Women in countryside 1943

Rafael Zabaleta made this painting, *Women in countryside*, with oil on canvas. There’s a mix of careful planning and spontaneous mark-making. I can almost see Zabaleta stepping back, squinting, and then lunging forward to add a dab of thick paint, maybe adjusting the line of the woman's eyes, or the way the light hits the pitcher. The color palette is earthy, but then those bright jolts of red and blue give it a jolt. It is like Zabaleta is trying to figure something out about shape and form. Maybe he’s thinking about Picasso or Gris, but really trying to find his own voice. I wonder if he was thinking about the long history of painters painting women – was he trying to do something different? It feels like he wanted to capture the inner life, not just the outer appearance, and the materiality of the paint is really singing. That is, the texture and color have their own story to tell. Painters are always in conversation with each other, across time, and this piece feels like a part of that ongoing dialogue. The artist is having his say.