León Gallery wishes to thank the artist for confirming the authenticity of this lot

ABOUT THE WORK

Most of the time, when observing a Marcel Antonio painting, one would find themselves immersed in contemplation, meticulously searching the canvas for details that could answer the simple question: what is happening? The Citrus Tree is among the artist’s oeuvres that can make a viewer scratch their head or stroke their chin. A lot is going on in the piece at hand, a woman is unclothed, she is in the middle of something that has to do with cards, a cat stares at her, and, if not for the title, we might fail to notice that there is a citrus tree outside the window. Unlike the muse in the nude, the playing cards, and her feline friend, the citrus tree does not seem to demand much attention. However, for it to be the main subject of the painting, there must be something that the artist hopes for its audience to unravel. For this, an old tale comes to mind. In the Bible, there was a tree whose fruits bear the knowledge of good and evil. God forbade Adam and Eve to consume the fruits of that tree, but Eve was deceived by the devil to take a bite, inviting Adam to do as well. The two gained knowledge, but lost their innocence. As punishment, they were exiled from Eden. The tree and the fruit were never identified in the biblical story, but other than the apple being its most popular depiction in art, some also believe it was a citrus tree. Then, could this be the reason why the woman is staring at it? Is the female figure in this painting Eve? Has she acquired the knowledge to be able to play cards? Is the cat there to emphasize the contrast between animals and humans? And, if this is all true, how did the faint presence of a citrus tree affect her? Antonio is a painter as well as a storyteller, as deemed by his artworks’ audience, even though he admits to not always lending his paintings a story to tell. “In hindsight, yes, maybe,” he said in an article from Artes de las Filipinas. (Isabella Romarate)