Jose Joya was an art prodigy who explored different styles and mediums to develop his own artistic style. But before becoming known as the most prominent abstract expressionist painter, Joya excelled in landscapes and portraits. Mentored by traditionalists, his early works adhered to realism and highlighted Filipino folklife. His images center around the masses: “The portrayal of people, [e]specially the humble and downtrodden whose uneventful lives find noble meaning in my drawings, has long obsessed me,” Joya admitted. This piece exhibits three honey brown-skinned figures: a young mother or so it seems–clad in traditional Filipino clothing for women, the baro’t saya, carrying an undressed toddler, with a little girl in sando clinging onto her. Depicting a familiar countryside scene, this 1988 pastel-on-canvas work shows Joya’s exceptional talent in the arts, going back to his roots in figurative arts after years of venturing into the world of abstraction. (Jessica Magno)
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José Joya (1931 - 1995)
Mother and Children
signed and dated November 15, 1988 (lower left and verso)
pastel on paper
20” x 13” (51 cm x 33 cm)
SOLD: PHP 720,960
Accompanied by a certificate issued by Josefa Joya-Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot
Provenance: León Gallery, The Magnificent September Auction 2014, Makati City, 13 September 2014, Lot 101.