Accompanied by a certificate issued by West Gallery confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: Museum of Philippine Art

ABOUT THE WORK

A pillar of Filipino Modernism, Mauro Malang Santos helped cultivate and develop the thriving visual arts landscape of the Philippines with the aid of his unique artistic practice. He was known to explore diverse themes, and the lot at hand shows one that draws inspiration from urban and rural realities. Also, the influence of cubism is observed in the simplified, geometricizing treatment of the barong-barongs. Malang was already inclined to the arts at a relatively young age. At the age of 10, his parents arranged for him to study under Teodoro Buenaventura, an established Filipino artist trained in the classical style. He eventually developed a style around illustrations and cartoons, revolutionizing the field within the Philippine setting. Then, after a decade of doing this, the artist moved towards a style that utilized elements of cubism and abstraction in order to create a visual language that was his own. A year after the creation of this piece, in 1981, Malang was awarded the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan from the City of Manila. (Isabella Romarate)