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.
PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED COLLECTION Maria Laach, Brussels signed, dated, and inscribed "8-27-74, Maria Laach, Brussels" (lower right) watercolor on paper 14" x 18 1/2" (36 cm x 47 cm) PROVENANCE Private collection, Manila Presenting a quieter, more observational side of the artist, Vicente Manansala’s serene travel landscape transforms an ordinary architectural scene into simple, broad areas of color, shape, and light. It exemplifies hidden beauty beneath ordinary roads, houses, trees, and churches. Painted in watercolor during his stay in Europe in 1974, Manansala produces numerous works of art, including watercolors and mural-sized compositions. That year, the artist exhibited tubiglays (watercolor) pieces he made while on the continent—including works from London and Brussels—at the Village Gallery at the Philippine Village Hotel. This featured work captures a peaceful European village dominated by a tall church whose steeple rises dramatically above the surrounding houses. His art, despite its Western subject, still hints at his lifelong interest in simplifying forms and creating harmony through carefully balanced shapes and restrained color. Despite the absence of human figures and the focus on the street and expansive gray sky, Manansala’s masterpiece conveys the emotional experience of encountering a tranquil European town. The still scene, almost suspended in time, encourages slow observation while reflecting his ability to produce lyrical landscapes that emphasize mood, spatial valence, and the expressive qualities of watercolors. Together, Manansala creates a carefully balanced masterpiece that showcases his ability that extends well beyond the Filipino subjects for which he was celebrated. His featured art exhibits the same discipline of simplification and balance that would later define his later masterpieces—his approach to architecture and space essentially transforms an ordinary village scene into a study of atmosphere, structure, and quiet beauty. (Mark John Castañeda)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION a.) Planting Rice signed and dated 1967 (lower left) watercolor on paper 12" x 16" (30 cm x 41 cm) b.) Planting Rice signed and dated 1967 (upper right) watercolor on paper 12" x 16" (30 cm x 41 cm) While many artists may find watercolor to be a complex and challenging medium, the esteemed Vicente Manansala mastered it with ease. From his early years, watercolor has been one of Manansala’s preferred mediums, honing his skills in layering and blending colors to create images in either a realistic or a washed manner. These two watercolor paintings belong to his countryside themes. But gone are his landscapes characterized by verdant foliage, clear skies, and sunlight. Instead, Manansala gave a black and white portrayal of farmers planting rice, evoking immense respect for their hard work and dedication. He skillfully employed black watercolor, adjusting the tone and value through water control and using a fine brush to add more details. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION\ Intramuros signed and dated 1959 (upper right) mixed media on canvas 26 1/4" x 27 1/2" (67 cm x 70 cm) LITERATURE Araneta, Antonio S., ed., 1030 R. Hidalgo: Volume II, Legacy in Art. Manila: Mara, Inc., 1986. Full-color reproduction and painting description on page 97. Victorio Edades. Manansala had just entered the prime years of his career as an artist, having won top prizes at the annual AAP competitions and even in international exhibitions, specifically the major award for "Best Philippine Entry" for his painting "Musikero" at the 2nd SpanishAmerican Biennial in Cuba in 1953. Intramuros is also an experimental Manansala work, with the artist chaotically integrating cement to the canvas, as if mimicking the war-torn walls of Intramuros and the degraded environment and desolate atmosphere of the once glorious city, a city that was left to succumb to a grave dishonor. Manansala was the first Filipino artist to treat the barungbarong as a potent subject. Wrote This Week: "After the war, he worked as a staff artist of the Evening News and lived in the slums of Reina Regente [in Binondo], among the barong-barongs of the squatters. It was here that he got the idea for his barong-barong paintings, which started a trend in Philippine painting." Here, Manansala presents a tension-filled compactness, in which the barong-barongs and the ruined walls of Intramuros are tightly interwoven through interlocked planes and a color palette limited to browns and greys. As if Manansala was saying that the barung-barong has now become the sole identity of the Intramuros that he once knew: a bleak landscape bearing the brunt of the brutal Battle of Manila. It can be said that this 1959 painting can be one of the settings of his seminal 1950 work, "Madonna of the Slums." Manansala's earlier iterations of his barung-barong gave him several significant nods, including First Prize for "Barung-barong No. 1" and Honorable Mention for "Barung-barong No. 2" at the Manila Grand Opera House Exhibition for the Art Association of the Philippines in 1950. The work at hand follows a similar trajectory; it captures Manansala at the peak of his powers, showcasing his profound ability for creative introspection and the artistic intensity that he exudes, which appeals to both the senses and the mind, while knowing how to maintain restraint to deliver his message and capture just the right feeling easily.
Nude signed and dated 1980 (upper left) charcoal on paper 11 1/2" x 8 1/2" (29 cm x 22 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner Admittedly obsessed with drawing, National Artist Vicente Manansala believed it to be the key to a well-accomplished artistic career. Thus, he remained steadfast in practicing and honing his drawing skills, dedicating time to drawing even at the height of his career. And while he was best known for his colorful, transparent cubist-style oil paintings, he reserved his classical training for his nude drawings and watercolor paintings. Certainly, Manansala was an artist of great acclaim, with numerous awards and recognitions under his belt, a real prodigy who excelled in various forms of visual art. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY FROM THE VIC SALTA COLLECTION Nude signed and dated 1975 (upper right) charcoal on paper 11 1/2” x 16 1/2” (29 cm x 42 cm) At the core of National Artist Vicente Manansala’s prolific artistry is his remarkable drawing skills. Even at the pinnacle of his career, Manansala still finds it within himself to go back to his roots and practice drawing. Aside from his renowned abstract works and his famed stained-glass paintings, he also has an ample amount of charcoal and graphite drawings, sketches, portraits, and nude studies. The female body was one of the recurring themes in his drawings, with a focus on appreciating its beauty and intricacies. Despite being in black and white, Manansala employed his mastery of light and shadow to delineate his figure’s every curve and line, demonstrating his ability to infuse his work with unspoken emotions and inviting viewers to uncover its hidden tale. (Jessica Magno)
