Vicente Silva Manansala, born in the Philippines, is internationally celebrated for his groundbreaking work in Cubism. He pursued fine arts at the University of the Philippines and later studied in Paris and New York City. As countries began recognizing the potential in Manansala's drawings in the late 1940s, he was offered grants and fellowships from the United States, Canada, and France. Today, Vicente Silva Manansala art for sale is highly coveted.
Though he studied classical painting, Chinese calligraphy, and stained glass art, his passion lay in Cubism. As a result, Vicente Silva Manansala paintings and drawings portray Filipino culture through his unique spin on the style, now called Transparent Cubism. This artistic technique can be seen in Vicente Silva Manansala drawings, where poverty, nudity, and intimacy are expressed through overlapping, translucent brush strokes. Buyers can experience many artistic takes on fine nude drawings on gallery listings and at auction.
Nude signed and dated 1977 (upper right) charcoal on paper 24" x 18" (61 cm x 46 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist National Artist Vicente Manansala left an indelible mark on the Philippine art scene with his diverse body of work, which includes oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings, as well as graphite and charcoal studies. His art spanned from realistic to abstract compositions, but at the core of his artistic philosophy was the mastery of drawing. “Drawing is the most important weapon a painter must possess. Without it he is at a loss,” he once said. So, he continuously practiced drawing, which resulted in a number of portraits and nude drawings. Manansala’s 1977 Nude is a striking demonstration of his unrivaled mastery of any style and medium. Like Amorsolo’s nude paintings, Manansala has a talent for preserving his subjects’—mostly women—dignity despite having their bodies on full display. Manansala’s nude studies, as the name suggests, were studies of the human anatomy, an essentially good subject, aside from basic geometrical shapes, to practice light and shadow using charcoal and graphite. Moreover, this piece shows Manansala’s dedication and commitment to his craft, for charcoal painting requires a substantial amount of time and patience. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY FROM THE FREDDIE AND ELIZABETH WEBB COLLECTION Nude signed and dated 1981 (upper left) charcoal on paper 35 1/2" x 23 1/2" (90 cm x 60 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist Despite his status as a proficient painter, Vicente Manansala always remembers to return to his roots as an artist. “Drawing is the most important weapon a painter must possess. Without it he is as at a loss,” he once said, as quoted by Rod Paras-Perez in Manansala Nudes. This steadfast pursuit for improvement and constant return to the basics led Manansala to the Otis Art Institute in 1967. Already fifty-seven with a veritable list of accolades below his belt Manasala continued his journey for improvement. This refresher invigorated the artist’s oeuvres, returning to the image that was the primary interest of classistic art and molding it to his unique vision. As such, this 1981 Nude shows the height at which Manansala scaled to stand side by side with the masters of the past. Showing immense knowledge of light and shadows, nude is a way to show the interconnectivity of one’s body, its anatomy flowing from one part to another while each part can stand on its own. “Manansala’s nude studies … thus present a surface flatness with planes hinting at a highly uneven grid,” Paras Perez says. “And suggested within was the figure, with gestural contours or textures. Dark and light definitions tended to be within broadly stated planes often disposed axially. Diagonal movement into the pictorial space were tightly controlled and sparsely used, almost like accents. ” (Hannah Valiente)
Nude signed, dated and inscribed Paris, 1950 (lower left) oil on wood 22” x 18” (56 cm x 46 cm) PROVENANCE: Saint Paul Auction, 20th Century Art - Design - Street Art, La Colle-sur-Loup, France, 19 May 2024, Lot 107 This early work by Manansala from his Parisian Period of 1950-51 shows the modernist maestro bridging the gap between his academic past and his neorealist inclination, the distillation of the figure yet retaining its humanistic essence. This painting had recently been rediscovered in a private collection in the South of France, which Manansala visited during his Parisian sojourn as evidenced by a watercolor work depicting the scenic island of Port-Cros, now home to a national park. Manansala’s “Identity Crisis” of the Early ‘50s At the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Banff in Alberta, Canada in 1949, Manansala felicitously had his first brush with Cubism through Joe Plaskett. In his all-important monograph on Manansala, Rod. Paras-Perez notes that the artist’s initial dabble into Cubism while in Canada would take hold of his artistic vision, albeit gradually. Manansala’s Parisian Period of 1950-51 An Artist In Search of a Pure Creative Expression by ADRIAN MARANAN “I like to think that my stay in Paris is the most alive segment of my life. And my life in Paris began at the receiving end of kindness and hospitality. It is only through such routes that a foreigner can feel at home in Paris, through kindness, friendliness, respect, and hospitality, of which the Parisien abounds. “I had a number of friends in Paris, and it was with a kind heart and a warm wisdom that they led me into the inner corridors of the true and finer aspects of living in Paris. And in such secure atmosphere, my sensitivity was sharpened, my sense of observation rendered acute, my emotions screwed tight, attuned, not only to the purpose for which I was sent to Paris, but also to the artistic climate that is most invigorating to the creative impulses, most prodding to the development of new approaches, and fresher lines of endeavor in the rediscovery of the elements of good and fine art. Not along the surface, and therefore mildly superficial elements, but more of the profound, the deeper, and penetrating elements that strike at the marrow of vital sources from which great art springs.” —VICENTE MANANSALA’S REMINISCENCES ON HIS “PARISIAN PERIOD” OF 1950-51, EXCERPT FROM THE ESSAY “MANANSALA ON PARIS,” PUBLISHED IN ROD. PARASPEREZ’S “MANANSALA: NUDES” (1989) “Manansala left Canada without having done enough cubist landscapes akin to Joe Plaskett’s,” Paras-Perez writes. “But the germ of a vision was already in him. There was exasperation in his inability to produce a body of works in the newfound direction. He knew with certitude that future paintings would be touched by the vision.” Manansala’s primary luminary, Botong Francisco, and his style would still take hold of his identity. He would then admit in a 1973 interview with Cid Reyes that not only did he emulate the essence of Botong’s style, but also the “feeling.” However, this influence disturbed Manansala, as he was now in his middle age and still unable to master a style of his own. Also, the Filipino modernists’ resolve to break away from the Amorsolo tradition was only getting more intense, further spurred by the destruction brought by the war. Manansala had a “creative identity crisis.” Aside from casting away his “Botong-ness,” he had to find a way to bridge his partiality for figurative painting—honed at the UP School of Fine and shaped to modernity by Botong’s influence—and his newfound experience of total abstraction that is Cubism. A Filipino Boursier in The City of Lights In September 1950, the French Government awarded Manansala the privilege of being a boursier or scholar at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of the University of Paris. He became the first Filipino to be accorded such distinction. The scholarship, which was secured by Jacques Grobois of the French international news agency Agence France Presse from the French government, was originally given to H.R. Ocampo, who sadly declined it as he was his family’s breadwinner. It was then given to Manansala, whose plane tickets were paid for by Pura Villanueva-Kalaw. Manansala came under the artistic guidance of venerable masters, including the cubists Fernand Leger and Andre Lhote, the great Fauve Maurice de Vlaminck, and the French modernist Jean Lombard. He also frequented the Lapin a Gill, the famous Montmartre cabaret once frequented by the likes of Picasso, Braque, and Matisse. An interesting footnote in Manansala’s Parisian sojourn is that unlike other artists, he relatively did not experience major financial struggles Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil, in her Weekly Women’s Magazine article titled “One Year of the PAG,” writes that “Manansala…who studied and observed in Paris…sold every painting he produced in that discriminating city.” This ease of financial burden was also assisted by the pension grant given to Manansala by the Roseville College in Sampaloc, Manila before he left. In Paris, Manansala’s Creative Core Was Shaken In the former global art capital, until everything else shifted to New York, Manansala found dynamic solace. In fact, he himself said that his stay in Paris was “the most alive segment of my life.” He visited museums, such as the Louvre, trying to uncover the feeling of each artwork he saw, rather than looking at what technique was used. In Paris, his distinct Cubist identity began to be solidified through his studies with Leger. But it was the French painter Gen Paul, dubbed “The Last Great Painter of Montmartre,” that greatly influenced Manansala. Manansala did not escape the spellbinding charm of hilly Montmartre—the heart and soul of bohemian Paris that birthed the great styles of Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism and a place once called home by van Gogh, Braque, and Picasso among others. In his reminiscences, Manansala raved on Montmartre’s “exuberant air of freedom and tolerance.” It was in this place that he befriended Gen Paul, whom he fortuitously met at a café and had a chat with (Manansala recounts that he did not recognize Gen Paul at first until a friend came and slapped him on the shoulder, saying it was the person whom he wanted to meet since his arrival in Paris.). “[Gen Paul] used to invite me to his atelier, and I talked to him and watched him while he worked, and then he would haunt the cafes of Montmartre and talk about things most intimate to artists and painters,” Manansala recounts. “[In him], I found again the definitions of true art.” Manansala continues, “I spent long hours listening to him talk, or watching him work, and always, in many eloquent ways, he projected that importance of deliberate persistence to search for the true expression, the true condition of mind, body, and soul dedicated to the clear approach to beauty, truth, and the basic and significant.” Through Gen Paul, Manansala arrived at a consequential endeavor, which, in his own words, is “to search for the true and pure expression.” Nude In An Armchair, A Turning Point in Manansala’s Career This 1950 work titled Nude in an Armchair sees Manansala venturing into a resolution. The nude figure was where Manansala wedded his conservative training and flourishing yet still anxious modernist identity. “For many artists like Manansala, who have been trained in the classical tradition, drawing the human form is still the peak to be scaled, the Mount Everest that unlocks vistas of fine painting,” Paras-Perez writes in the book Manansala: Nudes. Not only that “it remained for him the ultimate test of good draftsmanship,” as Paras-Perez notes, but it “remained his regular affirmation and paean to discipline and virtuosity.” In the work at hand, the background and the flooring are essentially rendered in a cubist configuration. Characteristic of Manansala’s future trademark practice, he eschews depth in favor of flatness, in which background and foreground visually merge into one. Notice that the background and flooring are homogenized through the shunning of depth, a fundamental of Cubism. Colors are whimsical, much like in the manner of the Fauvists. This is likely an influence of Vlaminck and of Gen Paul, whose manner of using color is in line with spontaneity and fluidity. This kind of color application also evokes Manansala’s dynamic character as a master colorist. The nude figure stands out from the composition through its relative brightness, her skin luminous, with tinges of white and varying gradations of tones showing Manansala experimenting on a transparent effect. The subject possesses a bold elegance that still evokes Botong’s style. Smooth brushwork characterizes the entire composition, consistent with Manansala’s classical training. At the same time, the figure retains the adherence to the human body’s form and proportion, the necessity to maintain its naturalistic essence while distorting it at the same time. This not only highlights Manansala’s dexterity in the human figure cultivated through his conservative schooling but also a foreshadowing of his future style, in which he preserves the sheer realism of a particular subject through delicate planes of superimposed transparency, a reminder of his NeoRealist identity to fragment and recreate, drawn from the harrowing experiences of the world war and the restoration of humanity amid the ruins. Manansala certainly knew that to free one’s creative mind, one must first subscribe to the traditions to learn how to break them. Nude in an Armchair shows Manansala in transition, bridging the gap between his conservative education and his appetite for neo-realist boldness, a harmony among technique, form, and essence, and personal expression, paving the way for his iconic Transparent Cubism. A charcoal drawing by Manansala, done at the same time frame as the work on offer, was auctioned by Leon Gallery in 2017, depicting the same model, with her hair tied up, sitting in the same chair in the same room. Manansala learned from Gen Paul the importance of experimenting on various expressions until one arrives at the “true and pure expression.” Manansala writes, “I have watched him, day after day, work on the linear representation of a model playing with a guitar. Every day, he did the same stint again and again, yesterday’s effort a different work from today’s and tomorrow’s another expression of the same model.”
