Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist

Literature: Reyes, Cid and Elena Flórez. Betsy Westendorp (Volume I). Manila: De La Salle University Publishing House, 2017. Full-color photograph on page 29.

ABOUT THE WORK

Betsy Westendorp’s Portrait of Isabel with Ian is a riveting portrait of the human spirit’s resilience amid grief and loss. It depicts Isabel, Westendorp’s eldest daughter, and her son Ian in his younger years. Isabel holds her son in a loving embrace; Ian’s face radiates such a charming spirit and an innocent smile that only a child can flaunt in sheer virtue. At first glance, one immediately notices the subject of unconditional maternal love. However, Westendorp painted this piece due to the tragic death of Ian in 2006 at the young age of 26 due to sepsis meningococcal. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this condition is caused by bacteria entering and multiplying in the bloodstream, damaging the walls of the blood vessels and causing bleeding into the skin and organs. Westendorp was shattered by the sudden passing of her only grandson, and to cope with the unforgiving pain of losing a loved one, she painted several versions of the work at hand, all endowed with an equally poignant and moving character. *A postscript to this story would be the death of Isabel ten years after Ian’s passing. She died in Madrid due to heart failure; she never recovered from the relentless gush of agonizing pain brought by the death of her only son. In medical terms, this is called “takotsubo cardiomyopathy.” Westendorp could not attend her daughter’s burial, and so she channeled her immense grief into a massive “atmosferografia” titled “Passages,” which symbolized Isabel’s “passage” into the afterlife. The work is now in the collection of the Instituto Cervantes de Manila.* A monumental mural depicting Westendorp’s favorite floral subjects serves as the dramatic background of this piece. In the mural’s lower center portion are delicate lotus flowers, symbolizing resilience—the power to overcome all adversities—and eventual rebirth. Flowers are Westendorp’s favorite subjects, and so they weep in lasting lament with the artist, guiding her towards a regained strength of character. This is the compelling power of art to nourish humanity’s despondent soul. Westendorp’s flowers, with their inherent melancholic beauty, are in eternal bloom, and so is her grandson, who unceasingly endured in the cosmic seas of her heart and memory. Westendorp once described Ian as “the love of her life.” With the artist’s passing in November of last year, we only hope for their tender reunion, together with Isabel, free from all the pains of humanity and the never-ending tribulations of mortality. (Adrian Maranan)