Procession (Nuestra Señora del Carmen de San Sebastian) signed (lower left) ca.1952 watercolor on paper 21 1/4" x 15" (54 cm x 38 cm) PROVENANCE Private collection, USA This watercolor work serves as—plausibly—one of Vicente Manansala's several studies for his 1952 painting of the same title, which was exhibited at the Philippine Art Gallery in December 1954 in the artist's first solo show in the storied haven for Filipino modernists. The work at hand features the only all-steel church building in the country and all of Asia, the San Sebastian Church, formally known as the Minor Basilica and Parish of San Sebastian, located at the eastern end of R. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila. Notably, the San Sebastian was the first church in the Philippines to be declared a Minor Basilica by the Vatican, elevating it to the prestigious status by Pope Leo XIII on June 24, 1890, more than a year before it would even be completed on August 16, 1891, and consecrated by then-Manila archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda, O.P. Procession depicts the old January feast, known as the Fiesta Tradicional, of the Nuestra Señora del Carmen de San Sebastian, which was practiced from 1691 until its suspension sometime in the late 1970s to early 1980s, following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In this work, Manansala depicts the carroza of the Virgen del Carmen, venerated as the "Queen of Quiapo," as it leaves San Sebastian and is paraded throughout the bustling district of Quiapo, with devotees solemnly joining the procession. The Fiesta Tradicional was revived in 2018 as part of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the arrival in the Philippines of the image of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, brought by the Spanish Recoletos from Mexico in 1618, led by Fray Rodrigo de San Miguel. The San Sebastian's iconic steel façade and the Gothic Revival openwork towers figure prominently in the work, rendered by Manansala in a crown-like configuration that seemingly alludes to the title of the Virgen del Carmen as the queen of Manila's socio-cultural, commercial, and religious nucleus. In his annotations to his works published in his 1981 monograph authored by artist-critic Rod. Paras-Perez, Manansala said of the final oil work: "I wanted to show crowdedness and busy movement. That's one of the reasons for the high viewpoint." A kaleidoscopic sequence of houses, with the main subject, i.e., the religious procession, blends seamlessly into the composition, evoking vibrancy and solemnity all at the same time. The dominant golden yellows of the composition evoke the regalia of the Virgen del Carmen and underscore its festive ambiance. Manansala's emphasis on vertical orientation and a top-down perspective reinforces his Baroque sensibilities and his ability to convey an image of a dynamic community where Manila's heart and soul reside and where the threads of its socio-cultural fabric are woven. The images of the Blessed Mother and the devotees are rendered abstract, almost unrecognizable from a distance, and appear like calligraphic, stick figures, an influence of the art informel movement, which Manansala encountered during his nine-month Parisian scholarship. Here, Manansala highlights the often harmonious, at times contradictory interaction between faith and community, prompting the viewer to focus on and reflect on the Filipino context, in which the Catholic faith is deeply woven into our cultural fabric and, therefore, into the native subconscious. Manansala touches on how Catholicism has been entrenched in our collective identity and experience, and how our diverse cultures, traditions, and significant turning points in our nation's history have been intrinsically tied to and shaped by the faith (For example, the awakening of Filipino nationalism in the latter half of the 19th century is rooted in the fight for secularization in the Philippine Church and the subsequent martyrdom of the GomBurZa priests. Quiapo’s social landscape as well is shaped by the people’s ardent devotion to the Nazareno and the Virgen del Carmen). These notions are reinforced by Manansala's calligraphic rendition of the figures, in which the sacred and the profane almost become one and the same, influencing and shaping each other, intertwining and interacting in the same temporal space.
PROPERTY FROM THE D ON ANTONI O BANTUG COLLECTI ON Barung-barong signed and dated 1945 (upper right) watercolor on paper 8 1/4" x 11 3/4" (21 cm x 30 cm) Watercolor painting had always been Vicente Manansala’s respite, so much so that immediately after the smoke had cleared and the ruins had desolately emerged from the ashes, he resorted to that medium to clear his mind, a catharsis of all sorts. Wrote This Week Magazine in a September 1958 article titled ‘Manansala: The Man and his Work’: “After the war, he worked as a staff artist of the Evening News and lived in the slums of Reina Regente [in Binondo], among the barong-barongs of the squatters. It was here that he got the idea for his barong-barong paintings, which started a trend in Philippine painting.” This 1945 watercolor painting shows rows of shanties along the banks of the Pasig River, a ubiquitous sight in post-war Manila. It is one of Manansala’s earliest barong-barong paintings, painted on the spot, pointing out to its small dimensions. (Adrian Maranan)
Still Life with Fish signed and dated 1967 (lower left) watercolor on paper 10 1/2" x 14 1/2" (27 cm x 37 cm) PROVENANCE Private collection, Manila Famous and celebrated for his transparent cubism in depicting everyday Filipino life and social realities— balancing abstraction and realism and reflecting the dignity of ordinary urban poor communities — Vicente Manansala presents a beautiful masterpiece that exemplifies his signature technique. Creating a fragmented yet layered art piece that allows multiple images and spaces to coexist. Created around 1967, Manansala highlights the subtle reality of everyday life by presenting a populated image of items found in a household—foods (fish and leaf vegetables), dining utensils, plates, bowls, pans, lamps— all organized and displayed together like visual puzzle pieces filling in the gaps that make up the daily rhythms of Filipino life. The color itself plays a crucial role in the masterpiece. The warm earth tones dominate the pieces and provide a sense of domesticity, simplicity, and humility, as the figures are given life through colors that resemble the material textures of wood and clay. Humble and familiar, Manansala perfectly reflects how the ordinary kitchen items found in the house are often intertwined, filling in the gaps. Hinting at the inseparability of people and their environment, as well as reflecting a grander image that revolves around evoking the textures of everyday life in the mid-20th-century Philippines. (Mark John Castañeda)
Untitled signed and dated 1948 (lower left) mixed media on paper 11 1/2” x 8 1/2” (29 cm x 22 cm) Reflecting the artist’s early cubist-influenced style, Vicente Manansala’s magnificent post-war piece reflects cultural symbolism and his early exploration of his modernist art style. Featuring a pair of tribal masks as the central figure of the artpiece, Manansala manages to incorporate indigenous cultural identity into his art. The colorful zigzag patterns as well as the earthy color palette highlights folk craftsmanship and artistic motifs while the contrasting expressions of the two masks can be read as representation and exploration of identity, duality and cultural heritage. Reflecting the historical period where artists are in the process of redefining national identity after the war, Manansala’s painting reflects the blended influence of western modernism with Filipino identity, creating a remarkable piece of art that explores topics about identities and dualities while giving a glimpse to this experimentation that would later evolve into his signature art style. (Mark John Castañeda)
