JOYA’S BELOVED RED TALISMAN His Most Exhibited Work by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL By all accounts, Jose Joya was born under a lucky star; certainly, it was one that augured a stellar career in the arts. He was not only a prodigy but, while still only in college, also made his way into the most elite group of artists in the country, those that called the Philippine Art Gallery their home. He would thus be on first-name basis with its resident Neo-Realists; and was the youngest bona fide painter to be part of the PAG. It guaranteed him continuous press coverage and the attention slowly but surely built him both credibility and an enthusiastic following of collectors. He would thus begin that inexorable trajectory into the pantheon of Philippine modern art. It would be, for example, Fernando Zóbel who would arrange a scholarship for him to study in Spain in 1954, beginning Joya’s appreciation of a world view. He would win first prize in 1958 in the Art Association Philippines’ annual competition, the bellwether of Filipino art. In 1964, Joya would be the first Philippine representative to the 32nd Venice Biennale. He also would be the first Filipino recipient of the John D. Rockefeller III Fund Grant, the precursor to the Asian Cultural Council Foundation. Joya would steep himself in the American art world in 1967 through 1969. In New York, he would even meet Andy Warhol who he wrote to friends was interested in coming to Manila. Joya would also travel to Europe, where in Spain he would write enthusiastically about his patron Zóbel’s Cuenca museum. The work at hand, Red Talisman, from Joya’s personal collection, is also his most exhibited, besting even the record of the legendary Space Transfiguration. It would be featured in his retrospectives and travel the world in prestigious exhibitions. Its meditatively perfect circle would refer to Joya’s voyage into the metaphysical world, referencing the sacred mandala and the symbolisms of the planets. Red Talisman is a rare rendering, however, since Joya would prefer muted or earth tones for this spiritually-grounded series. Here it is composed around strong scarlets, suggesting a more intense, if rawer sensibility, with the same exuberance that always defined Joya.
Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mr. Alexander
Richard Joya Baldovino confirming the authenticity of
this lot
Provenance: Artist's collection
Exhibited: Museum of Philippine Art (MOPA), Jose Joya: A 30-Year Retrospective, Manila, June 3 - August 13, 1981 Center Culturel d' Auderghem, Jose Joya, Presented by the Embassy of the Philippines and the Philippine Mission to the European Economic Community in connection with the Philippine Independence Day Celebration, Brussels, Belgium, June 18 - 22, 1984 The First Kuala Lumpur Arts Festival at the National Art Gallery, Jose Joya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 27 - September 1, 1985 National Museum of Fine Arts (Filipino Masters' Hall), Abstractionism: An Asian View Point, Manila, March 1 - April 30, 1989 National Museum of Fine Arts, Remembering Joya: 1931 - 1995, Manila, June 8 - August 7, 2016
Literature: Arcellana, Francisco. Joya. Manila: Dick Baldovino Enterprises, 1996. Full-color photograph. Listed as "Red Talisman, 1975" in Joya's Catalogue of Works compiled by Ruben D.F. Defeo. Remembering Joya: 1931 - 1995 (Exhibition Catalog). Manila: National Museum of the Philippines, 2016. Published on the occassion of the exhibition of the same name at the National Museum of Fine Arts in 2016. Full-color photograph and painting description