with deep roots in the folklore of revolutionary Mexico; Thich Quang Duc, the monk who set himself ablaze in protest against the Vietnam War; and Prometheus, the Greek god who rebelled against Olympus and stole fire to gift to mankind. The latter was commissioned by UTSA and depicts a Mexican couple dancing a traditional folk dance with bright, sensual colors. Jiménez made five versions of Fiesta Jarabe, one of which is on display at the University of Houston campus. In Austin, the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas owns Cruzando El Rio Bravo [Border Crossing], 1989, which depicts a Mexican man carrying a woman and an infant across the Rio Grande River. The sculpture was created as a tribute to Jiménez’s grandparents, who crossed into the United States in 1924.

Houston’s Moody Park features a casting of Vaquero, 1980 which reflects the rich Mexican-American cultural influence on the American West. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has secured a particularly rich representation of Jimenez’s works, including important variations of three of his landmark sculptures: Man on Fire, 1969-70, End of the Trail (with Electric Sunset), 1971, and Cruzando El Rio Bravo [Border Crossing], 1987, as well as numerous works on paper.

Tragically, Jiménez’s career was cut short during the construction of what would be his last sculpture. Mustang/Mesteño, 2008, affectionately known as Blucifer by locals, is a 32-foot-tall polychrome fiberglass sculpture of a bright blue mustang with glowing red eyes. The piece was commissioned by Denver International Airport in 1993 and was based on Jiménez’s smaller sculpture, Mustang (Mesteño), 1997, held by the University of Oklahoma. In 2006, Jiménez died at the age of 65 when part of the sculpture fell on and fatally injured him. His sons completed the sculpture, and it stands at the airport today.

Some of Jiménez’s works can be seen in the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. On the museum’s website, virtual patrons can access information on Jiménez’s life and career, as well as an interview with the author. At the bottom of the page is a gallery of some of Jiménez’s most famous pieces, from sculptures to sketches.

An oral history interview with Jiménez can be read or listened to on the Archives of American Art website. The interview was recorded in December 1985  and covers topics from Jiménez’s ethnic and cultural origins and early life to his education and the foundations for his career in visual arts. Jiménez speaks extensively of the influence of pop art, the Southwest, and his Mexican ancestry on his own work.

Selected Bibliography

Beardsley, John, and Jane Livingston. Hispanic Art in the United States: Thirty Contemporary Painters and Sculptors. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1987.

Congdon, Kristin G., and Kara Kelley Hallmark. Artists from Latin American Cultures: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Duncan, Robert. "Jiménez, Luis Alfonso, Jr." Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed 20 October 2018.

Ennis, Michael. "Luis Jiménez." Texas Monthly, September 1998.

Faires, Robert. "Larger Than Life." Austin Chronicle, March 30, 2007. 

Flores-Turney, Camille. Howl: The Artwork of Luis Jiménez. Santa Fe: New Mexico Magazine, 1997.

Fowler, Gene. "Viva Luis!" Texas Highways, October 1, 2014.

Gaspar de Alba, Alicia. Chicano Art: Inside/Outside the Master’s House. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998.

Keller, Gary D. Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works, Culture, and Education. Volume II. Tempe: Bilingual Press, 2002.

Jimenez, Luis. Oral History Interview by Peter Bermingham. Smithsonian Archives of American Art, December 15–17, 1985. Transcript.

Sullivan, Edward J., ed. Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century. London: Phaidon Press, 1996. 

Listen to the audio

Luis Jiménez with Vaquero. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.