Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

One of the Thirteen Moderns who challenged the classical or academic school spearheaded by Fernando Amorsolo, Ricarte Puruganan created works in which Filipino folk art is integrated with Western modern art. He helped in establishing the fine arts program at the University of Santo Tomas, along with National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Galo Ocampo, and Severino Fabie. Puruganan was also active in sculpting, doing architecture work, and landscaping in the Ilocos region. His works are vibrant impressionistic works, showcasing his unique style, modernist painterly techniques, and expressive color palette. Here, notable is Puruganan’s rendering of the sky and the clouds as well as the water reflecting the light, all the more the stylized fishermen. It shows his ability to achieve dynamic composition and movement.