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 A deeply spiritual and devout person, Don Tiking Lopez—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. Being a devout Catholic, Don Tiking acquired several masterpieces from Manansala, whose religious works convey both the sacred and the profane. 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. A June 26, 1971 article from The Manila Bulletin described Don Tiking as "one of the country's avid art collectors." "He has recently converted his hacienda in San Carlos City into a haven for artists who devote themselves to perfecting techniques," the article noted. "Lopez today boasts of one of the biggest collections of Filipino paintings in the country today. His office at the Elena Apartments in Ermita has become converted into an art gallery." Seasoned writer and journalist Jullie Yap Daza once wrote in her The Times Journal column In search of a voice, "Unlike many of his contemporaries who collect for speculation's sake, Tiking loves his collection to the point of being thoroughly emotional about every single piece." Daza continued, "Nearly every artist of note enjoys the honor of being hung on the walls of the penthouse of Elena Apartments, which he owns." Manansala's Pieta was among those works once proudly displayed in Don Tiking’s own collector's haven. 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, delicate brush strokes showing refinement and the meticulous ability to render transparent layers of superimposed planes, thereby retaining their sheer realism and heightened emotional resonance while imbuing a sense of humanization. Manansala's journey to Transparent Cubism was an arduous two-decade-long process. He first laid its foundations during his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Banff, Canada in 1949 and his nine-month Parisian sojourn of 1950-51, during which he became the first Filipino to be awarded a scholarship by the French government to the famed École des Beaux-Arts of the University of Paris. There, Manansala was mentored by the French cubist Fernand Léger, 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." From there, Manansala began forging his own path and embarked on carving his legacy. Pieta also encapsulates Manansala's Catholic faith. In his landmark book Conversations on Philippine Art, Cid Reyes said to Manansala: "Isa pa hong lagi ninyong ipinipinta e yung Kristo." To which 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. Paras-Perez'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 imbues his paintings of the suffering Christ not only with a solemn, reverential atmosphere but also with a profound understanding of his human nature, the Son of God incarnate. In his language of Transparent Cubism, Manansala never fragmented the subject; he remained faithful to its corporeality. Hence, Pieta evokes solemnity and humanity at once; a hallowed reminder of God's humble partaking in humanity's sins and suffering. (Adrian Maranan)
a.) Untitled stamped (upper right) graphite on paper 5 1/2” x 8 1/2” (14 cm x 22 cm) b.) Untitled stamped (upper left) graphite on paper 8 1/2” x 5 1/2” (22 cm x 14 cm) c.) Untitled stamped (upper right) graphite on paper 5 1/2” x 8 1//2” (14 cm x 22 cm) d.) Untitled stamped (upper left) graphite on paper 5 1/2” x 8 1//2” (14 cm x 22 cm) e.) Untitled stamped (upper left) graphite on paper 5 1/2” x 8 1//2” (14 cm x 22 cm) f.) Untitled stamped (upper left) graphite on paper 8 1/2” x 5 1/2” (22 cm x 14 cm)
PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED LADY Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981) Nude signed and dated 1975 (upper left) charcoal on paper 23” x 18 1/4” (58 cm x 46 cm)
Prisoner signed and dated 1977 (upper left) black water color on paper 36" x 27 1/2" (91 cm x 70 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist LITERATURE Nazareno, Isabel. Discovering Manansala. Manila: Friends of Manansala Foundation, 2005. Illustrated on page 42. Resonating with the political climate of repression and control during Martial Law, Vicente Manansala's Prisoner reflects a universal symbol of human suffering and oppression. The fracturing cubist art technique mirrors the inner turmoil and loss of freedom experienced by the prisoner in the painting. Made around the year 1977, the composition is dominated by oppressive vertical and horizontal bars to represent the cold and harsh iron bars of a cell. Through the bars is a malnourished figure with his arms tied behind his back. Illustrated in faceted, angular planes, the man's form is broken and distorted, clearly representing the suffering and the helplessness that Manansala wanted to portray. Overall, Prisoner is a powerful commentary on the loss of freedom, dehumanization, and resilience, reflecting the social conditions of the time when the painting was created. Manansala employs transparent cubism to convey the agonizing feeling of confinement to the viewers—given form through his intellectual precision and emotional depth, essentially transforming personal and political statements into a unified visual language. (Mark John Castañeda)
Binangonan signed and dated 1971 (upper right) watercolor on paper 20 1/2" x 29" (52 cm x 74 cm) PROVENANCE Private collection, Manila While many artists may find watercolor to be a complex and challenging medium, the esteemed National Artist Vicente Manansala mastered it with ease. From his early years, watercolor has been one of Manansala’s preferred mediums, honing his skills in layering and blending colors to create images in either a realistic or a washed manner. Painted in 1971, Binangonan captures the town’s serene hilly topography and verdant foliage. The soft sunlight that seeps through the leaves and branches offers a perspective of someone nestled in the shade of sumptuous trees, enjoying a moment of relaxation while admiring the peaceful terrain. Manansala’s skilled knowledge of watercolor and his controlled use of water allowed the colors to flow and gently blend, creating a diffused, hazy picture, a view reminiscent of a person’s drooping eyes as he immersed himself in a peaceful siesta. Devoid of Manansala’s signature vibrant hues and transparent cubism, this watercolor piece employs a washed technique. This piece not only showcases the artist’s mastery of his medium but also highlights his versatility. Indeed, his watercolor pieces are among his best works, proving his reputation in the Philippine art scene—a maestro who creates masterpieces across a wide range of style and medium. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED LADY Family signed and dated 1975 (upper left) oil on canvas 41" x 36" (104 cm x 91 cm) PROVENANCE Artist's personal collection Acquired directly from the artist official chronicle, Antonio Pigafetta. The rooster becomes a symbol of a collective pride and deep sensibility rooted in the indigenous. The deep reds that are particularly highlighted in the young girl's clothing stand out in the composition, representing the vigor and potential of the youth, to whom Manansala once expressed lament for their lack of delicadeza and palabra de honor. "Walang asin [no salt] and kulang sa timpla [lacking in ingredients]," Manansala said in a December 1977 interview for People magazine. The People article mentioned that "Manansala insists children should be molded by parents." "Let them lose [sic], and what will happen to them?" Manansala asked. "Can you imagine what will happen to a child that wasn’t given any direction?" "Where else but among the young can we expect hope for the future?" Manansala expressed in the same interview with dismay, but still with a touch of optimism. The overall composition of Family is both solemn and exuberant. Even though colors are applied in an offbeat manner, this may be intentional. As colors cascade through each other, Manansala achieves a striking tension that highlights the country's fundamental identity: a nation of distinct cultures and identities yet unified by the continuing struggle of reclaiming our hopes and dreams, our dignity and rightful place in society. Using one of the most popular subjects in Catholic iconography, Manansala elevates the Filipino masses into hallowed spheres, worthy of honor for being the very backbone of society. By identifying the color red with the young lady, Manansala pins his hopes on the youth (especially in this age of social media and A.I. powered convenience at the expense of real learning and critical thinking), that they may regain their sense of enlightenment and responsibility in advancing the ideals that watered the seeds of our nation—a reminder of continuing perseverance towards a bona fide progress that is inclusive of all, particularly the Filipino masses that Manansala had always exalted in his art.