PROPERTY FROM THE LEOPOLDO L. CORONEL JR. COLLECTION Trees signed and dated 1955 (lower left) watercolor on paper 24” x 183/4” (61 cm x 48 cm) While Vicente Manansala is best known for his transparent cubism paintings, it is worth noting that he also explored realism earlier in his career, with his subjects focusing on landscapes and genre scenes. This 1955 watercolor painting yet again demonstrates Manansala’s versatility and adaptability across styles and mediums. This piece titled Trees features a forest-like topography amid Autumn, probably a scene he commonly observes in his overseas sojourns. Exhibiting his unrivaled proficiency, the artist expertly painted this piece using the wet-on-wet technique, dabbing the watercolor from a wet brush onto the damp surface of the paper. The colors seemingly blend with each other but still with distinguishable tree figures, creating an image of a soft and misty autumn forest against a clear blue sky. A significant figure in Philippine art history, Manansala’s ability to impress the local and international art scenes with his diverse masterpieces is a testament to his enduring artistic legacy. Shortly after his death in 1981, Vicente Manansala was named a National Artist for Painting. (Jessica Magno)
Untitled signed and dated 1965 (lower right) ink and wash on paper 29" x 21" (74 cm x 54 cm) PROVENANCE: Private collection, Spain Vicente Manasala’s abstractionism takes on many different forms throughout his illustrious career. In his “constant search for a unique expression,” as Isabel Nazareno notes in his monograph Discovering Manansala, he has turned out a multitude of styles including but not limited to his consummate master of Transparent Cubism, the artist’s own take in the harsh Cubist style melded with the romantic Filipino figures. In this 1965 work, Manansala takes on yet another form of abstraction. Eschewing his sharp edges and harsh colors, this work basks in amorphous blobs done in ink wash on paper. He overlaps gray shapes on top of each other, making even this minimalist piece embody Filipino maximalism, which art professor Felipe M. de Leon Jr. writes is "a manifestation of the Filipinos' highly sensitive and expressive nature that is rooted in communal existence." “Nothing stays stationary for Manansala,” writes Rod Paras -Perez in Manansala. “His whims are mercurial, his interests varied.” Indeed, as each shape ebbed and flowed into one another, Manansala proved yet again that another aspect in his art refused to remain stationary – his emotions in all their complexity remain as a primary driving force all throughout his oeuvre. (Hannah Valiente)
Neo-Realist Pangguinge signed and dated 1952 (upper right) oil on wood 12" x 16" (30 cm x 41 cm) PROVENANCE: Private collection, Manila The Neo-Realist Gamble Winner Takes All in the Game of Art and Life It’s hard to imagine what Manila in 1945 must have felt like. Completely devastated, it was a place of jagged landscapes and people burying their dead. But it was also a moment for renewal and re-invention. In the years after the war, bookended by the years 1946 and 1947, the Manila art scene was seething with intellectual energy. This is in itself was a completely remarkable phenomenon. Rising magnificently above the rubble of World War II, undeterred by the grim necessity of rebuilding the lives of an entire generation, the Filipino artist fought against all odds to keep the seven arts alive. In fact, it seemed to be an urgent responsibility to bring it back to life in the face of the direst of circumstances. In 1948, the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP)— perhaps not officially the first of its kind because there were one or two other salon-oriented organizations in the 1920s — was founded. It was the brainchild of the tireless, energetic Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, a sugar planter’s daughter. Tellingly, its offices were to be found first on the ruins of the University of the Philippines (where the Supreme Court stands today) and later in the pock-marked remains of the National Museum. Its first competitive exhibitions would also take place there : Carlos “Botong Francisco” would win first prize for Kaingin, a work that portrayed subsistence farmers scrabbling for land. It spelled such a sea change that the next year Edades was publicly and dramatically called out in the press over the cause of modern art by no less than the venerable Guillermo Tolentino, respected sculptor and academic cohort of the grand old man Fernando Amorsolo at the University of the Philippines. Thus, in 1949, the AAP would be sufficiently pressured by the figurative painters among its membership to announce two categories for their painting competitions : the ‘Modern’ and the ‘Conservative.’ For one reason or another, these classifications were abolished in 1950 — allowing a group that had named themselves the ‘Neo-Realists’ to scoop up all the major awards in a grand slam of three back-to-back competitions. That feat cemented their reputations for generations to come. Vicente Manansala would say, “Edades cracked open the door for Filipino modern art”— motioning with his thumb and forefinger to demonstrate the narrowest of spaces — “but it was HR Ocampo who kicked down the door.” Who exactly was this band of audacious brothers? On June 9th, 1950 — exactly in the middle of the first year of the mid-century, the Manila Times (circulation : 1 Million readers a day) ran a small notice buried on page 5, headlined “AAP to Sponsor First Neo-Realist Art Exhibition.” It was scheduled the following weekend from June 17 to 25 at the Manila Hotel — and it would be the first time the word “NeoRealist” would appear in public — the announcement went on to explain that it had taken its cue from the 19th-century literary critic, Francesco de Sanctis. “To create reality, an artist must have the force to kill it. But instantly, the fragments draw together, seeking one another, with the obscure presentiment of the new life in which they are destined.” Hernando R. Ocampo was the ringleader of this group that included Cesar Legaspi, Vicente Manansala, Romeo Tabuena, Ramon Estella, Victor Oteyza, and Nena Saguil. If the AAP would be the first building block in the story of Filipino modern art, then the Neo-Realists were the second. The Neo-Realists were also the country’s first or first-known, properly accorded “social realists” — painting of the half-lives in Manila slums, the “barong barong” (a makeshift house made of discarded materials) that was home to almost all of post-War Manila. Composed of writers and journalists, reporters and editorial cartoonists, they would become a force to reckon with; so much so that when the Philippine Art Gallery opened its doors as the first gallery exclusively to champion the cause of abstract art, they were natural allies. Together, they would form a powerful ecosystem. It was in the midst of this creative cauldron that this painting by Manansala was made — a portrait of the brothers-in-arms that would set the course of Philippine art as boldly as Juan Luna and Resurreccion Hidalgo and their heirs Fernando Amorsolo and Guillermo Tolentino did before them. Manansala invites us into a mis-en-scene, as a fly on the wall of a house that could only be HR Ocampo’s (the familiar wroughtiron lattice-work on the windows are a giveaway). Four men gamble on a game of chance, friendly foes all. Cesar Legazpi, HR’s bestie and closest confidante, can be seen to his right. The other seats at the table are for Arturo Luz, the youngest of them, while Victor Oteyza makes the fourth in this hand. Magtanggul Asa writing in the exhibition catalogue for what he would term “The First Exhibit of Non-Objective Art in Tagala’, hailed HR Ocampo as “the Father of Non-Objective Art in the Philippines”.
