19th Century Paintings including Spanish

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Lot 188
  • 188

Rafael Zabaleta Quesada, Jaen 1907-1960

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Description

  • Rafael Zabaleta
  • Alacena (Larder)
  • signed RZabaleta l.r.
  • oil on canvas
  • 101 by 81cm., 39 3/4 by 32in.

Provenance

Estate of the artist
Acquired from the above by the father of the present owner in the 1960s

Exhibited

Ministerio de Educacion Nacional, Direccion General de Bellas Artes, Sala de Exposiciones, Exposicion Antologica de Rafael Zabaleta, Madrid, 1961-62, no. 96

Catalogue Note

Trained at the San Fernando Escuela de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Zabaleta travelled to Paris in 1935 where, as a great admirer of Picasso, he was soon exposed to contemporary trends in art, notably Cubism and Surrealism. In a style blending Cubist formality, Fauvist colour, and Expressionist freedom, Zabaleta's paintings take as their subjects his native village, Quesada, the Sierra of Cazorla, and the daily lives of rural Andalusians.

After the Spanish Civil War, Zabaleta embarked on a period of intense artistic activity, holding his first one man exhibition in Galerias Biosca in 1942, where he won the admiration of Eugenio d'Ors. From 1943 he participated in exhibitions organised by d'Ors and, after visiting Barcelona in 1945, remained in close contact with Catalan cultural circles.

Fig. 1, Rafael Zabaleta, Bodegón compuesto, 1958, Museo Zabaleta, Quesada  --- digi ref 'Zabaleta comparable'