El Mago/Pim Pam Pum (The Magician/Pim Pam Pum)

Maruja Mallo blended depictions of spectacle with social critique in this painting, which was inspired by open-air celebrations, or verbenas, in Madrid. As she explained, these "cosmic festivals" began to shift in the 1920s from religious holidays to secular public celebrations. Here Mallo depicted the popular street-festival game Pim Pam Pum, in which participants toss balls at mannequin-like puppets on horseback. The artist modeled the titular magician wearing bright blue robes on Spanish poet and playwright Ramón del Valle-Inclán (1866-1936). Del Valle-Inclán's concept of esperpento—a literary genre known for distorted and exaggerated representations of reality—aligns with Mallo's vision in this lively and disorienting scene.