Provenance: Provenance: Galleria Duemila, Manila

Exhibited: 11th Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil, 1971 Curated by Arturo Luz

Literature: Literature: Herrera, Ma. Victoria . . . [et al.]. The Life and Art of Lee Aguinaldo. Quezon City: Vibal Foundation, 2011, p. 200 (half fold)

ABOUT THE WORK

As an abstractionist and pop artist, among the foremost modernists Lee Aguinaldo was committed to exploring new techniques throughout his artistic career; in the 1965 issue of the Weekly Women’s Magazine that featured the versatile Filipino artist, his “insatiable devotion” was praised. He also openly discussed the foreign influences behind the progression of his styles and techniques, from Rembrandt to Pollock and Rothko. Two best-known series of his are his Galumph and Linear series in which he was given credit for championing the professional use of acrylic as one’s medium in the country. Considered an avant-garde artist, Aguinaldo veered away from the conventions of painting in the country during his time. He is situated in the evolution of the Philippine modern art as a significant contributor with his eclectic modernist styles, finding artistic freedom in abstraction and progressive approaches to art. Aguinaldo’s Linear series boast of heavy-bordered linear works characterized by distinct color fields, unleashing the expressive qualities of color. This widely recognized series reveals not just his foreign contemporary influences, but also his perfectionist approach to art making. When asked by art critic Cid Reyes if he ever wondered whether his paintings are Filipino or not, Lee Aguinaldo answered: “That is the least of my worries. My only concern is that the painting is well-made.” Linear No. 98 and Linear No. 99 are two 1969 works that present Aguinaldo’s powerful chromatic contrasts and genius geometric articulations as he logically utilizes his medium of choice. These reveal his virtuosity in achieving elegant compositions and smooth surfaces through his calculated techniques—estimations that demonstrate elegant sparseness. For his Linears, Aguinaldo often took upon the “window” theme as a frame with an inner composition, noted to be a metaphor for his personal view of life. These two masterpieces feature windows framing an iridescent blue gradient radiating over a black horizon. In art critic Alice Coseteng’s review of Aguinaldo’s exhibition of his Linear works which first came out in 1965, she pointed out that even his choice of medium in his two-dimensional surfaces that “reflect light as they glow in brilliant tones or opaquely subdued” engages with the viewers. This point is evident in the two particular pieces with carefully orchestrated colors that reflect luminous space and framed or borderedlike compositions.