Filipino, 1910-1981 Untitled, 1957 Signed and dated Manansala 57 (lr) Oil on Masonite 25 x 13 3/4 inches (63.5 x 35 cm) (Framed dimensions: 26 1/8 x 14 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches) Frame rubbing with scattered small chips along edge. The corners of the panel are rounded. The work is apparently on the reverse of a discarded earlier work. No evidence of restoration under UV inspection.
Nude dated 1967 charcoal on paper 27 1/4" x 36 1/2" (69 cm x 93 cm) PROVENANCE Cultural Center of the Philippines EXHIBITED Cultural Center of the Philippines, Summer Exhibition 1970, Manila, April - May 1970
Nude dated 1967 charcoal on paper 35" x 24 1/2" (89 cm x 62 cm) PROVENANCE Cultural Center of the Philippines EXHIBITED Cultural Center of the Philippines, Summer Exhibition 1970, Manila, April - May 1970
Filipino, 1910-1981 Village, 1955 Signed and dated Manansala 55 (lr) Watercolor on paper 17 5/8 x 23 5/8 inches (44.8 x 60 cm) (Frame: 23 x 29 inches) Toned; some matburn; taped to mat along the top verso edge; tape residue along the outer edges, not in image. There is an unfinished sketch of a woman on the verso.
Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981) Woman Carrying Signed and dated '52' (1952, lower right) Mixed media 28 x 13.4 cm (11 x 5 1/2 in) Still Life Signed and dated '52' (1952, lower left) Mixed media 11.5 x 24 cm (4 1/2 x 9 1/2 in)
PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION Landscape signed, dated 1971 and inscribed Binangonan (lower right) watercolor on paper 18 1/2” x 24 3/4” (47 cm x 63 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist WRITE UP Perhaps Vicente Manansala’s prolific artistry knows no boundaries. The esteemed National Artist graced the Philippine art scene with multitudinous works in varying styles, mediums, and figures throughout his artistic career. But regardless of the techniques and materials used, Manansala’s masterpieces were intensely and undeniably Filipino. This particular piece, a serene landscape from Binangonan, Rizal, captures the town’s tranquil hilly topography and lush greenery. The image seems to offer a perspective of someone enjoying a moment of respite in the shade of the trees, gazing at the peaceful hilly terrain bathed in the warm glow of the sun. Devoid of Manansala’s signature vibrant hues and transparent cubism, this piece is made with watercolor, haphazardly layered upon each other but still with distinguishable figures. This created a soft, hazy picture, a view reminiscent of a Filipino’s drooping eyes as he immersed himself in a peaceful siesta time. Indeed, this piece has proven Manansala’s authority in Philippine art history, a maestro who can skillfully craft any art piece, no matter the style and medium. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION a.) Untitled signed and dated 1976 (upper right) watercolor on paper 20” x 14” (51 cm x 36 cm) b.) Forestscape signed and dated 1976 (upper left) watercolor on paper PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist WRITE UP Watercolor may have been a difficult medium to master for some, but for the maestro Vicente Manansala, it is a walk in the park. “Watercolor is one of my favorite media,” he says as recalled by his monograph Discovering Manansala by Isabel A. Nazareno. “[The] beauty of watercolor [is that] it demands you to control it. It is difficult if you allow it to control you.” In this 1976 watercolor work, Manansala showcases his mastery of aquarelle. He depicts a hazy sunlit vision of a walkway, the path lined with trees in full bloom. The translucent quality of watercolor was utilized as Manansala layers the watery medium to create the wide foliage of the tree stretching out of the canvas. The colors portray a soft image of the place with the light yellow sunlight filtering through the trees washing the scene as if in a dream. Ever since childhood, Manansala has excelled in manipulating difficult watercolors. Through the years, as exemplified by this piece, Manansala’s skills bloomed, making his watercolor pieces among the best in his oeuvre. (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION Landscape stamped (lower left) watercolor on paper mounted on board 8 1/2” x 11 1/2” (22 cm x 29 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist WRITE UP “Watercolor is one of my favorite media. [The] beauty of watercolor [is that] it demands you to control it. It is difficult if you allow it to control you.” Vicente Manansala (as recalled by Isabel A. Nazareno’s Discovering Manansala) has always been taken with watercolors. A difficult medium for some, watercolor is a favored medium for the maestro, as evidenced by this Landscape. Depicting a hazy bright sunny afternoon, the layering ability of watercolors gave the image a soft image, making this piece, like many of his watercolor paintings, among the best the National artist has to offer. (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION Nude signed and dated 1979 (upper left) charcoal on paper 28 1/2” x 20 1/2” (72 cm x 52 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist WRITE UP Ever the prolific artist, National Artist Vicente Manansala continued to relentlessly pursue the art of drawing. At the height of his career, Manansala would rise well before the sun to sketch for hours on end and he pursued both abstraction and realism with similar fervor, resulting in stacks of studies that showcased Manansala’s dexterity. “[Drawing] is the most important weapon a painter must possess. Without it, he is at a loss,” he said in 1953 as noted in Rod Paras-Perez’s Manansala Nudes. In continued pursuit of excellence, Manansala studied drawing at the Otis Art Institute in California in 1967 when he was already decades into his career with an impressive list of achievements already under his belt. More than a decade after his enrollment, Manansala created this 1979 Nude. More than showing Manansala’s masterful handle at technique and shadows, his nude pieces following his overseas education show the revitalization of his art – by then, he had deconstructed and reconstructed the human figure and learned to view them in a different light. As he played with the dynamics of light and shadow, Manansala expertly wielded the charcoal to create a masterpiece that indicates depth, emotions, and dedication. (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION Still Life signed, dated 1976, and inscribed L.A. (upper left) oil on canvas 24” x 36” (61 cm x 91 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist LITERATURE: Paras-Perez, Rodolfo. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Full color illustration and painting description on page 174. WRITE UP Manansala’s Still Life Capturing the Filipino Collective Spirit The beauty of Vicente Manansala’s Cubism stems from the originality with which he took to the genre. His first profound encounter with Cubism was in 1949 when he, as a UNESCO scholar in Canada, began flirting with the then-burgeoning Cubism as a way to understand and emphasize the planes on his canvases. It was no more than a brush; however, that brush was more than enough to nudge Manansala down that direction – it was a path that would shape the perspective he would take with his oeuvre. Following his stint with Cubism, Manansala took it and manipulated it to serve his personal view – he simplified its methods, flattening the figures without distorting their shapes. In Manansala’s works, his figures retain their structure while dissolving into their base composition; unlike the style of analytic cubism, his works retain their essential forms, tones, and shapes that are both delicate and translucent in quality. His 1976 Still Life is a culmination of his illustrious lifelong career. A visual treat of an image, Manansala's Still Life overflows with colors. Eagle-eyed viewers may notice that Manansala used the same colors as the Philippine flag – the yellows of the mangoes, the blue of the bowl, and the red light washing over the table are the same shades of the flag, echoing the Filipino sensibilities that call to Manansala over and over again The beauty of Vicente Manansala’s Cubism stems from the originality with which he took to the genre. His first profound encounter with Cubism was in 1949 when he, as a UNESCO scholar in Canada, began flirting with the then-burgeoning Cubism as a way to understand and emphasize the planes on his canvases. It was no more than a brush; however, that brush was more than enough to nudge Manansala down that direction – it was a path that would shape the perspective he would take with his oeuvre. Following his stint with Cubism, Manansala took it and manipulated it to serve his personal view – he simplified its methods, flattening the figures without distorting their shapes. In Manansala’s works, his figures retain their structure while dissolving into their base composition; unlike the style of analytic cubism, his works retain their essential forms, tones, and shapes that are both delicate and translucent in quality. His 1976 Still Life is a culmination of his illustrious lifelong career. A visual treat of an image, Manansala's Still Life overflows with colors. Eagle-eyed viewers may notice that Manansala used the same colors as the Philippine flag – the yellows of the mangoes, the blue of the bowl, and the red light washing over the table are the same shades of the flag, echoing the Filipino sensibilities that call to Manansala over and over again Sharp lines expertly guide the viewer's eyes from one element to another, acting both as marks for the viewers to notice as well as the light filtering through the window. The usual items found in a Filipino table are depicted in this painting – one can see mangoes, a mortar and pestle, and a black pot, among others, reduced to their basic elements but not fragmented. Still Life, like many of the works of Manansala, relishes in the warmth and belongingness that permeates the Filipino culture. His still lifes echoes the diversity that, ironically enough, binds the Filipinos together, his kitchen still life as quintessential a Filipino view as ever. (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION Roses with Bird of Paradise signed, dated, and inscribed L.A. 1978 (upper left) oil on canvas 30” x 30” (76 cm x 76 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist LITERATURE: Paras-Perez, Rodolfo. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Full color illustration and painting description on page 170. WRITE UP Manansala’s Flight of Fancy From Binangonan To Los Angeles Regarded as one of the key figures in Philippine art history, National Artist Vicente Manansala ornamented the country’s art scene with his vibrant hues and prolific masterpieces. He is known for his innumerable and diverse body of works: landscapes and portraits, realism and abstraction, created with oil, acrylic, watercolor, graphite, etc. Each medium he used served a specific purpose in his artistic expression. Manansala’s pieces are characterized by his folksy, earthy, and sensuous subjects featuring the barrio and urban life—or a bridge between them. Manansala is most known for his cubism paintings, a style he first encountered when he studied in Canada in 1949. Finally understanding the ins and outs of cubism, Manansala modified and improved it to his liking, making it his own genre. This modification resulted in Manansala’s highly regarded transparent cubism, simplifying objects to their most basic geometric shapes without distorting or completely fragmenting them. This style, along with his kaleidoscopic and vibrant colors, created a series of highstanding masterpieces. The work at hand, bearing Manansala’s signature style and colors, was made during his two-month vacation in Los Angeles in 1978. It illustrates a vase and a bowl atop a table—all are glasses. On the vase were three roses in different colors—pink, red, and yellow—and a lone piece of a bird of paradise flower. However, Roses with Bird of Paradise is not just a still life. It’s a rich tapestry of symbolism and meaning. The roses, often associated with love and passion, also carry a hint of danger with their spiky thorns. The bird of paradise, on the other hand, symbolize freedom. Their flower, resembling a bird in flight, represents the ability to soar above conflict and restriction; it seems to be flying towards the blue wall, a color associated with peace and serenity. This piece, therefore, could be a portrayal of the Philippines’ fight for peace and freedom, or it could simply be a depiction of the lovely flowers Manansala saw in LA. Throughout his career, Manansala continuously graced the country with his exceptional talent: paintings in different sizes, mediums, styles, and subject matter. Indeed, his transparent cubism set him apart from his contemporaries, whose works materialized in fragmented cubism and distortion, a venerated technique that cemented Manansala’s name in Philippine art. