After American liberation, Zobel studied history and literature at Harvard, where he would graduate magna cum laude in 1949. He continued to heed his artistic calling. Fascinated by the work of Reed Champion, James Pfeufer, and Hyman Bloom, Zobel began painting in the style of the Boston painters. He tried his hand at all kinds of techniques, including engraving, aquatint, and serigraphy.

Upon his return to the Philippines, in the 1950s, he struck up a friendship with Filipino artists, and with them set Philippine modernist art in motion. He helped create a sympathetic audience for modernist art, largely unappreciated at that time, by collecting paintings, helping set up exhibits and venues for viewing, and stimulating conversations about art among students and fellow painters.