Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

When Castaneda returned to Manila in 1931 to take up the teaching post at the Bellas Artes that awaited him, everyone agreed that his stays abroad, which include tuition at the Art Institute of Chicago and a visit to Mexico City, had been most productive for his art. After few short years, however, the boldness shown in the paintings he brought home from his pensionado years gave way to the overpowering influence of Amorsolo, whose charms had created a school of painting within and outside the walls of the Escuela. Castaneda became a dedicated rambler of the countryside, an artist who passionately experiences the terrain through which he hikes. As a result, his paintings reflect the very intensity and directness of his love of nature and are dedicated to a romantic style of honesty in recording it.