Rafael Zabaleta

RAFAEL ZABALETA FUENTES (Quesada, Jaén, 1907 - 1960).
"The slaughterer, 1951.
Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private collection of the writer Camilo José Cela.
It has slight damage to the frame.
Measurements: 100 x 81 cm; 103 x 84 cm (frame).
It has an exhibition label on the back, indicating the origin.
Work collected in: FARALDO, R., Spectacle of Spanish painting. Stork. Madrid. 1953.
-GUZMÁN PÉREZ, M., Rafael Zabaleta. Intaglio study: oils and watercolors. Deputation of Jaén. Instituto de Estudios Giennenses, 2010. P 66-67.Fig. 287.
-AA.VV., Zabaleta Homage, page 192.
-D'ORS, E., R. Zabaleta, number 15 (reproduced).
-D'ORS, E., Goya, Picasso and Zabaleta, page 170 (reproduced).
-Faraldo, R., The spectacle of painting..., page 44 (reproduced).
-GAYA NUÑO, J.A., La pintura española de medio..., page 301 (reproduced).
-GUZMÁN, M., Catalogación..., number 282, page 447.
-GUZMÁN, M., La pintura de R. Zabaleta, pages 382- 383.
-SÁNCHEZ CAMARGO, M., "La gran exposición...," (reproduced).
Work exhibited in:
-Syra, Barcelona, 1952, number 18.
-Museum of the Park, Bilbao, 1955, number 21.
-Art and work, Charleroi, 1958, number 103.
-Dirección General de bellas Artes, Madrid, 1961, number 53 (reproduced in catalog).

"El matarife" is one of Rafael Zabaleta's most striking and expressive compositions, a masterpiece of Hispanic expressionism that encapsulates his particular vision of the harshness of rural labor. The scene, set inside a butcher's shop, confronts the viewer with a crude and symbolic image: a slaughterer holds the open body of a pig in a hieratic attitude, while a woman, dressed in typical rural garb, wields a knife in an attitude of continuing the work.
The composition is doubly significant: the male figure and the animal, practically fused in a visual symbiosis, create a symmetrical arrangement that emphasizes the drama of the image. At the same time, the woman and the butcher's tools form a pyramidal structure, generating a compositional tension that reinforces the expressiveness of the whole.
From the technical point of view, Zabaleta develops here his characteristic energetic and schematic stroke, with emphatic volumes and a palette dominated by reds, yellows and ochers, which contrast with the grayish greens of the clothes. The vibrant brushstroke, applied with strength and decision, allows the color to remain fresh and dynamic on the canvas, creating a pictorial surface of great visual power.
The symbolism of the work is undeniable: beyond the simple representation of a traditional trade, El matarife explores the relationship between the human being and his environment, the rawness of physical labor and the inevitable presence of death as part of existence. Its execution in 1951, a key moment in the artist's career, reinforces its importance within Zabaleta's pictorial corpus.
Its inclusion in important national and international exhibitions, as well as its provenance from the collection of the Nobel Prize winner Camilo José Cela, gives this piece an added value in terms of historicity and rarity in the market.

Rafael Zabaleta is one of the most singular painters of the Spanish 20th century. His training at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, and his subsequent trip to Paris, allowed him to absorb the influences of cubism and expressionism, developing his own style in which the geometrization of forms and the use of vibrant color became signs of identity.
Throughout his career, Zabaleta exhibited in important international competitions, including the Venice Biennial and the Hispano-American Biennial, winning the prestigious UNESCO Prize in 1955. His work can be found in renowned museums and collections in cities such as Buenos Aires, New York and Tokyo, as well as occupying a prominent place in the Zabaleta Museum in Quesada.
With a relatively scarce production due to his early death in 1960, Zabaleta's works have gained increasing recognition in the art market, consolidating themselves as pieces of great historical and artistic value. El matarife represents a unique opportunity to acquire one of his most emblematic works, in which the expressive force of his style and his commitment to the representation of life and work in his native land converge.
His work, recognized for its vibrant color and formal synthesis, is represented in important institutions such as the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid), the Zabaleta-Miguel Hernández Museum (Quesada, dedicated to his legacy), and in prestigious international collections, such as those of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and the National Museum of Modern Art in Mexico, among others.