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION a.) London Scene b.) Barcelona Cityscape a.) signed, dated 1976, and inscribed London (upper right) watercolor on paper 20” x 14” (51 cm x 36 cm) b.) signed, dated 1976, and inscribed Barcelona (upper left) watercolor on paper 20” x 14 1/4” (51 cm x 36 cm) WRITE UP Vicente Manansala’s oeuvre is intensely and obviously Filipino. With his jewel-colored palette and noticeable Filipino elements decorating his canvases, one need not take a second look to see how the Philippines has deeply inspired him. The country and its culture have cemented their way into Manansala’s body of works, immortalized in the hands of the maestro. However, Manansala has ventured out of the Philippine shores to further hone his artistic skills. First at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Banff and Ecole de Beaux Arts de Montreal Canada in 1949, Ecole de Beaux Arts of the University of Paris in 1950, and then at the Otis Institute in Los Angeles in 1967, Manansala ventured into Europe in 1974. He visited Berlin, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich, and Amsterdam, among others, soaking in the historically and artistically rich region of Europe. This European influence is evident in these 1976 watercolor paintings. With one dated from London and another from Barcelona, Manansala’s European sojourn is well documented by the artist himself. These pieces, unlike Manansala’s clear-cut transparent cubism, utilize the malleable and easily layered watercolor; the medium creates a diffused effect, a great touch on the city scene Manansala depicts. The result is a softer, hazier image with Manansala masterfully translating the rainy day fog of his London piece and the bright sun in his Barcelona work in his canvas. As a member of the Thirteen Moderns and the neo-realists, Manansala’s impact cannot be understated. “Manansala’s vision of the city and his fundamentally native Filipino approach to his subjects would influence numerous artists who took up his folk themes within an urban context,” says his artist biography at the Geringer Art website. Indeed, his works revel in the novel, steadfastly barreling through the conservative to create his path that would cement his place in Philippine art history. (Hannah Valiente)
Woman Playing Guitar signed, dated 1978, and inscribed L.A. (upper left) oil on canvas 30” x 30” (76 cm x 76 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist LITERATURE: Paras-Perez, Rodolfo. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Full color illustration and painting description on page 229. WRITE UP The Chromatic Series of Manansala Inang Bayan Serenading the Filipino People Vicente Manansala, from the 1970s onwards to the final years of his life, was an artist most sought-after and a man admired by many for his humble and homespun character, candid frankness, strong sense of humor, infectious laughter, and childlike congeniality. But beyond his charisma and comic personality lies an inner child deprived of a nurturing mother. Civic leader and environmentalist Odette Alcantara, one of Manansala's best friends, wrote in a loving ode to the Cubist master a month after his passing on August 22, 1981 that Manansala "liked motherly attention, always longed for motherly affection." This void in Manansala's psyche was due to an unfortunate childhood memory in which he felt neglected and disowned by his mother, who cherished his older brother more and whom a manghuhula said "would become rich and famous." "It never crossed her mind that I would amount to anything. Kaya ako naglayas [That’s why I left home],” Manansala once revealed to Alcantara. Alcantara succinctly follows: "Mang Enteng enjoyed the company of women who are mother types. Lorna Montilla is one. Bessie Legarda, Judy Roxas, Prissy Chiongbian, Melinda de Leon, Floy Aguenza, Lisa Gatmaytan, Jose Cruz all mothered him and he liked it. These women brought out the infant in him." A woman Alcantara specifically mentioned was Priscilla Chiongbian. She and Manansala met in 1972 through the latter’s protégé, Ang Kiukok. Priscilla was Ang's dear friend and one of his first serious collectors, coming at a time when Ang's works had not yet become popular among the circle of art connoisseurs and collectors. Ang brought Mrs. Chiongbian to Manansala's Binangonan abode and, from there, struck a decade-long friendship. 1972 was also when Manansala settled in Binangonan. Woman Playing Guitar was painted by Manansala in Los Angeles during a two-month vacation abroad with Priscilla, spanning Paris, New York, and LA. "To help foster Manansala's upbeat, positive mood so that he would be moved to paint, Lola would take Manong Vicente Manansala on vacation trips with her to Europe and the United States, entirely for the artist's relaxation and inspiration," says Priscilla's granddaughter Caroline Sison. "During these journeys with my grandmother and myself, he would paint the beautiful works of art, which we now enjoy. I believe that the way Manong Enteng tried to repay Lola for these kindnesses and understanding was that he would do paintings for her. I remember he would spend months at her Beverly Hills home, just painting the pieces that were hanging there." During these trips, Priscilla brought out Manansala's inner child; he made some of his best works and unleashed the unbridled vibrancy of his palette, akin to a little boy possessing the inexhaustible energy of play. As a loving reminder of her friend, Priscilla hung this painting in a special place in her Beverly Hills home—the master's bedroom—along with other paintings that Manansala painted just for her. Woman Playing Guitar forms part of Manansala's Chromatic Series, which Rod. Paras-Perez notes in his book Manansala as dominated by "atmospheric colors and the continued use of the figure type." In the work at hand, Manansala uses color to bring out an inherent symbolism, an "easter egg." The woman's baro't saya and the "golden" setting represent the trifecta of colors of the Philippine flag. The work instantly evokes a folk atmosphere, recalling to mind the quaint kundiman that became popular during the pre-war era and extolled the virtues of the dalagang Filipina, whose charming image Amorsolo used as his quintessential muse. However, in Manansala's work, the dalaga has matured and now symbolizes Inang Bayan (Motherland), the personification of the Philippines as a nation with a throbbing experience of colonialism, a formidable history of struggle and resistance, and a hopeful yearning for genuine liberty. Here, Inang Bayan is seen serenading herself in the realm of her peace and quiet. Her face exudes both dignity and composure. In Manansala's coloristic exploration, the trifecta of vibrant colors that seemingly create a soulful melody emancipate a deep sensibility of the native; Inang Bayan becomes a representation of the Filipino people's perseverance, struggling to break from the echoes of colonial oppression that still palpably resound even in our present times. The composition becomes a metaphor for Inang Bayan, the Philippines, serenading herself into genuine liberty and inclusive progress especially for the underprivileged. Manansala’s choice of Inang Bayan comes to no surprise. As a person with a dysfunctional experience of the maternal, Manansala sees himself longing for a mother whose comforting solace he found in his art that manifests his Filipino sensibility and puts forward his compassion to his fellow masses. Coincidentally, this may also have been evocative of Priscilla, who was beloved by the Sarangans as their dearest "Mommy Priscy;" was a protective and nurturing mother on the strength of her environmental advocacies and peoplecentered initiatives; and whose motherly instincts and gentle company Manansala relished. (Adrian Maranan)
Candle Vendor signed and dated 1966 (upper left) oil on canvas 27” x 34” (69 cm x 86 cm) WRITE UP When Transparent Cubism emancipated Vicente Manansala’s artistic vision and cemented his rightful place in Philippine art, the next logical step to take would be to push it beyond his creative innovation of rendering transparent planes to humanize and not fragment his beloved subjects—folk people and the urban poor. The groundwork of Manansala’s Transparent Cubism was first laid during his nine-month Parisian sojourn of 1950-51 under a scholarship from the French government to study at the University of Paris’ Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he trained under the auspices of cubist master and Picasso’s contemporary Fernand Leger. Manansala crossed paths with his famed style during a fortuitous moment of leisure along the breezy Parisian streets. “Window shopping one day, [Manansala] noted the interplay of reflected images on the plate-glass and the objects inside the window displays,” writes Agnes Duval in her article “Manansala” in the April 1968 issue of Solidarity: Current Affairs, Ideas, and the Arts magazine. crystallize in the 1962 masterpiece Whirr (Roberto T. Villanueva Collection), depicting birds in flight. The piece would form part of a series of the same name, one that would also give birth to another series in which Manansala explores the Japanese concept of Shibui—the simplicity of beauty emphasized through subtle details. “In 1965, [Manansala] came across a special 1960 issue of the House and Garden on the idea of Shibui, the Japanese concept of beauty embodying restraint, suggestion, and surprise,” critic Rod. Paras-Perez writes in his book Manansala. “Thoroughly intrigued, he painted a Shibui Series. A new sense of expansiveness entered his works as he reduced his images to the barest of essentials, enveloping them with a palpable emptiness, mu in Chinese, meaning nothing: a core concept of Eastern philosophy. Where emptiness was previously a void to be filled, emptiness became a presence as tangible as objects. In pictorial terms, negative space was to be an assertive fullness.” Manansala began working on his Shibui Series in 1966. The work at hand, Candle Vendor, is one of the artist’s earliest musings on his newfound creative concept. A veiled woman is depicted selling candles, huddling on the ground, with her face solemn and body language earnestly evoking a life of indigency. Manansala exhibits the concept of Shibui through the religious icons (likely estampitas) and the imposing walls that suggest a church setting, recalling to mind the vendors and fortune tellers congregating outside Quiapo Church. A checkered floor can be seen leading towards an endless passage. It is a recurring image in Manansala’s Shibui Series, saying in the Paras-Perez book that it exists “to suggest depth.” Perspective is also achieved by shrouding it within “mystery.” Manansala provides an intimation of elements, resulting in more intimate engagement between the viewer and the subject. The artist significantly tones down his Baroque sensibilities to create a delicate tension between the main subject and the muted elements surrounding it. In doing so, Manansala imbibes the viewer with liberty, making them use their imaginative faculty to complete the composition. Employing muted colors that engender an oppressively gloomy atmosphere, Manansala projects a ubiquitous, real-life image of the urban folk. Hunched over her goods, the candle vendor becomes representative of a people forced to survive amid defenselessness from an unjust system that caters to only an elite few. The endless pathway on the left evokes an eternal cycle of poverty they cannot escape unless social change is enacted through their collective power as makers and movers of society. The vendor’s posture even evokes the Ifugao ancient bul’ul, suggesting an intersection of the Indigenous and Catholic religions and conveying the desperate pleas of an impoverished people to every possible deity, worldly or mystical. The concept of Shibui runs deep beyond the technical qualities of this work. As one who experienced stifling poverty in his younger years, Manansala endows enriched meanings that resonate with the Filipino experience, consequently giving his works a timeless quality. Dr. Roberto Macasaet—a gentleman doctor—may have been drawn to a beauty that lies in the people’s resilience, a people’s continuing yearning and struggle to reclaim their hopes and dreams, their dignity and rightful place in society. (Adrian Maranan)
Untitled stamped (right) pen and ink on paper 10 1/4" x 29 1/2" (26 cm x 75 cm) PROVENANCE Holy Angel University, Vicente Manansala Museum. For the Benefit of Holy Angel University Scholarship Program.
