José Pérez Gil Perezgil (1918–1998) - Pollo fabado

Pérez Gil “Pérezgil” (Caudete, 1918 – Alicante, 1998)

“Pollo fabado”
Oil on canvas, 1957

An interesting oil on canvas by José Pérez Gil, known artistically as “Pérezgil” (1918–1998), a prominent Spanish painter of the 20th century and one of the most relevant figures of Alicante painting of his generation.

The work, titled “Pollo fabado,” appears signed and dated 1950 in the lower left corner, a circumstance that allows its precise placement within an early and especially interesting stage of the artist’s career.

The composition features a single suspended chicken, represented with great plastic force against a deliberately sober background. The position of the animal allows the body and plumage to unfold in different directions, generating a dynamic composition that contrasts with the stillness characteristic of the genre of still life.

One of the most notable aspects of the painting is precisely the treatment of the plumage. Pérezgil builds the body with a vigorous, visible brushstroke, overlapping browns, reddish tones, ochres, blacks, grays, and small light touches. The painterly material thus takes on an important protagonism and allows differentiating the different zones of the animal by color and brush direction.

The head and the comb, located at the bottom, introduce intense reddish notes that focus the viewer’s attention, while the white and bluish reflections of the plumage provide luminosity and enrich the chromatic composition.

The background, solved with a restrained range of earth tones and grayish hues, avoids any anecdotal element that could compete with the main subject. Especially interesting is the shadow cast by the animal, which reinforces the sense of volume and depth and demonstrates Pérezgil’s attention to the study of light.

The work links to the long Spanish tradition of bodegones and still lifes with animals, but is interpreted through a language fully characteristic of the mid-20th century. Figurative precision coexists with a free, expressive execution, particularly evident in the plumage, where the brushstroke ceases to be merely descriptive and becomes an autonomous plastic element.

About José Pérez Gil “Pérezgil”

José Pérez Gil was born in Caudete (Albacete) in 1918 and died in Alicante in 1998. His life and career were deeply linked to Alicante, a city he arrived at as a young man and where he would eventually occupy a particularly prominent position in the cultural scene.

He completed his higher studies at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, later enhancing his training through various stays abroad, including France, Switzerland and Italy.

Throughout his extensive career he developed a figurative painting of strong personality. Although he achieved particular recognition as a landscape painter, a genre in which he produced some of his best-known works, he also cultivated the still life, the nature morte, the portrait, interiors and drawing.

His pictorial language is characterized by a special concern for light, color, matter and the construction of volumes, evolving toward an increasingly freer and more expressive brushwork without abandoning figural reference.

The date of 1950 makes this work an interesting testimony of a consolidation phase in his career. By that time Pérezgil had already completed his academic training and was beginning to gain recognition within the Spanish art scene.

His career received numerous awards and distinctions. In addition to his activity as a painter, he carried out important teaching and cultural work. He became an corresponding academic of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, a member of the Consell Valencià de Cultura and was honored as a Adopted Son of Alicante.

His production is currently represented in various museums, institutions and public and private collections, consolidating Pérezgil as one of the representative figures of Levantine Spanish painting of the 20th century.

Condition

The work is in good overall condition given its age. Its exact condition can be seen in detail in the photographs, which form an integral part of the description.

It is presented with a rustic wooden frame, in keeping with the character of the composition. The frame may show scuffs, wear and small signs derived from the passage of time.

“Pollo fabado” constitutes an interesting dated work by Pérezgil, both for its realization in 1950 and for the singularity of the subject and, especially, for the quality of the painting treatment of the animal. The chromatic richness of the plumage, the energetic brushwork and the studied treatment of light convert a traditional still-life subject into a composition of notable plastic strength.