Provenance:
A gift to Don Canuto S. Oreta from the Artist in gratitude of a stipend to study in Paris; from thence by descent

ABOUT THE WORK

Two generations of artists intersect in these arresting portraits by Vicente Manansala in an interesting twist of fate. In 1950, Emilio Alvero, Jr., the son of the noted painter and designer of the 1920s, joined the firm of A. M. Oreta & Company, a general engineering and construction outfit founded by Antolin M. Oreta Sr. Mr. Alvero came from illustrious parentage. His mother was Dona Rosa Sevilla de Alvero, the only female journalist on the staff of General Antonio Luna’s revolutionary paper, La Independencia. She was a nearly feminist and the founder of the pioneering women’s school, the Instituto de Mujeres. His brother was the fiery intellectual Aurelio Alvero, better known as Magtanggul Asa who curated the historic “The First Exhibition of Non-Objective Art in Tagala” in the Philippines in 1954. Emilio Alvero Jr. would prevail on Mr. Oreta to contribute a stipend for the expenses of Vicente Manansala who was not yet famous at the time. Manansala was a stalwart of the Neo-Realist movement and the legendary Philippine Art Gallery alongside H. R. Ocampo and Cesar Legaspi. He was being sent by the French government to Paris for a year’s grant. The Oretas recalled that Manansala lived near Reina Regente Street in old Bilibid at the time. Edgardo M. Oreta further recalls, “I understand from my father that he gave Mr. Vicente Manasala P2,000. It was a fairly large amount then. When Mr. Manansala came back, he gave us several watercolor paintings titled Blue Skies, Marikina Valley, Cite Universitaire, and Luneta. “Mr. Vicente Manasala painted my father’s parents, Canuto S. Oreta and Maria Salome Ibaviosa. He painted from life and from photographs he personally took. The photos are still in the family collection. Canuto had died in the 1920’s, but Maria Salome was still alive and looked just as she did in her photo. “Mr. Manansala also painted my mother, using oil medium in front of our main door leading to the house. He chose my mother’s terno for this, a bamboo leaf pattern. He also chose the site, in front of our narra doors leading to the sala, which had square geometric panels. “My mother was pregnant at that time with her youngest child Tony, (he was born Oct. 1952,) she thought she looked so geometric and square jawed in the painting. My mother never liked this portrait, although many people have admired it. She said that she wanted Amorsolo to paint her. “In the 1970’s, we had a household help named Milagros who was slow minded. We saw her rubbing my mother’s Manansala painting with a rag, as she reasoned, she just wanted to clean it. The result was the clouding of certain parts of the portrait. My father took it to Mr. Manansala. According to my father, when he arrived in Manansala’s house, the artist had several visitors, prominent women who wanted to buy his works. My father said that Mr. Manansala announced to the ladies, “This is Mr. Oreta. He helped me when nobody knew me.” He restored the painting free of charge.”