Untitled stamped (upper right) pen and ink on paper 8 1/2" x 10 3/4" (22 cm x 27 cm) PROVENANCE Holy Angel University, Vicente Manansala Museum. For the Benefit of Holy Angel University Scholarship Program.
Fish signed (lower right) watercolor on paper 16" x 23" (41 cm x 58 cm) PROVENANCE: Private collection, USA While many might find watercolors unpredictable and problematic (watercolor is fast-drying, hard to control, and heavily dependent on many outside factors), National Artist Vicente Manasala exerts great control over the medium. “Watercolors are one of my favorite mediums to use,” he said in Tagalog as written by Isabel A. Nazareno in Discovering Manansala. “It’s beautiful…it demands that you control it. It is difficult if you allow it to control you.” This incredible amount of restraint is extended to his Fish. Layers upon layers of colors were employed to create a diffused effect on the work. Nazareno in Discovering Manansala wrote Manansala, a practical man, refused to buy perishable goods just for his still-life paintings. Instead, he accompanied his wife Hilda to the market where he catalogued the array of produce on display. The fishes in Manansala’s Fish lie on their side, skeletons on display and very reminiscent of the scene in the local palengke where mothers carefully peruse for the ingredients in their next meal. Even in his still life, Manansala’s works imbibe the Filipino spirit. Fish recalls the daily market trips – an event one so often takes that it has already lost its appeal – and gives it a refreshing twist. It shines a spotlight on the seemingly mundane and gives it life, reminding us to take the time to appreciate the little things in life while remembering the people who have brought these goods to us – the farmers, the fishermen, and the vendors in their stalls. (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION Two Women, Banff signed and dated 1948 (upper left) oil on canvas 11 1/2" x 15 1/2" (30 cm x 39 cm) Manansala’s First Brush With Cubism: A Felicitous Encounter in the Canadian Rockies By the time the Philippines ushered into the 1940s, Vicente Manansala was still finding his creative footing. Although by then among the legendary “Thirteen Moderns,” Manansala found painting to be a mere “skillful transposition of reality on a piece of paper or canvas,” as Rod. Paras-Perez puts it in his book Manansala. At that time, Manansala had been working as an illustrator for the Herald. In the years immediately after the Second World War, Manansala, who had been living in the slums of Reina Regente in Binondo, joined the nascent Art Association of the Philippines, founded on 15 February 1948 by its matriarch, Purita Kalaw-Ledesma. Manansala would become active in the organization, joining its “First National Art Exhibition” on 3 July 1948 and eventually bagging the 3rd prize for his oil on canvas work “Banaklaut (Boatmen),” following the respective 1st and 2nd prizes nods of Botong Francisco for “Kaingin” and Demetrio Diego for “Capas.” The AAP would also bestow Manansala an honorable mention for “I Believe in God.” Manansala would find artistic inspiration from Botong. In Cid Reyes’ “Conversations on Philippine Art,” Manansala says he has deep admiration and high regard for the Angono master’s virtuoso. He would then admit that Botong’s influence on his early works spilled onto his style and even to the point of capturing the master’s artistic feeling: folk, solemn, and possessing delicate elegance and rhythm. Manansala even shared that he mistakenly attributed his own 1948 work “I Believe in God” (now displayed in the National Museum) to Botong’s when he saw it in “The Manila Times” one day in April 1971. In June 1949, Manansala, who had been working as a staff artist for Ramon Roces Publications and the “Evening News,” won a sixmonth UNESCO Art Fellowship to Canada through the Canadian Council for Reconstruction, a fellowship program for artists from war-ravaged countries. Manansala’s win came as a result of his triumphs at the AAP and at a 1949 art competition organized by the Philippine National Red Cross, in which his design of the Red Cross as a lifesaver landed the second prize and was subsequently reproduced on two million copies of 4-plus-4 denomination semipostal Red Cross stamps. With his major feat, the AAP honored Manansala with a banquet at the Selecta Restaurant along Dewey (Roxas) Boulevard on June 18 and left for Canada the following day. Manansala, notes Roces, was the sole Filipino painter to be awarded the grant and was to enroll at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Banff located in Alberta, 4,500 feet high up on the Canadian Rockies. Manansala’s grant included free passage, a monthly allowance of $180, and $300 for traveling expenses. Owing to its idyllic environment, the arts center and leisurely capital that is Banff possessed a stimulating atmosphere for honing one’s virtuoso; students and artists loved Banff for the creative liberty it endowed them. Manansala first studied under an instructor with whom he would have disputes. Roces succinctly narrates, “An instructor with academic inclinations saw one of Manansala’s first classroom works and noted that the painting would be all right if the colors were changed. Manansala thought otherwise. He was convinced that color was what lent individually to a painting. His retort was brief: “I’ll change you first before I’ll change my colors!”” Eventually, Manansala moved to Joseph “Joe” Plaskett’s class. Manansala and Plaskett would quickly form a brotherhood built on creative camaraderie. (They even shared the same dorm room!) Manansala would join Plaskett on trekking and hiking excursions to hilltops, cliffs, and riverbanks overlooking the breathtaking Canadian Rockies to sketch landscapes. In one of those leisurely excursions (or even on Plaskett’s after-class sessions), the Canadian mentor-artist would formally introduce Manansala to the tenets of Cubism. Manansala would shed his Botong impulses and take on the road less traveled by his fellow artists in the motherland. Roces writes, “Plaskett showed Manansala a portrait fragmented into strips, which he was working on. Explaining that painting was primarily a question of manipulating space, Plaskett shifted the strips around, creating in the process an intensely active planar surface, a surface where each shape appeared to push or pull other shapes.” Although he worked mainly in a Post-Impressionist and Abstract Expressionist visual language, Plaskett possessed an affinity with Cubism. He once said, “Cubism came about because, in the process of analyzing form, something that lay in the form, a plane could be lifted out to float on its own.” Like a visionary reveling in the peace and quiet of Banff, Manansala saw the dawn of ingenuity with Plaskett’s artistic guidance. Manansala would take inspiration from this process, resulting in works that would become his first serious foray into Cubism, including this 1949 work at hand titled Two Women, Banff—the earliest Manansala cubist masterpiece to be offered at auction. The work depicts two women inspired by Manansala’s female classmates/acquaintances at Banff. They are shown in the height of their wonder, awe, and heedfulness, probably in sketching a sweeping vista of the picturesque Canadian Rockies or keenly listening to a mentor’s lectures. Manansala likely produced this work in one of his laidback periods of serenity and spontaneity. Did Manansala paint this in one of his painting classes? In an impromptu painting session at Banff’s great outdoors with his classmates as a form of creative relaxation? Or even in the quietude of his room while being guided by Plaskett? The answer’s left to the viewer’s fancy. In this painting, we see broad and overlapping planes of geometric forms, which are emphasized by a muted palette. Manansala endows the space with a delicate tension emphasized through the shunning of depth, effectively merging the foreground and background and resulting in solidity and flatness outlining the abstracted images of two women. Much like his Botong-inspired works, Manansala employs desaturated colors. Before his Canadian sojourn, Manansala’s works had already exhibited Cubistic tendencies, albeit muted, as evidenced by the blocky nature of his Botong-inspired works. But Manansala’s study grant to Canada would act as a light to find his own virtuoso, culminating in his career-defining Transparent Cubism, his shining legacy to Filipino art. (Adrian Maranan)
PROPERTY FROM THE DR. AND MRS. JOSE SAN GABRIEL COLLECTION Fruit Vendors signed and dated 1977 (upper left) oil on canvas 34" x 39" (86 cm x 99 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist EXHIBITED Ayala Museum, Images of Nation: Vicente Manansala as Social Realist (In Celebration of National Heritage Month 2010 and the birth centenary of Vicente Manansala), Makati City, 27 May - 4 July 2010 LITERATURE Paras-Perez, Rodolfo. