This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Josefa Joya-Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: Provenance: Philippine Art Gallery Luz Gallery Private Collection, Switzerland

Exhibited: Exhibited: Luz Gallery, Joya Show, Manila, 1960

ABOUT THE WORK

In 1972, Manuel Duldulao told Cid Reyes about Joya: “He was beginning to make a name for himself in the art scene. At that time, to hang a Joya abstractionism to your wall was to risk the ridicule of your friends. Cid Reyes: “Why?” MD: “Joya’s paintings were then considered visual atrocities. People thought they were done by a child in fifth grade. They were shocked to hear that you had to pay for these paintings. Now the same friends who used to laugh at me 10 years ago are in for another shock.” He was of course referring to the sky high prices that buyers had to pay for a Joya, and that was 1972. The works of Joya’s post Detroit years were bold statements eliminating subject matter altogether in favor of purely plastic means to create large, loose forms whose meaning was arrived at by psychological associations. They emphasized the materiality of the oil medium through skeins of paint dribbled over the canvas surface and gobs of pigment slashed across it. The loose general brushstrokes underscored the kinetic act of painting.