PROPERTY FROM THE PRISCILLA L. CHIONGBIAN COLLECTION

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist

ABOUT THE WORK

Watercolor may have been a difficult medium to master for some, but for the maestro Vicente Manansala, it is a walk in the park. “Watercolor is one of my favorite media,” he says as recalled by his monograph Discovering Manansala by Isabel A. Nazareno. “[The] beauty of watercolor [is that] it demands you to control it. It is difficult if you allow it to control you.” In this 1976 watercolor work, Manansala showcases his mastery of aquarelle. He depicts a hazy sunlit vision of a walkway, the path lined with trees in full bloom. The translucent quality of watercolor was utilized as Manansala layers the watery medium to create the wide foliage of the tree stretching out of the canvas. The colors portray a soft image of the place with the light yellow sunlight filtering through the trees washing the scene as if in a dream. Ever since childhood, Manansala has excelled in manipulating difficult watercolors. Through the years, as exemplified by this piece, Manansala’s skills bloomed, making his watercolor pieces among the best in his oeuvre. (Hannah Valiente)