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Illustrated on page 26 and painting description on page 27. Images of Nation: Vicente Manansala as Social Realist (Exhibition Catalog). Makati City: Ayala Foundation, Inc., Filipino Heritage Festival, Inc., and Friends of Manansala Foundation, Inc., 2010. Published in conjunction with the exhibition "Images of Nation: Vicente Manansala as Social Realist" at the Ayala Museum. Full-color illustration and painting description on page 49. Vicente Manansala: The Greatest Filipino Painter of the 1970s Manansala was at the height of his artistic and commercial powers during the 1970s. Ask anyone well-versed in the arts during the 1970s, and they can proudly and wholeheartedly profess that “Manansala is the greatest living Filipino painter.” Although Manansala had already exposed himself abroad through the numerous study grants he had received, the 1970s witnessed his works being exhibited in major international cities. This included the 1971 show in New Zealand, in which his early work I Believe in God (which he mistook as a very beautiful Botong when he saw it in The Manila Times), was loaned by the National Museum and a late 1977 exhibition at the International Monetary Fund Center in Washington, D.C. In fact, during this fruitful decade, Manansala’s shows in the country were instant blockbusters; the entire show would be sold out in a quick snap. There was his 1974 exhibition at Silay, Negros Occidental, in which all 40 art pieces were sold in only ten minutes, breaking a record for a Philippine exhibition, as a report in the periodical Woman’s Home Companion. “For more than 20 years, Manansala has been receiving invitations from museums and galleries abroad for one-man shows,” says the article. “But he has turned them all down. That is because, although a prolific artist who religiously paints every day, he cannot gather enough pieces for one-man shows. His works are bought before they are even started.” In another show, in December 1977, art critic Leonidas Benesa wrote in the Philippines Daily Express that all 16 artworks were sold before the exhibit had even opened. Benesa raves about its rarity in the Manila art world, saying that before Manansala, only Tabuena had achieved this feat. In one 1971 interview, Manansala admits that he had lived comfortably enough, thanks to his art and the incessant demand patrons had built upon it. But despite the wild gush of success, Manansala remained homespun and humble. In Binangonan, Manansala would always stroll along the hilly terrain of his environs, painting prodigiously and always greeting his neighbors with a radiant smile. His neighbors would always attest to a modest man who was always all smiles at them and was friendly to the underprivileged. which was his wife’s ancestral home. Dr. San Gabriel’s daughter vividly recalls that their father loved Fruit Vendors as “it was not the usual painting with color.” “He would talk about how impressive it was that he could make a monochrome painting come to life, and that the faces of the women were multifaceted; you can view them as front facing or side view,” she says. The work at hand is a valuable memento from Manansala’s prime decade. More than the blockbuster period from when it was painted, this piece is palpable proof of Manansala’s constant experimentation. Manansala renders the painting solely in a black-and-white palette. For him, black-and-white compositions are more important than colored ones, saying in a 1973 interview with Cid Reyes that a painting’s valor shines brighter in a black-and-white painting. He cites his idol Picasso’s Guernica as a prime example.
Filipino, 1910-1981 Untitled, 1957 Signed and dated Manansala 57 (lr) Oil on Masonite 25 x 13 3/4 inches (63.5 x 35 cm) (Framed dimensions: 26 1/8 x 14 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches) Frame rubbing with scattered small chips along edge. The corners of the panel are rounded. The work is apparently on the reverse of a discarded earlier work. No evidence of restoration under UV inspection.
PROPERTY FROM THE DON J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION Nude 340 dated 1967 charcoal on paper 27" x 36" (69 cm x 91 cm) PROVENANCE Cultural Center of the Philippines
Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) charcoal of nude woman. Signed Manansala 73 in pencil upper left. Excellent condition. Art measures 17.5" x 22.5", frame measures 22.5" x 27".
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A DISTINGUISHED FAMILY Maliputo signed and dated 1979 (upper right) watercolor on paper 18" x 24" (46 cm x 61 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist EXHIBITED: Tall Galleries, Metropolitan Mueum of Manila, Si Mang Enteng...Encountering Manansala, Manila, May 20 - July 31, 2010 LITERATURE: Si Mang Enteng...Encountering Manansala (Exhibition Catalog). Manila: Metropolitan Museum of Manila, 2010. Published on the occasion of the Vicente Manansala retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in 2010. Full-color photograph and painting description on page 33. WRITE UP: In this 1979 watercolor, the canvas unfolds as a deliberate departure from the familiar realm of maternal and filial motifs which predominantly defined his earlier work. Renowned for his commitment to representing reality, Manansala did not believe in purchasing perishable food solely for artistic endeavors. In a departure from traditional artistic practices, Manansala was known to create spontaneous watercolor renditions of freshly cooked dishes, meticulously laid out on banana leaves. This deliberate placement on the periphery of the dinner table introduces a nuanced dynamism, inviting contemplation on the precarious balance between tradition and modernity. His dedication to authenticity, whether amidst the bustling marketplace or shared meal, distinguishes Manansala as an artist devoted to encapsulating the beauty of Filipino culture in its most unadulterated manifestation. At the venerable age of sixty-nine, Manansala's keen eye for detail provides a glimpse into the artist's evolving exploration of form, color, and subject matter. Maliputo stands as a testament to Manansala's ability to continually refine his artistic expression, showcasing his adaptability and willingness to embrace diverse aspects of Filipino life in his artistic repertoire. (Ysabella Vistan)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON EUGENIO “GENY” LOPEZ JR. COLLECTION Seated Nude signed and dated 1970 (upper right) charcoal on paper 24 1/4" x 18 1/4" (62 cm x 46 cm) WRITE UP: Vicente Manansala’s exploration of the human form in his late charcoal nudes, such as the lot at hand from 1970, represents a stark deviation from his earlier, color-saturated cubist works. These pieces showcase a minimalist aesthetic, utilizing the monochromatic palette of charcoal to emphasize the interplay of light and shadow. In this particular work, the subject sits, her back to the viewer, a solitary figure rendered in sweeping, confident strokes. Unlike the fragmented, bustling street scenes of his postwar oeuvre, this composition revels in its simplicity and tranquility. Art critics and historians often note how Manansala's later works, such as this, serve as a bridge between his figurative and abstract periods. The form is discernible yet distilled to its essence, a confident balance between recognizability and abstraction. Manansala's late charcoals are not just representations of the human figure; they are contemplations of form, a dance between the definitive and the ethereal. (Ysabella Vistan)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON EUGENIO “GENY” LOPEZ JR. COLLECTION Nude signed and dated 1967 (lower right) charcoal on paper 39" x 25" (99 cm x 64 cm) WRITE UP: In 1967, Manansala's artistic odyssey took him to Los Angeles, California, where he enrolled at the Otis Art Institute to re-learn basic drawing. Initially, he viewed the model in segmented parts – the head, hands, torso, and so forth – and his drawings reflected this piecemeal perception. However, he began to see the figure as a cohesive whole. This holistic approach required him to capture the essential movement and structure of the figure in broad, unifying strokes, integrating the various elements into a singular, harmonious composition. Drawing the nude form, in particular, held a special significance for Manansala. It was more than just an exercise in replicating human anatomy; it was an exploration of form and the interplay of light and shadow, rendered in warm chiaroscuro hues. The nude was a canvas through which he could explore the subtleties of light and shadow and the dynamic interplay of lines and curves. Manansala sought to capture not just the physical likeness of the human form but its innate grace, vulnerability, and strength. These drawings were a testament to his ability to convey the essence of the human experience through the simplicity of line and form. (Ysabella Vistan)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON EUGENIO “GENY” LOPEZ JR. COLLECTION Vendors signed and dated 1963 (lower right) oil on canvas 39" x 27" (99 cm x 69 cm) WRITE UP: 1963 was a career high point for Vicente Manansala. That fortuitous year, Manansala was conferred the highly prestigious Republic Cultural Heritage Award, the precursor to the National Artist Award. Manansala would also be featured on the cover of two reputable magazines of his time: The Sunday Times Magazine (which featured his work "Birds in Flight") and The Chinese Weekly. Vendors come from that climactic year in Manansala's career. More than that, the piece comes from an exciting series of works that yet another makes Manansala a cubist virtuoso: the "Stained Glass Series." By 1963, Manansala had been very involved in a series of works dubbed the "Stained Glass Series." The name of this body of work comes from the fact that it evokes the "leaded, cloison effect seen in stained glass," as eminent art critic Rod. Paras-Perez puts it in his monograph on Manansala. The series began when Manansala was awarded a Smith-Mundt-Specialist Grant to study stained glass techniques at New York's Greenland Studio under Le Compt from March to July 1960. Speaking of the interesting origins of this series, Manansala says in the Paras-Perez book: "I had this vision while I was riding the cable car in L.A. (Los Angeles). At that time, I was studying stained glass at Greenland Studio. I saw a stained glass on top of a table with lights under it. The vibration and scintillating color fascinated me. Sabi ko, “Pwedeng gawin sa painting ito!” [I said to myself, this can be done in my paintings!]." "It [Stained Glass Series] is a phase that gives to his works a vibrancy of color and a stronger surface assertiveness, which prefigures a pendulum-like swing into the recovery of pictorial depth," writes Paras-Perez. 1963's Vendors evokes leaded lights or leaded windows (These are decorative windows created through came glasswork. This is made possible by soldering individual pieces of art glass through came strips (usually lead) and, thus, forming intricate designs.). Manansala uses this technique to render a diaphanous configuration of patterns that exude a vivid interplay between light, forms, and pictorial depth. Planes are fragmented through delicate gradations of color, which in turn makes distinguishing one figure from another easily identifiable, as "light" seemingly penetrates in a breeze through each and every plane. At this point in his career, it had already become evident that Manansala's cubist language avoids fragmenting his forms to retain that inner sense of dignity and humanity to his subjects, the Filipino masses. In doing so, Manansala evokes the inherent power of the broad range of the oppressed masses as the supreme liberator of society, much like how he renders the titular vendors in this masterpiece: enigmatic faces that give off a penetrating gaze and statures showing dignified pride in their profound contribution as providers and makers of society's wealth. With the subjects’ diaphanous forms, Vendors also evoke that fortuitous day during Manansala's ninemonth Parisian sojourn in 1950-51, where he studied at the University of Paris' Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the tutelage of the French cubist Fernand Leger, Picasso and Braque's close contemporary. Agnes Duval, writing in her article "Manansala," published in the April 1968 issue of Solidarity: Current Affairs, Ideas, and the Arts: "Window shopping one day [in Paris], he [Manansala] noted the interplay of reflected images on the plate-glass and the objects inside the window displays." This felicitous encounter would mark the realization within Manansala of his now-iconic and much-beloved Transparent Cubism. This style would tangibly manifest itself in the early 1960s, beginning in his Whirr Series, depicting birds in flight. Thus, we see in 1963's Vendors Manansala situating himself at the cusp of a style that has become his most important legacy in Philippine art. (Adrian Maranan)
