Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

The basis of Romulo Olazo’s abstraction, it is said, is the female nude. The diaphanous forms — abstracted, layered, and multiple — recall the curves of the female figure. This idea is evident in this work whose curvilinear shapes are at once sinuous and sensuous. In addition, they seem to exude a supernatural glow, as though they are illuminated by light from within the painting. Overlapping and creating degrees of translucency, they generate negative space which is the pair of red zones, revealing the color of the background untouched. The delicacy of the forms is the work’s achievement, with the painting summarizing why Olazo, who passed away a couple of years ago, remain as a towering figure in Philippine abstraction.