PROPERTY FROM THE HAYDEN AND VICKI BELO-KHO COLLECTION Nude signed and dated 1974 (upper left) charcoal on paper 29 1/2" x 22" (75 cm x 56 cm) PROVENANCE Ambassador and Mrs. J.V Cruz Collection Acquired from the above Vicente Manansala’s nude studies show his dedication and commitment to his craft. Even at the pinnacle of his fame, Manansala still practiced and studied hard to enhance his drawing skills. Besides his famed transparent cubism and dauntless color palette, Manansala is also known for his mastery of graphite and charcoal, which is apparent in the numerous illustrations and sketches he produced, especially his nude studies. Most of his nude drawings were created in the 1970s, following his studies at the Otis Art Institute, a significant period that profoundly shaped the creation of his nude drawings, drifting away from his fragmented illustrations. Nude, a charcoal on paper work from 1974, is a striking example of Manansala’s unyielding skills. Despite being in black and white and seated, the artist employed his mastery of light and shadow to delineate his figure’s every curve and line. With the woman’s slumped posture, head tilted to the side, and face shadowed with dejection, this piece exudes a somber atmosphere. Ultimately, this 1974 Nude demonstrates Manansala’s ability to infuse his work with unspoken emotions, inviting the viewers to uncover its hidden tale. Vicente Manansala’s versatility is undeniable, as he creates work after work in different styles and mediums. His skilled hands and exceptional artistry allow him to manipulate light and shadow, regardless of his materials. This ability adds depth to his work, both aesthetically and emotionally. Manansala breathes life into his works with every swish and flick of his hands, infusing each with different emotions and stories. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY FROM THE HAYDEN AND VICKI BELO-KHO COLLECTION Nude signed and dated 1970 (lower left) charcoal on paper 31 1/4" x 30" (79 cm x 76 cm) PROVENANCE Ambassador and Mrs. J.V Cruz Collection Acquired from the above In Manansala Nudes, Rodolfo Paras-Perez described Vicente Manansala’s drawing practices as the National Artist’s great obsession. True enough, Manansala started drawing as a young child and continued to do so for as long as he could hold a pencil. He kept drawing even at the height of his artistic career, and he kept drawing even during the last days of his fruitful life. For Manansala, drawing was not just a skill, but the foundation of his artistic process. He believed it was the most essential skill an artist must possess before delving into other styles and mediums. Undeniably, his mastery of drawing lies at the heart of his prolific artistry. Aside from his kaleidoscopic geometric shape-filled canvases, Manansala also has an ample amount of charcoal and pencil drawings. The female body was one of the recurring themes in his drawings. However, his female nudes, devoid of any hint of eroticism, were purely academic studies. These studies allowed him to master the curves and depths of human anatomy. Furthermore, these charcoal and pencil drawings served as his practice ground for tonal values, the employment of light and shadow in his subsequent works. (Jessica Magno)
PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED LADY From the Market signed and dated 1975 (upper left) oil on canvas 29" x 37" (74 cm x 94 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist LITERATURE Paras-Perez, Rod. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Black-and- white illustration on page 242 and painting description on page 243. Mang Enteng’s Favorite Masterpiece Manansala Paints His Self-Portrait as a Sabungero by ADRIAN MARANAN The renowned British psychologist John Charles Turner once wrote in 1996, "The self is fundamentally sociological, not biological." According to Turner, our sense of self is influenced by our association with specific social groups and, therefore, molded into the "collective self." Thus, the "self" becomes synonymous and intimately inseparable from the "collective." Vicente Manansala was always a bold and irreverent gent, beaming with a prankish and witty sense of humor, like an old-fashioned Filipino man could ever be. But beyond that was a man ingrained with proletarian sensibilities, deeply in touch with his fellow ordinary folks. Growing up in pre- war Intramuros, Manansala experienced the hardships of living early on; he worked as a shoe-shine boy (bootblack), a caddy, a distributor of films for movie houses, and a newspaper hawker selling copies of La Vanguardia and El Debate Independiente all throughout Manila. A palpable proof of Manansala's profound identity as being one with the culture of the masses was his love for sabong, or cockfighting, a pastime deeply rooted in our collective culture. Sabong existed even before Magellan's arrival on our shores, as witnessed by the expedition's chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta. The story goes like this. Manansala, after he graduated from the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1930, ran away from home when his father castigated him "for keeping a stable of seven fighting cocks," as once recounted in a September 1958 article by the highly popular This Week magazine. Manansala also revealed in a May 1973 interview with Cid Reyes that one of his most beloved subjects is the rooster and the cockfighter, thanks to his sabungero past. He said in his signature sense of humor. “Ah! Yang manok e talagang gustong-gusto ko! Alam mo noong binata ako, sabungero ako! Pero nang mag-asawa ako, tinigilan ko. Alam mo naman, ‘yang manok at asawa e hinding-hindi pwedeng magkasama!” It is in the assimilation of the sense of self with an ingrained element of our social culture that we find the significance of Manansala's From the Market. From the Market is an interesting case within Manansala's oeuvre as it features a self-portrait of the maestro as a sabungero, once his favorite pastime and quickly turned to being his most cherished subject in his paintings. Manansala is in the vigor of his youth, a handsome man with prominent cheekbones, a well-defined jawline, and a high-bridged nose. Beside Manansala is a pregnant woman depicting the beautiful Aling Hilda, or Hermenegilda Diaz Manansala, Mang Enteng's beloved wife. This intriguing portrait of Manansala and his wife evokes that time when he had to stop cockfighting all in the name of his precious wife, whom he relentlessly courted for seven years, married in November of 1937 (they eloped after Mang Enteng stole a kiss from the maiden during their first movie date), and with whom he would have a son named Emmanuel (born in 1939). Aling Hilda is depicted as an irked woman, her gaze away from Mang Enteng, perhaps annoyed at her husband's "constant craving" for cockfighting. The rooster looks with pity on Manansala, as if pleading with the conflicted Mang Enteng not to leave behind his “side chick.” “I love the sabungero because I was one,” Manansala proudly expressed in Rod. Paras-Perez’s book on him. The beautiful women vendors, to whom Aling Hilda also looks with apprehension (perhaps a sign of veiled jealousy of Mang Enteng's flirtatious tendencies?), are reminiscent of Manansala's proletarian boyhood when he used to hustle his way all throughout pre-war Manila's streets to earn a living. "My painting is a sort of emotional release," Manansala famously said in the above-mentioned This Week article. "I paint not what I see but what I feel." A Painter in His Prime Decade By the time Manansala painted this work, he had been riding high on his well-deserved success. He was the Philippines' most famous painter. In fact, during his prolific 1970s, Manansala's shows 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 reported in the periodical Woman's Home Companion. 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. "For more than 20 years, Manansala has been receiving invitations from museums and galleries abroad for one- man shows," said the Woman's Home Companion 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." From the Market, Manansala's Favorite Painting However, there were a handful of paintings that Mang Enteng kept for himself, tucked inside the bedroom of his Binangonan home. From the Market is among those works. The current owner reminisced that his mom acquired the work from Manansala himself one sunny day in 1975, when he accompanied her to Binangonan to visit Mang Enteng at the eager request of a very good friend. The owner recalled that he witnessed how Manansala casually pulled this work from under the bed and offered it to his mother, whom Mang Enteng had always wanted to be one of his models from the very start. "Mama and Mang Enteng had been acquaintances since after the war," the owner said. During that time, Manansala worked as a staff artist for the Evening News, and the owner's mother was a staffer for The Manila Times (then the country’s leading daily) who had the confidence of her boss, the venerable Chino Roces. Both periodicals were under the Roces media empire. "Mang Enteng had wanted my Mama to pose for him from that time, and he always 'flirted' with my beauteous mother," the owner revealed. "Mang Enteng would always say to my mom, 'Oh, you're so beautiful! You should be my model.' My mother always resisted but knew how to 'flirt' back." The owner shared that when Manansala painted for himself, he would put it under his bed; some were rolled up, others were stretched. From the Market, the owner recalled, had just been stretched, wrapped in cardboard, and ready to be framed. Manansala himself chose the painting and offered to gift it to the owner's mother, saying, "This is one of my best paintings! This is my favorite work as this is my best 'transparent cubist' rendition of my palengke [market] scene, with myself as my favorite sabungero [cockfighter]." "My mother refused to accept it as a gift because she was so conscious that she had to compensate people for their hard work," said the owner. "She was always there as an avid supporter when the Filipino modernists were still financially struggling and striving for acceptance. She had always had a sweet, soft spot not just for these painters but for everyone fairly and eagerly working their way to the top." From the Market is a beautiful painting where one sees a harmonious wedding of Manansala's sense of self, his love and appreciation for his own roots and culture, and an art lover/patron's profound consciousness towards promoting and cultivating the artist's role in nation-building. This compelling intersection of art, culture, and personal relationships holds such gravitas that Manansala considered From the Market his favorite painting.
