Luis Alvarez Catalá studied at the Escuela Especial de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado in Madrid and was a pupil of Federico de Madrazo at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. In 1857, he received a scholarship for Rome. He remained there, however, until the 1890s and eventually returned to Madrid to take up the position of Director at the Prado.

Catalá painted mainly genre scenes. Some of his works are now in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias.

Luis Alvarez Catala (1836 - 1901)
Luis Alvarez Catala was Director of the Prado in Madrid from 1898 to 1901. In addition to genre works, he also produced historical illustrations. He exhibited in Florence, Madrid, New York, and at the World Exposition in Paris in 1867 and 1889.