Provenance:
Maricar Zaldarriaga Collection
Leo?n Gallery, The Glorious Easter Auction 2014, Makati City, 22 March 2014, Lot 98

ABOUT THE WORK

A distinctive take on cubism—featuring countryside montages, landscapes, and barrio lasses—are what make the paintings of Oscar Zalameda iconic and sought-after works of art. With French art studies as foundation, he was able to meld a European flair and an international worldview, with his unwavering love of country shining through. As a bon vivant and with artistic training from the USA and extensive travels the world over, Zalameda always kept in touch with his Filipino roots, particularly with his hometown of Lucban, Quezon. His art, then, while cubist in style, always featured Filipino themes and subjects, an example of which is his exquisite depiction of three Filipinas—barrio lavanderas—in a style that typifies his sought-after paintings. The well-traveled Zalameda has the credentials and accolades to corroborate his prestige as an artist. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the University of Santo Tomas in 1950. In 1953, he left the Philippines to pursue advanced art studies abroad. By 1955, Zalameda had finished studying mural techniques in Mexico and would become a member of the Art League of California in San Francisco and a student at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts and Sorbonne Université in Paris. Zalameda was also no stranger to international exhibitions, as he had widely showcased his works in New York (1955), Barcelona (1956), Grenoble (1957), Paris (1958, 1962), Monte Carlo (1959), Milan (1962), and Switzerland (1988). Zalameda gradually shifted from a Zóbel-like body of work to a more dynamic approach to Cubism influenced by Vicente Manansala, one of his professors at the University of Santo Tomas. Zalameda's early works were executed in watercolor— which he featured in his first one-man show in 1953— and later experimented with Cubism's fragmented and seemingly abstracted style. Zalameda's works from the 1970s onwards showcased a cubist approach to genre painting that combined figuration and abstraction. The landscape of his beloved Lucban likely influenced his scenes of everyday life, although Zalameda did not disclose the places that inspired his genre works.