Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Employing a kaleidoscopic palette, a tapestry of patterns, and an effulgence of vision, this work by Norma Belleza brings together two genres popular in Philippine visual arts: mother-and-child and harvest scene. Laid down on an assortment of blankets where the mother and child are situated is the rich harvest of the season, mainly tropical fruits and dried fish. Wearing a floral skirt wrapped with an additional blue apron, an orange blouse, and yellow headkerchief, the mother carries her son who shares her physical features, all the while carryinga toy tied to a string. Serving as their background is a riot of activities: men and women celebrating their abundant harvest, golden palay stalks shaking their grains, and sunshades flapping in the wind. An exuberant, joyous painting, this is one Belleza’s best works.