Enrique Moratalla Barba (1947–2018) - Bullfighting

Technical sheet

Author: Enrique Moratalla Barba (1947–2018)
Bullfighting Drawing
Chronology: 1976 (signed and dedicated)
Technique: Drawing with wax crayons on paper
Measurements: 33 × 40 cm (artwork) · 40 × 48 cm (framed)
Style: Bullfighting Graphic Expressionism
Pictorial school: Contemporary Spanish figuration with roots in genre painting.
Condition: Very good
Frame: Quality frame, made of molded and patinated wood, with an antique red textile mat, elegant and coherent with the bullfighting theme.

2. Compositional and iconographic description

The work depicts a bullfighting scene captured in full motion, with the bullfighter from behind performing a pass while the bull charges with force and contained tension. The composition is dynamic, asymmetrical, and deeply gestural, built through quick strokes and chromatic overlays.

The use of waxes allows for a direct, almost visceral expressiveness, where the color — ochres, blacks, yellows, and whites — does not describe but suggests rhythm, dust, and drama. Iconographically, the scene alludes to the tercio as a metaphor for vital coherence, reinforced by the handwritten dedication to critic Ruiz Porta.

3. Style, School, and Comparative Valuation

The work is part of a bullfighting graphic expressionism, close to the language of Roberto Domingo, Antonio Casero, or certain sketches by Pablo Picasso and Gutiérrez Solana in their most immediate and symbolic aspect.

Moratalla does not act as an academic painter but as a bullfighting intellectual who draws, which confers a high documentary and cultural value to the work.

It is a signed, dated, and dedicated piece, highly attractive for specialized collectors, combining artistic gesture, critical thought, and testimony of the Spanish bullfighting universe of the 20th century.