Provenance: Galleria San Miguel, Mexico

ABOUT THE WORK

In this 1963 painting from Romeo Tabuena’s “Mexican Period,” the celebrated artist imbibes a poignant interpretation of the popular Christian theme, Madonna and Child. Growing up in a predominantly Catholic country and moving in the mid-1950s to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, where Catholicism is the dominant faith, it is no wonder that Tabuena found inspiration in the image of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. Tabuena conveys a humanizing aspect to the sacred by powerfully depicting and signifying the masses’ toiling through his expressionist whim. Aside from his colorful and prismatic paintings characteristic of his “Mexican Period,” Tabuena also delved into expressionism with his darkly toned works, suggesting his affinity for the common folk’s struggles. In this particular work, Tabuena depicts the mother and child as somber figures, with their blank eyes symbolizing a void of nothingness and their blank facial expressions strained and worn out by the seemingly endless cycle of subjugation and injustice. Tabuena, who lived in two countries with agonizing histories of colonial and systemic oppression, draws inspiration from the Black Madonna. This venerated religious icon has become a symbol of unity and struggle of black, indigenous, and other people of color against their historical and systemic oppression. By interweaving the sacred and the profane, Tabuena cultivates and advances the messianic role of the masses in their emancipation from historical oppression. (Adrian Maranan)