Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City

ABOUT THE WORK

In 1904, at the age of twenty-five, Pineda would find himself in the the heady company of Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, and Fabian de la Rosa at the St. Louis Exposition of 1904. He received a bronze for Campesina (Farm Girl), “showing a solidly drawn head of a rural lass,” and an honorable mention for Las Buyeras (Women Preparing Betel Nut). That honor appears to have made his reputation, and he would become one of the most sought-after illustrators of his generation. Pineda would foreshadow the age of the camera, and art critic Eric Torres would correctly point out that his paintings would evoke “a nostalgia that was likely to be … matched (only) by faded sepia photographs of pre-World War II Manila.” (Interestingly, Pineda was an avid photographer and left behind a large collection of his photos.) This titan was also an avid “Sunday painter” who enjoyed capturing the sights of his beloved Philippine outdoors. Pineda had a passion for long walks into the countryside on weekends. His favorite scenes were to be found in Balintawak. It was arcadian in those days and PIneda would bring along paint box, brushes, and canvases to create poignant landscapes. He would reportedly take his time creating these charming masterpieces, working out the compositions with great care and probing deeply into the essential atmosphere of every scene he chose to paint, says Torres. The kakawate tree was one of his most recognizable themes. Elegantly spare, the trees are accented with pale pink blossoms, as willowy as society ladies. Pineda paints a row of them by the roadside, spread out like lace fans. In the distance are rice fields, brown in the summer sun. There is a farmhouse with a quaint trellis for ampalaya (bitter gourd) vegetables. Indeed, this is one of Pineda’s finest examples that iillustrate a gentler, happier time. (Lisa Guerrero Nakpil)