PROPERTY FROM THE DELY TAMBUNTING ONGSIAKO COLLECTION a.) Nude signed and dated 1975 (upper left) charcoal on paper 17 1/2" x 12" (44 cm x 30 cm) b.) Nude signed and dated 1975 (upper left) charcoal on paper 12 1/2" x 19" (32 cm x 48 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist At fifty-seven, an age when most artists remain complacent in their skills, Vicente Manansala went to the Otis Art Institute in California where he enrolled at its prestigious drawing program. By then, he was already an established painter with a veritable list of awards under his belt, but ever a tenacious artist, he was on a continuous journey of improvement. The lot at hand, both nudes from 1975 and 1978, came after this period of study. They are studies that were drawn unconventionally for a nude: one focused on a woman’s bare back, her head bowed and her shoulders in an alluring slope while the other one was drawn lying on her side, hips jutting out with a blanket draped over her knees. The angle of the latter portrait also differed from the traditional nude, with the viewer’s perspective suggesting that they are standing in front of the woman. In both cases, the figures are made up of overlapping transparent shapes with the dramatic play of geometric shapes and the proficient manipulation of colors, lights, and shadows creating a vision of a human figure. In these works, Manansala exhibits his proficiency with the human body, light and shadow existing harmoniously on the rendered flesh. As art critic Rod Paraz-Perez stated: “[Manansala] saw the nude as a mass of interactive forms, of basic interpenetrating geometric masses to be stated with the simplest of means.” (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE DELY TAMBUNTING ONGSIAKO COLLECTION Landscape signed, dated 1976 (upper left), and dedicated "To Dely, happy birthday, Dec 22, 1975, From Enteng & Hilda" (lower left) watercolor on paper 12" x 16" (30 cm x 41 cm) PROVENANCE: A gift from the artist to the present owner WRITE UP: The earnest friendship Dely Tambunting-Ongsiako formed with Vicente Manansala is immortalized in this watercolor work by the maestro. This piece, a birthday present from Manansala and his wife, Hermenegilda “Hilda” Diaz, to Doña Dely, even possesses a remarkable handwritten dedication by the artist himself. Manansala once said in a May 1973 interview with Cid Reyes that he often uses watercolor as a medium “for relaxation” purposes, void of the obligations of any commissioned painting or mural. With his delicate and masterful control of every sweep of the brush, Manansala frees himself from the The influence of the Amorsolo of the South and his uncle Martino Abellana is evident in the works of Romulo Galicano. His works boast remarkable technicality, a product of his academic background at the University of the East and the private art lessons he got from Abellena when he was younger. His 1979 work Landscape showcases Galicano’s brilliance in shadow and colors. Depicting a provincial house in a shaded area, Galicano perfectly replicates the serenity of an early summer afternoon, the quiet that envelops the house as the family takes their afternoon siesta. The sunlight shines down from between the foliage of the trees, a bright pop of yellow burden of his prolific brush and liberates his spirit towards a realm of peace and quiet. This calming endeavor is made more passionate when elevated further into the context relating to the impeccable provenance of this charming work. (Adrian Maranan)
PROPERTY FROM THE DELY TAMBUNTING ONGSIAKO COLLECTION Madonna and Child signed and dated 1977 (upper right) oil on canvas 26 1/2" x 24" (67 cm x 61 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist EXHIBITED: Tall Galleries, Metropolitan Mueum of Manila, Si Mang Enteng...Encountering Manansala, Manila, May 20 - July 31, 2010 LITERATURE: Paras-Perez, Rod. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Full-color illustration and painting description on page 28. Si Mang Enteng...Encountering Manansala (Exhibition Catalog). Manila: Metropolitan Museum of Manila, 2010. Published on the occasion of the Vicente Manansala retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in 2010. Full-color photograph and painting description on page 31. WRITE UP: The years 1949 and 1950 were a turning point for artist Vicente Silva Manansala. Already an established painter in the Philippines with a veritable amount of awards under his belt, Manansala received a six-month grant from UNESCO to study in Quebec, Canada by 1949 followed by a nine-month scholarship in Paris in 1950. The West was already abuzz with a multitude of schools of thought at the time and Manansala, forever a student, drank it all in, immersing himself in art as he had never done before. “[For] a painter to be able to turn out a good piece of work, he must first have that feeling of consecration,” he stated, “with a mind absolved for all ego and pretense, a soul dedicated to the creation at hand, and a spirit properly attuned to the release of the vital and straining energies within.” He opened himself up to the mass of art movements but a particular one caught his attention. As he submerged himself in his studies in Canada, he met Joseph Plaskett, a notable painter and an equally notable mentor who showed Manansala the process of creating an intense and active plane, pointing out the push and pull of shapes on the canvas. It continued in France, where for eight months Manansala studied in the Montmartre studio of Cubist Fernand Leger. While both these events did not turn Manansala into a full-fledged Cubist after Europe’s own heart, they did leave him with enough appreciation for the movement to spin it and make it his own. “I feel that I have yet to learn a great deal,” mused Manansala after his fateful travel, published by Rod ParasPerez in Manansala Nudes, “and that is mostly about myself, my energies, my ideas, and the force and vitalities I have yet to awaken in me.” And so began Manansala’s foray into his very own version of cubism: the transparent cubism. For the next few decades, Manansala refined this method, producing work after work that, unlike the style of analytic cubism, retained its essential forms, tones, and shapes that are expertly juxtaposed to be both delicate and translucent. It was in his signature style of transparent cubism that Manansala unveiled another interpretation of the classic image of Mother and Child. This painting, entitled simply Mother and Child, was created almost 30 years after Manansala’s first brush with Cubism and as such, it shows Manansala’s cubism at a mature stage. Depicting a woman with her babe suckling at her chest, the figures were stylized using planes and geometric patterns. An air of protectiveness and love is evident in the way that the mother holds her child and the tender way she looks at them. He highlights the soft curve of the woman’s neck and breasts and emphasizes the baby by swaddling them in blue, a striking shade contrasting the warm palette. Manansala’s Mother and Child was created in the twilight years of his career, a prodigious one that lasted almost 60 years. Through the years, Manansala continued to aim for greater heights, forever on a quest for betterment. He was never truly satisfied with his works, always looking forward to make the next artwork better. Mother and Child is a culmination of decades of practice, accolades, and studies, a preview of Manansala at his maturity and a celebration of his continued and relentless breakthroughs. (Hannah Valiente)
a.) Study (Front) stamped (lower right) pen and ink on paper 13" x 9 1/2" (33 cm x 24 cm) b.) Study (Verso) stamped (lower right) pen and ink on paper 9 1/2" x 13" (24 cm x 33 cm)
