Family of puppeteers 1934

Rafael Zabaleta made this painting of a puppeteer family, probably in the 1950’s, using oil on canvas. Zabaleta doesn’t so much paint as construct these figures, layering strokes of color like brickwork. There’s a muted palette at play, earth tones mingling with dusky blues, hinting at a world bathed in twilight, or maybe it is the footlights? Look closely at the figure on the left, and how the brushwork suggests the curve of her arm. These aren't delicate contours; there's a real physical presence to them. You can almost feel the weight of the paint. This relates to Zabaleta’s wider body of work, where he captures everyday life with dignity and a kind of quiet poignancy. You might think of Picasso’s circus performers, but Zabaleta seems to ground them in a more humble reality. It’s this embrace of the ordinary that makes his work so compelling. In art, like life, sometimes the most profound statements are whispered, not shouted.