ABOUT THE WORK

Transcription of the note on the painting (lower right): José Gabaldon y Perez nacio en Cervel provincia de Cuenca el 19 de Marzo 1845, murir en Tondo Manila el 26 de Febrero del año 1898. Throughout his prolific career as an artist, Ramon Peralta painted a number of portraits, most of which depicted figures and clients of renown. This portrait of a dignified man is notable for a specific reason – it portrays José Gabaldon y Perez, a Spaniard from Tébar, Cuenca, who fathered the Filipino politician Isauro Gabaldon. Isauro, the richest man in Nueva Ecija and among the wealthiest in the Philippines at that time, rose from the governorship of the province to attaining the position of Philippine resident commissioner in the United States before becoming a Senator. Isauro became famous in later generations as the originator of the Gabaldon schoolhouses, a collective term for heritage schoolhouses built in the Philippines between 1907 and 1946 that follow standard plans designed by Architect William E. Parsons. Based on the year this portrait was painted, it appears to have been commissioned by Don Isauro in memory of his father, to which he had a striking resemblance.