Provenance: Provenance: Galleria Duemila, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

One of the most recognizable Filipino Modernists, Arturo Luz is a multidisciplinary artist best known for his pioneering works in minimalist, abstract, and geometric Filipino art. He received his formal training in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines’ School of Fine Arts. He then supplemented his expertise with further studies at the California College of Arts and Crafts, the Brooklyn Museum Art School, and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. He was first noticed within the Philippine art scene during his first solo exhibition at the Manila Hotel in 1951. He then followed this up with a solo exhibition in Paris at Raymond Duncan Gallery in 1954, and another solo show at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in 1955. He then established Luz Gallery in 1960 and continued to revolutionize the local art scene with key developments in minimalist, abstract, and geometric art. Much of Arturo Luz’s works revolve around acrobats, musicians, and cyclists. The combination of themes indicates the artistic direction and aesthetic temperament in which Luz was headed in the 1960s and 1970s. The direction had to do with abstract painting of a geometric planar kind. All of Luz’ stylish works feature his instantly recognizable and concise use of line to create geometric scenes of precision balance. He began to use the formal and spatial procedures of Cubism as a structure, a means of controlling the high levels of fantasy and irrationality that invaded his imagery from the early 1960s onwards. Gradually simplifying his style, he developed an approach with key works consisting of pure geometric forms and their relationships to one another, set against minimal grounds. The picture is structured to emphasize straight lines and circular shapes. Straight, vertical, and diagonal lines are present in the figures’ bodies. With the predominance of the deep red backdrop, Luz unifies the color element to highlight the straight lines of his composition. Their heads, faceless and pin-shaped, are reduced to their basic geometric components. Luz reduces his subject to large, solid, and uncomplicated masses because such forms are suggestive of eternal values. Hence, while the color range of this work is limited, the formal qualities are highlighted by the strictly geometrical lines and precise modelling, elements that further reflect Luz’s pragmatist ideals.