José Vela Zanetti (Milagros, Burgos, 1913 - Burgos, 1999). "Peasants harvesting". Oil on canvas. It has slight damage to the frame. Signed in the lower left corner.

Lot description

JOSÉ VELA ZANETTI (Milagros, Burgos, 1913 - Burgos, 1999). "Peasants harvesting". Oil on canvas. It has slight damage to the frame. Signed in the lower left corner. Measurements: 60 x 73 cm; 88 x 101 cm (frame). This composition represents two peasant women working in the field, apparently in labors of harvest or threshing, a recurrent thematic in the production of Vela Zanetti, who knew how to exalt the physical and moral force of the rural workers, the scene is developed in an arid and vast landscape, of earthy and warm tones, where the ochers, reddish and browns predominate. The sky, intensely purple, provides a strong chromatic contrast that intensifies the dramatic atmosphere of the painting. In the foreground, two female figures with their backs turned, manipulate bundles of wheat, dressed in rustic clothes, headscarves and long skirts, elements that reinforce the peasant identity. The brushstrokes are vigorous, loose and expressive, particularly in the representation of the clothes and backgrounds, which generates a sensation of movement, tension and matter. The choice of female figures is not accidental: Vela Zanetti dignifies their role in agricultural work, highlighting strength, perseverance and connection to the land. Born in Milagros, in the province of Burgos, he moved to León with his family when he was a child. There he held his first exhibition in 1931. Supported by his father, after finishing high school he travels to Madrid for a few months to see exhibitions and visit the Prado Museum. Shortly afterwards he obtained a scholarship to visit Italy, granted by the Provincial Council of León. As a consequence of the Spanish Civil War he went to the Dominican Republic, where he remained until 1960. In Santo Domingo he started, together with other exiled artists, the National School of Fine Arts. During this period he held exhibitions and projects in Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico and the United States. In 1951 the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation of New York awarded him a grant for a singular project: the creation of a large-scale mural for one of the main spaces of the United Nations headquarters, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This project definitively catapulted the master from Burgos, and is today considered his most important work both for its symbolic relevance and for its expressiveness and artistic quality. He himself said of this work: "I hope that those who contemplate this mural will realize that peace must be won, not once and forever, but every day, remembering the sufferings of the past and making real what men aspire to for the future". Vela Zanetti also painted other important murals, such as those on historical themes for the Provincial Council of Burgos or the frescoes of the old Ercilia Theater in Barahona, Dominican Republic. He was an academician of San Fernando, and Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Burgos. The Centro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid held in 2001, under the title "Antológica", a retrospective exhibition on the work of Vela Zanetti, the most important to date. In 2009 an exhibition commemorating the tenth anniversary of his death was held at the Ángeles Penche gallery in Madrid. Soon, an important exhibition dedicated to the work of Vela Zanetti was held at the Fórum Evolución in Burgos, commemorating the centenary of his birth and the most complete anthology of this painter held to date. His works are currently preserved in the collections of the Caja Rural de Burgos and the Vela Zanetti Foundation in León, as well as murals in various cities in Spain, Santo Domingo, the United States, Colombia and Switzerland. Slight damage to the frame.