Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Most art critics, theorists, and historians have always seen the artistic career of Juvenal Sansó as one marked by delineated progression.Thus, individuals treat Sansó’s current style and technique, which is characterized by his poetically surreal landscapes and still lifes, as a clear-cut departure from his older works that delved into an irreverent sense of the macabre. Yet, this view is ultimately dichotomous and leaves out the nuances of subjective artistic development. Rather than an act of shedding one’s own skin to reveal a new and better one beneath, Sansó’s artistic development can be seen as restitution. The experiences that led him to create dour and dark scenes and images, still lurk within the recesses of his mind, but Sansó has seemingly made amends with them; learning to live with his past in order to create a better tomorrow. This piece showcases Sansó’s epochal yet subdued shift from his Black Period to landscapes. In the mid 1960’s, Sansó was invited to the country home of Agnes Roualt and Yves le Dantec. Agnes’ father, George Roualt, was a pillar of French Impression. Thus, the alluring works of Roualt combined with the enamoring coastline that enveloped the French country home ultimately inspired Sansó’s future works. Sansó reportedly spent 24 summers in the Brittany home. In this work, one can clearly see how the dark yet airy lines that used to populate his more macabre images during his Black Period have now been reappropriated in this moving piece.