PROPERTY FROM THE DON EUGENIO M. LOPEZ JR. COLLECTION

Provenance: Provenance: The Saturday Group of artists’ collaboration with Mauro Malang Santos

ABOUT THE WORK

The country’s oldest and most prestigious group of artists, the Saturday Group, is active for over fifty years. Its roots go all the way back in July 1968 at the Taza de Oro restaurant in Ermita, the iconic restaurant where H.R. Ocampo had lunch with Alfredo Roces, Tony Quintos, and Enrique Velasco to talk shop and discuss art-related matters. Eventually, on the following Saturdays, other artists joined the said discussions. After Ocampo’s death in 1978, Cesar Legaspi became its leader. The artist group would paint and sketch seriously every Saturday, activity sessions held to this day. Eight National Artists also came from this monumental group: Ocampo, Legaspi, Botong Francisco, Jose Joya, Vicente Manansala, Arturo Luz, BenCab, and Ang Kiukok. This 1997 interactive piece is among The Saturday Group’s collaborative works that shows refined painterly techniques and good camaraderie of its members during Malang’s leadership. Here, women in various poses are dressed in baro’t saya set in a colorful Cubist portrayal of the rural scene amongst flowers, fruits, and objects.