Provenance: Private collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

An Early Zalameda Zalameda’s Elegant Style on Center Stage - Before Oscar Zalameda’s iconic cubistic art style came to life, his works echoed Fernando Zóbel's style in its breeziness and swift brush strokes. His bon vivant lifestyle, born from his continuous travels around the world, meant extended time at sea, and the artistic Zalameda found himself enamored with the harsh, cutting waters and wild seas. This untitled piece, created circa 1950s, was evocative of the early Zalameda. A prime example of his experimentations with abstraction, Zalameda played with colors, lights, and angles with his gestural abstraction comprised of expertly rendered cubistic elements that, in its abstraction, perfectly retain Zalameda’s cohesive style. The cosmopolitan influences of his life are evident – he was starting to settle in Europe by the mid-1950s with earlier years of the decade spent in various art schools in the Philippines, America, and Paris. Zalameda’s sharp intuition when it comes to colors and hues reveals the vibrant world from which he draws inspiration. His works make a distinct vision, a blend of romantic Europe and the vibrant Quezon that results in a unique taste that helped him garner dedicated patrons within his lifetime and beyond. (Hannah Valiente)