Nude signed and dated 1972 (upper left) pastel on paper 35 3/4" x 24 3/4" (91 cm x 63 cm) The late 1960s brought an invigorating energy to Vicente Manansala’s oeuvre. Though he already had a veritable amount of accolades under his belt, he still pursued betterment, as evidenced by his enrollment at the Otis Art Institute in 1967. Otis was particularly known for its drawing program, and Manansala found it necessary to go back to something as basic as drawing. Upon his arrival at Otis, Manansala approached drawing the nude as he usually does, as fragmented parts. Here, the head, next the hands, and so on. However, his mentor gave him a piece of advice that would soon shape his pieces. See the nude not as broken pieces but as a whole; establish the broad line of connection within the figure through the tilt of the head, the slant of the waist, and so on. Indeed, that advice is evident in Manasala’s 1972 Nude. At once, the viewer the easily pinpoint that thread of connection that lines the woman’s figure. From the slight slant of her shoulders to the almost defiant tilt of her neck, the viewers could easily assign to her a unique story, regardless of her literal and metaphorical nakedness. Indeed, even using only the line of her body and the bold stare she levels at the viewer, it is impressive the scope of the possible story one can gauge from this portrait. It is a testament to Manansala’s prowess with pen and ink, emphasizing the artist’s deep understanding of the medium. (Hannah Valiente)
PROPERTY FROM THE DON EUGENIO “GENY” LOPEZ JR. COLLECTION Kuaresma signed and dated 1966 (lower right) oil on canvas 31" x 35" (79 cm x 89 cm) The lot at hand, entitled Kuaresma, is part of Vicente Manansala’s Whirr Series, a collection of works depicting the birds in various states of flight. Beginning in 1962, Whirr found itself as one of Manansala’s most enduring series, a representation of freedom, liberty, and religion as the Philippines takes its first steps following its independence. As the birds fly over their obstacles and sorrow, so too can a burgeoning nation, or so says Manansala. A handful of Whirr works feature the beautiful white dove – a species loaded with religious and national symbolism. In shades of red, blue, and while, his Whirr series is as effervescent as it is ethereal, a dream come to life as flocks of white doves fly through the canvas. However, Kuaresma takes the opposite direction. Instead of the pure white doves that adorned many of his works, the birds in this work are smaller, darker, and more compact, emblematic of the common maya. Still, despite its commonality, Birds in Flight is as grandiose as the rest of the piece. The flock of maya flies above the lush Philippine forests, their shadows darkening the ground below, a vision that is well and truly Filipino. Manansala’s Whirr series began in 1962, and by 1963, a different Birds in Flight was featured on the cover of the Sunday Times Magazine. By June of the same year, he was awarded the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, the prestigious precursor to the National Artist Award. This particular Kuaresma was created in 1966, three years after the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, and still it is a magnificent example of Whirr’s beauty. Manansala’s Transparent Cubism highlights the ethereality of this piece – ever a romantic Filipino, Manansala cannot fully subscribe to the indiscriminate and total breakdown of subject matters the way Western Cubism tends to do. Instead, Manansala opts to break down his subject matter into fragments and pieces without totally turning its form or figure into abstraction. He uses delicate tones, shapes, and patterns, and masterfully superimposes them onto an image to create a cohesive cubist piece. Whirr, in its essence, is a form of aerial poetry. The transparent planes of his works evoke the path of flight, wrote Paras-Perez, and it carves its own way into the sky, leaving behind only hints of its meaning and values. “The animal is the physical embodiment of movement,” Sotheby wrote in a different Whirr piece. “Together with the animal in mid-flight, ready to soar away, he is essentially trying to capture the essence of life itself.” (Hannah Valiente)
a.) Untitled signed and dated 1967 (upper right) pen and ink on paper 8” x 5 1/2” (20 cm x 14 cm) b.) Untitled signed and dated 1967 (upper right) pen and ink on paper 5 1/2” x 8” (14 cm x 20 cm)
Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981) Heart signed and dated 1955 (lower right) oil on masonite 27" x 19" (69 cm x 48 cm) Provenance: Private collection, Manila The Heart of Industry Manansala Captures the Lifeblood of the Nation by Adrian Maranan By the war's end, there arose a formidable mission to rebuild the nation—regenerate the economy, reconstruct what was left of the country's former glory, and, of course, revive the arts and sciences to help reinvigorate the values and morale of the people, which the horror of the war wreaked havoc upon. No less than The Evening News Saturday Magazine, one of the major periodicals of the time, wrote in its 3 February 1951 issue a striking summary of the Filipinos' aspiration of a post-war resurgence. "The year 1945 was a year of death—the death of many men, women, and children, and of their hopes and dreams. But after the death by fire and bomb and starvation came the beginning of a new life for the people and the country. Never was nationalism so intense, and the consciousness of a nation as an entity desirous to exist independently and self-sufficiently so fully expressed. "This desire to live a life of peace in full freedom found expression in endeavors to industrialize the country, in science, politics, and was to be the inspiration of a growing culture." The post-war Philippines was brimming with the promises of a new dawn. And what better avenue to masterfully convey and stimulate these promises than the all-powerful convictions of the arts? The Manila Chronicle writes in its 20 March 1948 issue: "For never before as now have the people shown more interest in what was formerly the exclusive preserve of a chosen few. And never before as now, have there been more devotees of the arts who, because of their ability and youth, promise to blossom out into real artists. Concert tours, art exhibits, scholarships here and abroad—all these, coming as they do closely upon one another, carry in them the healthy symptoms of a mature and urbane society." By this time, Vicente Manansala had emerged as one of the leading Modernists and an important figure in the Neo-Realist movement, who conjured up images of war-torn families and ruined settings, away from the gleam and glamour of the canvases painted by the Amorsolo school. Manansala had also become one of the country's top painters. He was a beloved darling of the Art Association of the Philippines' annual exhibitions, winning 1st Prize for Barong-Barong #1 at the 1950 Manila Grand Opera House Art Exhibition and 2nd Prize for Modern Painting at the 1953 and 1955 Annuals. In the AAP's 1st National Art Exhibition in 1948, Manansala won the 3rd Prize for his Banaklaot. Manansala had also been the recipient of scholarships abroad, first in Canada, then in Paris. Behind all his success was an ordinary folk who, like most of his countrymen, did not have the privilege to be spared from the war. On the occasion of Manansala being crowned by This Week Magazine as the "Most Outstanding Filipino Painter" at the culmination of the 50s, the highly popular magazine talked of the artist's war experience. "During the war, he took his family to Masantol, Pampanga, and fished for a living. Every now and then, he got commissions for portraits. Paint was scarce, and Manansala had almost used up his supply. To replenish it, he scraped old, hardened paint, ground it into powder, and mixed it with coconut oil." This Week continued: "After the war, he worked as staff artist of the Evening News and lived in the slums of Reina Regente [in Binondo], among the barong-barongs of the squatters." Although Manansala had risen to a well-deserved prominence, he never forgot to look back at the hardships of his past. "I am not an intellectual. I am a peasant. I do not paint from the mind. I paint from the heart," he said to Cid Reyes in a 1973 interview. In another interview with Christine Lopa in December 1979, Manansala said in heartfelt recollection: "…I have compassion for the poor…I understand what it is like to have nothing. I experienced that." Manansala would then integrate his personal stories of the war with his enthusiastic solidarity with the nation's rehabilitation efforts in this 1955 piece titled Heart. Heart captures the exciting vigor and optimism of national recovery in the immediate post-war period. Surrounding the central figure are vignettes of the Filipino people in their various undertakings: farming, business and industrial enterprises, science, and technology. Manansala's painting itself symbolizes the arts—the soul of the nation, the mirror of the people's shared sentiments. At the very center of it all is the human heart emanating from the robust arms that shoulder the process of nation-building. The flaming heart represents the burning desires of the nation and its people to break free from the trauma of destruction. Manansala renders the central figure in a surrealistic style. Heart is a microcosm of the Filipino people yearning to heal from the wounds of the past, standing resilient and remaining steadfast in their hopeful struggles for an all-embracing progress. After all, the lifeblood of the nation is always its people.
