ABOUT THE WORK

It is clear that Angelito Antonio’s style is influenced by Vicente Manansala’s transparent cubism, but what sets him apart from his mentor is his sharper linear clarity and distinct washed-out color tones, as exemplified in this work. Stylistically depicted family members also show the Filipinoness that characterizes Antonio’s works. With his strong cubist style—also his nationalist style of Modernism—and use of colors’ emotional properties, everyday people and scenes are poetically rendered, making him one of the finest genre artists in the country. Along with Antonio Austria, Norma Belleza, and Mario Parial, among other second-wave Filipino modernists, Antonio continues to champion expressionism in the country’s art scene.