Faith, Hope, and Charity signed and dated 1981 (upper right) oil on canvas 22” x 18 1/4” (55 cm x 46 cm) Accompanied by a certificate of attestation issued by Cora B. Lopa confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist Faith, Hope, and Charity is among Vicente Manansala’s last works, painted months before his passing on August 22, 1981. Here, Manansala depicts the three traditional theological virtues in their corresponding symbolisms and attributes. For Faith, Manansala uses the image of the white dove. In Christianity, the dove is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, which came down from the heavens on Jesus’ baptism, symbolizing his purity and innocence as the Messiah, the “Anointed One,” to which the central dogma of Christianity is anchored. In this context, the dove signifies faith in Christ as the Son of God, the Redeemer of humanity from all its sins. The dove also evokes Manansala’s Whirr series, which Manansala once described as “the action of birds in flight [in which they] produce a whirring sound.” Manansala then renders the virtue of Hope in the form of the Easter lily, a species of flowering plants known for their slow growth and maturation; it is patiently cultivated for two to four years before it can be harvested. From this, Manansala uses the Easter lily as a metaphor for the eager anticipation and belief in the second coming of Christ and the full realization of the promise of everlasting life. The Easter lily resembles a trumpet, an allusion to the resounding announcement of Christ’s coming: first as a Redeemer of humanity and second, His triumphant return at the end of times to judge the living and the dead—the Parousia. Lastly, Charity is represented by the red rose, an enduring symbol of love. In Christian theology, charity is equated with love, in accordance with Christ’s commandment of “loving God above all” and “loving one’s neighbor as one’s self.” When viewed in its totality, the work at hand is Manansala’s prayer to his Creator—a form of thanksgiving for a prolific life and career, a celebration of his God-given abilities, and a plea for forgiveness for all transgressions. Faith, Hope, and Charity encapsulates Manansala as a man at peace with his being, surrendering to his Creator whatever life in him had remained. It is Manansala at his most reflective and spiritual. (Adrian Maranan)
Madonna signed and dated 1980 (uppper left) oil on canvas 26” x 30” (66 cm x 76 cm) Accompanied by a certificate of attestation issued by Cora B. Lopa confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist LITERATURE Paras-Perez, Rod. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Mentioned as “Madonna” on page 264 in Manansala’s “Chronology” by Florina H. Capistrano-Baker. Vicente Manansala takes a keen interest in anything Filipino. From the barrio to the city, his oeuvre features many Filipino subjects. One of his most famous works, Madonna of the Slums (1950), reimagines the popular image of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus as a poverty-stricken mother and child in an urban shanty. A postwar artist who had experienced the hardship of war firsthand, Manansala’s works do not shy away from the uncomfortable realities of Philippine society. At first glance, this 1980 work, aptly entitled Madonna, seems a deviation from his typical works with the painting dappled in soft light colors. Like the dark Madonna of the Slums, a mother and her child are at the forefront. However while the former painting utilizes its warm muted palette to convey the cramped situation of the congested city, the 1980 Madonna is all cool bright colors. Blue and green are the dominating colors, with pops of pink and yellow to brighten the piece. The wind blowing in the mother’s hair and swirling through the trees in the background suggests an open space unlike the confined spaces of the slums of his usual works. However, while drastically different from his usual repertoire, this piece still features Manasala’s classic cubist style and his affinity for anything quintessentially Filipino. (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON VICENTE “TIKING” H. LOPEZ, JR. COLLECTION Pieta signed and dated 1970 (lower right) oil on canvas 22 x 29 (56 cm x 74 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist WRITE UPThe friendship between Don Vicente “Tiking” Lopez, Jr. and Vicente Manansala was the quintessential embodiment of the artist-collector bond. Curator Lisa Guerrero Nakpil notes that of Don Tiking’s collection, which ranged from art and antiques, his trove of modern art was his most prized. The León Gallery curator writes that Don Tiking would invite the famous Saturday Group of Artists, to which Manansala once belonged, “to his penthouse at the family-owned Elena Apartments in Ermita. (The building was named after his mother, the elegant Doña Elena Hofileña Lopez. Tiking was thus cousin two times over to the Eugenio Lopezes.)” Guerrero Nakpil also made particular mention of a sumptuous feast at Don Tiking’s, which counted among its honorable guests Manansala. She writes: “Gathered at his table would be Vicente Manansala, Hernando R. Ocampo, Sym Mendoza, Alfredo Roces, and Tiny Nuyda, to name a few. There were also musical soirees featuring the Elena String Ensemble, which included members of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra with Don Tiking on his 17th-century cello. Jose Joya was a particularly avid fan of these evenings. Don Tiking would also invite this circle to enjoy the delights of the Vallehermoso country air.” It was in this atmosphere of congeniality and goodwill that Don Tiking acquired several masterpieces from Manansala. Among the Manansala opuses Don Tiking acquired was this poignant interpretation of the Pieta depicting Mary sorrowfully cradling the dead body of her son, Jesus. (In June 2022, León Gallery auctioned a Manansala from Don Tiking’s collection: Madonna No. 2, also a 1970 work.) A deeply spiritual and devout person, Don Tiking—who actively participated in the spiritual retreats and other ministerial activities of the Cursillo Foundation of the Philippines and later became a Eucharistic minister at Ermita’s Nuestra Senora de Guia Parish—found solace in the moving image of Christ’s passion and death, a reminder of his commitment to his vocation as a servant of the Lord. Manansala created Pieta at a time of his sweet, overwhelming success. In the same year as this work, he was conferred the Araw ng Maynila Award. Seven years prior, in 1963, Manansala was awarded the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, the prestigious precursor to the National Artist Award. But more than this string of continuous success, Pieta shows the maturation of Manansala’s Transparent Cubism, with his smooth and graceful brush strokes showing refinement and the meticulous ability to render transparent layers of superimposed planes so as to retain their sheer realism and heightened emotional resonance and imbibe a sense of humanization. Manansala’s journey to Transparent Cubism was an arduous two decades in the making. Manansala first laid the foundations of his cubist language during his ninemonth Parisian sojourn of 1950-51, in which he became the first Filipino to be awarded by the French government a scholarship to the famed Ecole des Beaux-Arts of the University of Paris. There, Manansala was mentored by the French cubist Fernand Leger, a close contemporary of the pioneers of Cubism Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, two of Manansala’s foremost luminaries. Agnes Duval, in her article “Manansala” in the April 1968 issue of Solidarity: Current Affairs, Ideas, and the Arts magazine, writes of Manansala’s particular catalyst for the birth of his Transparent Cubism. “Window shopping one day [in Paris], he [Manansala] noted the interplay of reflected images on the plate-glass and the objects inside the window displays.” And the rest, as they always say, is history. Pieta also encapsulates Manansala’s Catholic faith. In his landmark book Conversations on Philippine Art, Cid Reyes says to Manansala: “Isa pa hong lagi ninyong ipinipinta e yung Kristo.” Manansala answers: “Oo. Taon-taon yan, gumagawa ako ng isang Kristo.” The artist adds that it has become a kind of devotion, a religious vow. In Rod. ParasPerez’s book Manansala, the maestro revealed: “I used to go to Mass every day at the San Francisco Church. At 14, I wanted to become a priest.” On that account, Manansala imbibes a solemn, reverential atmosphere in his paintings of the suffering Christ. In his language of Transparent Cubism, Manansala never fragmented the subject; he remained faithful to its actuality. As such, Manansala captures the invincibility and omnipotence of the Divine, even in the face of agony and death. (Adrian Maranan)
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY The Bayanihan of Philippine Country Livelihoods : Fishing, Rice, Abaca, Sugar, Copra, Home Industry (Mat and Hat Weaving) ca. 1970 pen and ink on paper 13” x 116 1/2” (33 cm x 296 cm) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist WRITE UPVicente Manansala, one of the country’s leading modernists, creates a pantheon of Philippine Country Livelihoods, with its central image being the Bayanihan, the spirit of community and cooperative spirit that is uniquely Filipino. Six industries are selected for this drawing : fishing, rice, abaca, sugar, copra, home industry (covering mat and hat weaving.) It was intended to be the template for a massive wood carving that would measure more than 7 feet in length. There are echoes of Botong Francisco’s Progress of Medicine mural created for the Philippine General Hospital — as well as foreshadowing of Ang Kiukok’s Fishermen. (Botong and Manansala were fellow instructors in UST; while Manansala would be a pivotal mentor to the young Ang. It is generally believed that, of all the artists that came out of the post war modernist movement, there is perhaps no one that inspired the next generation more than Vicente Manansala. He utilizes what art historian Rodolfo Paras- Perez described as a “unique synthesis of classistic and expressionist theories.” This is quite possibly one of the reasons why Manansala continues to be an imposing figure in the Philippine art scene. In his works, in watercolor or in painting, Manansala’s affinities lean towards the Filipino sensibility. He explored culture, intimacy, and poverty in his works, with Filipino landscapes and figures dominating his canvases. One of his most popular paintings, the Madonna of the Slums, repositions the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus into the Philippine squatters, opening the conversation about the intersection of Filipino culture and religion. He continues to explore the Filipino sensibility with this lot at hand. Created around 1970, this huge pen and ink creation depicts multiple scenes that are dear to the Filipino identity. Drawn in a mural-like fashion, Manansala portrays a sequence of women peering out of a window, men working in the fields, farmers planting rice, and fishermen hauling netful of fishes. All these are quintessential Filipino scenes that, through Manansala’s sketches, were brought into life.
