Luis García-Ochoa, together with fellow Basque artist Menchu Gal, joined the Madrid School immediately after the Civil War. Nonetheless, he maintained his own independent style, bordering on the informal, resulting in a personal brand of expressionism that retained the colour of the Basque painting tradition. He mainly painted landscapes and joined the so-called Second School of Vallecas, with circus scenes and sometimes grotesque themes of critical realism that are reminiscent of José Gutiérrez Solana and Francisco Mateos. A great watercolourist and engraver, he was awarded a scholarship by the French government to work in Paris and by the Spanish government to travel to Milan. He also received a fellowship from the Juan March Foundation. He won the San Sebastian City Council Prize in 1960, the Second Medal at the 1960 National Fine Arts Exhibition and the Grand Prix for Painting at the 1965 Alexandria Biennial. In 1980, García-Ochoa became a member of the Royal San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. In 1993 he founded the El Escorial School of Figurative Painters.
Luis García-Ochoa, together with fellow Basque artist Menchu Gal, joined the Madrid School immediately after the Civil War. Nonetheless, he maintained his own independent style, bordering on the informal, resulting in a personal brand of expressionism that retained the colour of the Basque painting tradition. He mainly painted landscapes and joined the so-called Second School of Vallecas, with circus scenes and sometimes grotesque themes of critical realism that are reminiscent of José Gutiérrez Solana and Francisco Mateos. A great watercolourist and engraver, he was awarded a scholarship by the French government to work in Paris and by the Spanish government to travel to Milan. He also received a fellowship from the Juan March Foundation. He won the San Sebastian City Council Prize in 1960, the Second Medal at the 1960 National Fine Arts Exhibition and the Grand Prix for Painting at the 1965 Alexandria Biennial. In 1980, García-Ochoa became a member of the Royal San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. In 1993 he founded the El Escorial School of Figurative Painters.