Leon Gallery wishes to thank Ms. Doris Magsaysay-Ho for confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, U.S.A.

ABOUT THE WORK

Anita Magsaysay-Ho’s treatment of light and color and distinct touch on traditional genre themes are apparent in this early work of high value that features a plant vendor characterized with a distended figure. Her works are mostly composed of women figures, but in this piece, she did not render her dominant subject. Also noticeable is how fine she captured the vendor’s gesture in the context of the whole composition. Daily rural life is truly made more charming by her disarming casual approach in her visual recreations, noted by various critics who studied her works. Magsaysay-Ho has been always known to capture men and women engaging in various local industries celebrating them with her charming flair in their depictions. Despite Anita’s upper-class background, she felt a certain kind of solidarity with the working-class, and hence depicted them as a way of appreciating their toil and hardwork. She gave praise and honor to the working class by rendering them and their work with a meticulous eye for detail. One of the Thirteen Moderns, Magsaysay-Ho is known for her progressiveness and persistence as a Filipina painter and revered not just for her immense talent, but also for her kindness and humility as a great person.