Property from the Ambassador and Mrs. J.V. Cruz collection Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981) Sabungero signed, dated 1965 and inscribed "LA" (lower right) oil on canvas 28" x 35 1/2" (71 cm x 90 cm) Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist Literature: Paras-Perez, Rod. Manansala. Manila: PLC Publications, 1980. Full-color illustration on page 157 and painting description on page 156. Ambassador J.V. Cruz Envoy of the Palace and of Philippine Art AMBASSADOR JOSE VICENTE (JV) CRUZ (1926 - 1998) was a famous journalist from Hermosa who lived the life of a newspaperman/regular columnist of “The Manila Times,” Press Secretary of President Ramon Magsaysay and Ambassador to Iraq and England (Court of St. James) under President Ferdinand E. Marcos. The son of the late Judge Roman A. Cruz was born on May 18, 1926. He finished a degree in Journalism at the University of the Philippines. He and the young Benigno S. Aquino Jr. of the Daily Mirror documented the successful surrender of Luis Taruc of the Hukbalahap to then Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay. JV was one of the few trained public relations men who projected Magsaysay, who ran in November 1953 for the highest office of the land, as friend of the “tao” or common man. After getting elected with a convincing majority, Magsaysay picked JV Cruz as his Press Secretary, the youngest ever to hold this position. He served along with the other glamor boys like Raul Manglapus, Manuel Pelaez, Terry Adevoso, Jaime Ferrer and Manuel Manahan. He had been described by legions as the best press secretary the Philippines ever had. JV Cruz stayed in Malacanang from 1953 until 1957. He kept Magsaysay’s image intact despite the President’s heated tussles with the Opposition, especially Senator Claro Recto. Using his influence and closeness to Magsaysay, he was able to convince the President to include in the latter’s agenda the delimitation of the US Military Reservation in Cabcaben, Mariveles. Cruz was asked by Vice President Carlos P. Garcia to serve the last eight months of the Magsaysay administration even after the President died in a plane crash on March 17, 1957. President Garcia also attempted to persuade Cruz to run for senator during the Nov. 12, 1957 national polls. The latter, however, declined Garcia’s offer by feigning ill health. He returned to newspaper column writing. In 1961, JV Cruz ran for a congressional seat against incumbent and re-electionist Congressman Jose R. Nuguid. It was a close fight but Nuguid triumphed over his townmate. Despite his anti-Marcos stance, JV accepted an offer by Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos to serve as the Philippine Ambassador to Iraq, Egypt, the Netherlands and Great Britain, a post he would hold the last. In 1990, he returned to Manila from abroad where he had been in self-exile since the EDSA Revolt of 1986. He received tempting offers from many newspaper and radio-TV stations. He declined by saying “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” JV Cruz passed away on July 9, 1998. The Stained-Glass Series of Manansala From the Diplomat-Collector J.V. Cruz by Adrian Maranan "…Cubism freed Manansala's vision from the genre tradition of direct transcription of nature in the fifties," wrote the noted art critic Rod. Paras-Perez in one of his essays in his 1980 seminal book on the Cubist maestro. "With passionate élan, Manansala explored all possible directions within a basically cubist framework." Manansala himself said in his landmark interview with Cid Reyes in mid-1973 that Cubism "is always my go-to style, a style I'll always return to until I die." Cubism was Manansala's lifeblood, his source of living, both financially and existentially. When Manansala was granted yet another opportunity to study abroad in early 1960, this time as a recipient of the US Department of State's "Foreign Specialist Grant" or the "Smith-Mundt Program," serendipity came to him like the speed of light. While riding a cable car in Los Angeles, "a stained glass on top of a table with lights under it," as Manansala described it, quickly caught his attention. "At that time, I was studying stained glass at Greenland Studio," he said. 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!]." The Sabungero (cockfighter) is a theme Manansala would always revisit in his paintings. He once recalled in the Cid Reyes interview that he was a cockfighter in his bachelor days, only ceasing from this rowdy pastime when he married Hilda. This Sabungero from 1965 is a most consummate example of Manansala's "stained-glass" technique. Painted in Los Angeles during his extensive travel around the world with Hilda, the work comes off as a full-circle moment for the maestro. It was in L.A. where he first encountered the gleaming allure of stained-glass art; it would also be in "La-la-land" where he would paint this exemplar of his remarkable series. In this work, Manansala's thicker and more defined rendering of lines that outline the figures resemble the lead that provides the design of a typical stained-glass window. While the beautifully chaotic interplay between line and color infuses physicality into the surface and further abstracts the figures, Manansala's ever-vibrant and dynamic palette retains the integrity of their form. The cover story of This Week's 4 September 1960 issue featured Manansala's experimentation in the stained-glass style. The feature wrote: "One of the country's well-known modern painters, Vicente Manansala, has been influenced by stained glass artists. In fact, Manansala himself, who teaches at the Faculty of Fine Arts at UST, is already a stained-glass artist. "He studied the art for four months in New York this year as a recipient of the US Department of State foreign specialist grant (Smith-Mundt Program) with the cooperation of the American Council on Education. His latest paintings show the influence of stained glass. "A stained-glass window is simply made of multi-colored glasses held together by lead. The lead outlines the main constituents of the design and also gives its meaning and rhythm to the masses of color."
