Portrait of two girls 1933

Rafael Zabaleta made "Portrait of two girls" in oil paint. Zabaleta lays down areas of colour in flat blocks, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It feels like he’s feeling his way through the image, using thin washes of paint to build up the figures. It’s a painting where you can see all the artist's decisions, the hesitations, the slight adjustments. The way the paint sits on the surface is really interesting, it's like a record of the painting process. There's a real awkwardness in the relationship between the figures and the space, the blue shadow and the frames, it almost feels like they're collaged together from different sources. But it’s exactly this awkwardness that makes it so compelling. Look at the way the one girl is holding a tiny yellow flower, it is an odd, sweet detail. The painting has a simple style, reminiscent of children’s art. You can see this approach also in the work of Henri Rousseau, another painter who explored the power of simplicity and directness. It’s a reminder that art is not about perfection, but about expression and exploration.