Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, U.S.A.

ABOUT THE WORK

In his widely celebrated Philippine landscape and genre masterpieces, National Artist Fernando Amorsolo exhibits his unwavering commitment to the classical notion of the idealist approach on art-making—to an artistic truth grounded on balance, beauty, and harmony. To this day, Amorsolo’s masterpieces featuring life in the countryside are treasured by various collectors, and the artist’s legacy is acknowledged in the country and abroad. As he immortalized picturesque scenes in the countryside, he also captured familiar activities in rural communities and the charms of life far from the city’s everyday scenes, from farmers planting rice to folks resting under the mango tree. Amorsolo would also utilize his signature backlighting or chiaroscuro technique to achieve a characteristic glow on his local figures and countryside settings, also heightening the visual impact of other details in each painting. Rice planting is not an easy task. However, in Planting Rice, Amorsolo’s rural folks in the rice field show a level of joy and lightness in contrast to signs of heavy toil and labor that rice planting entails. The serene feel is evoked through the master artist’s refined brushstrokes and choice of nature’s colors. The signature farmer with his carabao, the local hats, also the clothes of his subjects working under the tropical light are masterfully rendered through his eye for detail and classical approach. All in all, it is an elegant piece in which he engages with the elements of provincialism embedded into the Filipino consciousness.