Property from the Arch. Gabriel Formoso collection Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981) Mother and Child signed and dated 1965 (upper left) oil on canvas 27" x 34" (69 cm x 87 cm) Accompanied by a certificate issued by The National Museumconfirming the authenticity of this lot Gabriel Formoso Architect and Nation-Builder Architect Gabriel aka “Gabby” Formoso started his practice in 1939 as one of the first 100 licensed architects in the Philippines. Among his designs are well-known landmark buildings in the Makati Central Business District with most surviving up to this day. These include the Asian Institute of Management building, the Bank of America–Lepanto building, and the Manila Peninsula Hotel, as well as major structures in Manila such as the Central Bank of the Philippines. Among the most important recognitions he received were the 1979 Outstanding Architect of the Year Award from the Professional Regulation Commission, the 1977 Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award from the Commission on Arts and Culture, the 1974 Most Outstanding Alumnus Award from his alma mater University of Santo Tomas, and an Honorary Lifetime Individuals Membership from the Architectural Center. But more than a maker of cityscapes and nation-building, Architect Formoso was an avid art collector. His family would remember that “He gave a lot of aspiring artists and sculptors a leg up by purchasing their artworks, not only to add to his large collection but also to present them to both friends and clients as his way of promoting the artist.” In fact, Architect Formoso — a legendary host who would enjoy cooking for his guests — would also organized painting interactions with the country’s best-known artists as well as younger mavericks, new to the scene. This particular Manansala was acquired from a friend, Mr Hermie Atienza of the Central Bank of the Philippines and was considered an important piece in the Architect’s collection. Manansala’s Modern Madonna Through The Prism Of Stained Glass And Cubism by Lisa Guerrero Nakpil The art of stained-glass would fit comfortably into Manansala’s cubist vision. This medieval art would consist of joining translucent pieces of glass — very much like the shapes that Manansala would use to break down reality — with heavy black enamel lines. These heavy lines, as in this painting of a mother mending nets as her child lies placidly in his crib, would become distinctive design elements that would form part of the image. Manansala probably selected the geometric patterns of the net festooned around the mother and the wicker grids of the cradle to emphasize these black lines. It is a serious composition of ornament, image and structure. Before the likes of Dalena, Olmedo, and de Guzman, there were the “Neo-Realists” who were the first to portray the stark realities of a post-war Philippines. In the Sixties, Manansala continued to convey the story of the urban poor, although in a highly photogenic manner. A favorite theme would be the Filipino madonna. In this work, his riff on the “rose windows” of the great French cathedrals underline the connection between the Catholic Virgin Mary and the Filipino mother and child, who through hard work and patience continued to eke out a living to support the family.
Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981) Nude signed and dated 1974 (upper right) charcoal on paper 16" x 11" (41 cm x 28 cm) Provenance Acquired directly from the artistt At the heart of Vicente Manansala’s prolific artistry lies his mastery of drawing, evidenced by the number of sketches, portraits, and nude drawings he did throughout his career and beyond. Manansala’s nude studies, as the name suggests, were studies of the human anatomy, which also served as his practice ground for light and shadow using charcoal and graphite. As such, Manansala’s 1974 Nude shows his dedication and commitment to his craft. He also has a penchant for preserving his figures’ dignity; despite his figure’s upper body being on full display, her head is tilted to the side, and her shadowed face is hidden from the viewers. (Jessica Magno)
Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981) Dambana signed and dated 1957 (lower right) oil on masonite 25" x 13 3/4" (64 cm x 35 cm) Provenance: Private Collection, USA Manansala’s Neo-Realist Sanctum An Heir to the Beloved Dambana of 1956 by Adrian Maranan Vicente Manansala: An Unstoppable Force of the 1950s A Dashing and Dramatic Experimenter Rising from the ruins of war, Manansala perseveringly worked his way up—from staff artist of the Evening News; all the while living in the slums of Reina Regente in Binondo, where he first conceived his barong-barong paintings, which he pioneered in Filipino art; to his meteoric rise as a foremost exponent of modernism, accompanied by his fellow Neo-Realists who would all strike the last blow to the weakening ascendancy of conservatism in the face of national trauma caused by the war. Philippine Art Gallery matriarch Lyd Arguilla once recounted that Manansala's participation in the groundbreaking “First Neo-Realist Exhibition” in 1950 "created lively talk in art circles…chiefly because [he] had suddenly broken away from "literal" to abstract.” Not only would Manansala be a most eminent painter, he was a muralist, a sculptor, a highly skilled watercolorist, an art educator at the University of Santo Tomas, and had a knack for ceramics. He worked in various media—oil, melted crayon, charcoal, woodcut, and enamel, among others. He had been the recipient of art studies abroad: in Banff, Canada in 1949 and Paris in 1950, with both cities contributing to his burgeoning interest in Cubism. In this decade, Manansala would often jump from one style to another: Cubism, Abstract Expressionist-like configurations, Art Informel. Painting what he felt rather than what he saw led him to “different styles,” wrote the influential and highly popular This Week Magazine in September 1958. “His style, which he would rather call mannerism, is influenced by his feeling, and a change in style is due either to change in mood or to the discovery of a new form.” No less than the widely circulated The Sunday Times Magazine wrote in its 10 November 1957 issue: "Vicente Manansala is a dashing and dramatic experimenter. He has been the recipient of several scholarships to foreign art capitals. He teaches at the University of Sto. Tomas School of Fine Arts. Manansala is one of the leaders of the "neo-realist" school of Manila art… which has been responsible for a great deal of the current activity in the city." Dolores L. Benavides summarized Manansala's achievements in her article "Modern Art Today" for The Manila Times' “Progress 1956” magazine. "While Vicente Manansala did not have his own show this year, he has not been idle. He was commissioned to do the mural "Freedom of the Press" for the National Press Club building, which opened December 30 last year. He won first prize in the United Nations art competition for the painting "Women Praying in Church," which now hangs in the UN Building in New York City. . "He has done a lot of oils and watercolors, which were exhibited in the omnibus shows sponsored by AAP, UNESCO, PAG, and others… With exuberance and vitality, he shows us facets of the Philippine scene: churches, city streets, family groups, market vendors, men with their fighting cocks. A fellow painter has noted that he has made remarkable progress this year and "is an artist to watch."" Towards the end of the decade, Manansala was crowned “Most Outstanding Filipino Painter” by This Week, lauding him by writing, “[he] is the most prolific painter in the Philippines today, has won more major awards than any of his contemporaries. Besides winning in almost all AAP art competitions, he won the top awards in the Spanish biennial exhibition, the United Nations art contest, and the Southeast Asian art competition.” Amid his glittering success, there was one masterpiece that stood out among the rest. A Tale of Three Altars In 1954, Manansala painted Altar Credo, an oil and enamel work that he presented in a solo exhibition held in December of that year at his beloved home, the Philippine Art Gallery, which had just moved to its new address at Mabini corner Arquiza Streets in Ermita, Manila. The work depicts an ornate retablo mayor of an old Spanish colonial church. An earlier iteration of the piece—a study—was featured as the cover of This Week's 11 July 1954 issue. Arguilla