Ángel Zárraga's 'Las futbolistas': The First Painting of Women's Football

Ángel Zárraga's 1922 oil painting 'Las futbolistas', held at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, is recognized as the first artwork dedicated to women's football. It depicts three players from the Sportives de Paris team—Jeannette Ivanoff, Henriette Comte, and Théresè Renaut—after winning the French championship in April 1922. Zárraga, a Mexican painter based in France, merged cubist influences with a return to realism, focusing on urban life and sports. The painting features strong, muscular legs, challenging 1920s feminine ideals. The work is part of a broader context of feminist movements and women's sports, as highlighted by contemporary publications like La Femme Sportive. Zárraga also painted 'El joven futbolista' (1927), the first depiction of a Black footballer, and 'Dimanche' (1931), the first still life on football. The article discusses the political implications of Zárraga's art, portraying women as modern, emancipated figures.