Provenance: Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist

ABOUT THE WORK

Lush, tropical orange and yellow hues light up the work, carefully balanced by dark forms; the petals as how the artist painted them gladly give salutations to the vibrant sun. In the process of creating a new reality on painting, Ocampo developed a style that may be considered uniquely Filipino. Ocampo abandoned the figuration of his prewar and postwar paintings in favor of abstract art. In the process, he created his own imagery and symbolism, through the alchemy of paint. The artist’s new figuration earned him the distinction of being acclaimed as “the most expressively Filipino”among local painters. The visual exuberance of Ocampo’s painting emanates from his mastery to utilize powers of suggestion through Chroma. His bold colors seem playfully erotic and well endowed with Philippine ambiance. Through sensual forms, his paintings acquire a noble primitiveness saturated with strong emotions. In the same year that he created this oeuvre he christened as Petals in the Sun, Ocampo became part of the Philippine Contemporary Art exhibition held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.