described this painting as Manansala's consummate showcase of his color sensitivity, which she explained was "second to none." Altar Credo would be acquired by an American named L.E. Phillips. In 1956, Manansala submitted another altar painting, this time titled Dambana, as part of the 5th Anniversary Exhibition of the PAG. The work was a showstopper, even spotlighted in This Week's pages. Dambana would then be acquired by Fernando Zóbel. Zóbel may have seen affinity with the piece, as he had created a thematically similar one, Carroza, which had previously won the First Prize in the 1953 AAP Semi-Annual. During this time, Zobel had long manifested his interest in Philippine religious iconography, culminating in his monumental 1963 monograph titled Philippine Religious Imagery, tackling the history of Philippine sacred images during the Spanish era in relation to his search for a genuine Filipino expression in art. Dambana's story did not end with its acquisition by Zóbel. The following year, in 1957, it would again grace the PAG halls in its 6th Anniversary Exhibition. Incidentally, the anniversary celebration was marred by swelling uneasiness due to problems with the monthly rent. The Manila Bulletin writes of this incident. "But a problem was bothering the members. Rent for the locale of the Gallery on Arquiza Street, near artists' row on Ermita, was soon due, and there was no knowing how it was to be paid." The re-entry of Manansala's powerful work aimed to reinforce hopes for a successful sale, attracting visitors and buyers, old and new. Bulletin notes its significance to the exhibition. "…not to mention Manansala's "Altar" being reshown, [it] gave promise of making the exhibit a memorable one for the Gallery." The 1956 Dambana would also be showcased in the widely publicized and acclaimed "Tour of Philippine Contemporary Art," a 1958 roving art exhibit of Filipino paintings sponsored by the AAP that visited major Asian cities: Tokyo, Hong Kong, and towards the western part of the continent. The tour, which lasted a year and a half, assembled a tour de force of the country's flowering modernism and showcased the Philippines as a rising Asian cultural power. Works by Botong, HR Ocampo, Legaspi, Anita, Zobel, Luz, and Abueva were also at the traveling art show. Talks for this exhibition had already been discussed in early 1957 during the Southeast Asian Art Conference and Competition (also sponsored by the AAP) held in the country, where, interestingly, Manansala won second place and a cash prize of $750 for his solemn work Give Us This Day. At the conference, Manansala and the other participating artists were requested to submit a work that best represents them. Manansala chose Dambana, "borrowing" it from its owner, his dear friend, Zobel. He also submitted another entry titled Tahim Buhay No. 7. Thomas Ichinoise of The Mainichi Times, one of Japan's "Big Four Newspapers," praised the exhibition, observing that Filipino art is something that radiates "a special atmosphere in a sense of form, of nuances, of textures, of color, of rhythm, creating their distinct presence." Charles S. Terry of another Japanese "Big Four Newspaper," Asahi Evening News, also commended the Filipino painters, noting that "they have gone beyond the stage of imitation to that of experimentation." The authoritative and highly popular The Manila Times particularly commented on Manansala's Dambana, praising that it "transforms a large table into semi-abstract relationships. The glow of colors…is rich and deep…." After all its exposure, even republished many times in magazines, the 1956 Dambana was gifted by Zóbel, along with his extensive collection of Filipino modern art to the Ateneo de Manila University in 1960, forming the core collection of what is now the Ateneo Art Gallery. The 1957 Dambana, Heir to the Iconic 1956 Altar The praises received by Dambana led Manansala in 1957 to paint another iteration, which is now offered in this year's opening salvo. It is a smaller yet more intricately beautiful painting depicting the same subject in the same style. Manansala's color palette exudes a lush mixture of the gravitas of meditation and a scintillating sensuality for the visuals. It is almost as if Manansala's pulsating colors impart a sense of physicality to an otherwise flat painting. The figures of the santos are rendered in what Rod. Paras-Perez noted in his book on Manansala as “the reduction of the image into calligraphic gestures became more pronounced, particularly in the delineation of each icon. The subject or motif, an altar, also lent itself to the concern for the informel…preoccupying Manansala at the time.” It was in France where Manansala encountered art informel, which was at its peak in the early 50s when he pursued his scholarship at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of the University of Paris. Manansala's employment of the informel technique distills the subject to its essence, with his vigorous colors displaying a rich sensibility that captures the Baroque grandiosity of the country's colonial churches. Manansala's adaptation of the informel concept, or paintings born of/inspired by improvisation, befit his mantra of painting what he feels. The Dambana as a Symbol of Manansala’s Piety I saw God In a raindrop that fell Like a gem, a pearl, a tear And then I know where God has come I must go there, to see and feel And know my God Who came to me - Manansala Amid his blockbuster popularity, Manansala remained grounded in his pious roots. Faith had always been ingrained in Manansala’s creative psyche, even trying his hand at poetry detailing his sublime “encounter” with God and would be published by This Week in September 1958. Both the 1954 and 1956 Dambana and the Dambana on offer in this auction bear a striking resemblance to the retablo mayor of the old San Francisco Church in Intramuros, where Manansala attended mass every day when he was younger. “I used to go to mass every day at the San Francisco Church. At 14, I wanted to become a priest,” he said to Rod. Paras-Perez in his monograph. The creation of another Dambana is not only owed to the adulation the one from 1956 had received; it was a perfect avenue for Manansala to manifest his Neo-Realist identity, or in his own words, “My painting is a sort of emotional release…I paint not what I see but what I feel.” Manansala’s Dambana paintings may have brought him back to his youth when he used to wander and play atop the walls of Intramuros and bonded with his childhood friends, Jose Alcantara and Antonio Dumlao. It was a time of hopeful vigor, armed only with his dreams of becoming a painter someday. “As a boy, Manansala became a bootblack, a newsboy, a caddy, and a distributor of programs at movie houses,” recounted This Week. “At the age of seven, he was already drawing cockroaches, dragon flies, and June bugs. All through the elementary grades, he and Dumlao, who also had a facile pen, walked barefooted to the UP Bellas Artes on R. Hidalgo for free art lessons.” Dambana can also be seen as some emotional purging, a sense of nostalgia mixed with a feeling of melancholy and mourning for what had been lost—morally and culturally—in the harrowing destruction of the war. By utilizing a frontal, flat perspective and employing somber colors that evoke heartfelt solemnity, Manansala lets the viewer come face to face with the church as a sanctuary for the hopeless and the oppressed, where everyone, regardless of social stature, can liberally voice out all their woes and tragedies in the face of the ruins of a once glorious landscape. After all, Manansala used to be one of those poor, unfortunate souls, even sketching for American G.I.'s after the war in exchange for a paltry sum, just enough to buy rice. For Manansala, piety is purely manifested in an art that intertwines with the hopes and despairs of the ordinary people—in the barong-barongs, the mother and child imbued in impoverished conditions, the beggars, the candle vendors, the wailing devotees desperately in prayer, and the jampacked processions that have always been a people’s manifestation of faith and solemn yet inherently lively optimism. Manansala, who possesses an art that touches all facets of the common Filipino’s everyday living, wholeheartedly elevated all these themes and subjects in his art, bringing them into our collective psyche as images of our undying determination in the face of struggles.
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
