Rodolfo Morales

Throughout his life, Rodolfo Morales consistently combined surrealism with magical realism in his work, where folk tales met a modern, exuberant color palette. His paintings express a rich tapestry of fairy tales and dreams, magic and moods, tradition and religious mysticism. He depicted both city life, with its squares and churches, and the rural idyll, with harvest scenes from Oaxaca's fertile landscape. Morales' work combines his provincial heritage with international currents, influenced by artists such as Marc Chagall.
Each Morales painting tells a story. They are dreamy depictions of hard work and messages of love, joy and happiness, but also of spirituality. Characteristic of Morales' art is the rich use of color and deliberately distorted proportions, with hands, feet and faces often depicted in exaggerated scale. The motifs are interwoven with garlands of flowers, birds, bicycles, musical instruments and floating figures in motion. Morales nostalgically depicts his Mexican homeland with vibrant colors and dreamlike images of women going about their daily lives, he used his platform to draw attention to the challenges his community faced, and he frequently depicted nuns on bicycles, floating angels, and roaming dogs. Many of his works reflect his rural hometown of Ocotlán, which he left at a young age to study art in Mexico City. After his training, he worked for over thirty years as a drawing teacher, in parallel with his artistic career. With regular success on the international art scene, he was eventually able to return to his homeland to devote himself to painting full-time.
The painting in question is typical of the artist, with its strong colors and interwoven figure motifs.