This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by The National Museum of the Philippines, confirming the authenticity of this lot.

Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City

ABOUT THE WORK

The barong-barong is represented by a series of simple, geometric forms, sharply lit but unstable and awkward. Manansala’s visual interest lies in a close up shot in which the geometry of the makeshift dwellings offered a secure structure on which to deploy, in their different ways, their patterns of broken color and sensitively rendered surfaces. There are no squatters in Vicente Manansala’s work. Instead, there are cardboard and wood shanties. The barong-barong (makeshift dwellings) is huddled together like hapless human beings on private property. Manansala won first prize at the Manila Grand Open Exhibition and Competition in 1950. The winning entry was called Barong Barong No. 1. As in “Squatters” of several years later, the first barong-barong painting did not show people. It was as if the artist’s message was that such dwellings were not fit for human beings. Also, as he stated elsewhere, he is more fascinated with the challenges inherent in the structure and design of the dwellings themselves. It does not mean that Manansala did not subscribe to the social consciousness aesthetic; the artist is famous for his abiding sympathy for common folk like beggars and vendors. Occasionally, he would indulge in the inequalities between rich and poor. In barong-barong, however, the subject is underplayed in favor of composition and design.