Peasant family 1957

Rafael Zabaleta made this painting of a Peasant Family, we don’t know exactly when, using oils on canvas. There’s something really interesting about the way Zabaleta paints these figures. It's not about getting every detail right, but more about the overall shapes and colors. He uses these strong, almost blocky lines, that give the painting a kind of grounded, solid feel. The textures seem built up, especially in the woman's dress, where the paint is layered in thick strokes. These marks aren’t just descriptive; they’re expressive, almost like the paint itself is alive and breathing. The way he's built up the surfaces and textures, it’s like he wants you to feel the weight and substance of these people and their lives. It reminds me of some of Leger's paintings, particularly in the way he simplifies and stylizes figures into almost mechanical forms. Both artists are clearly more interested in the universal than the particular.