Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia
Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance:
Commissioned and acquired directly from the artist by Col. Daniel S.
Roberston of the U.S. Cavalry, when he was stationed at Fort McKinley,
Taguig; as evidenced by an official receipt from the artist's studio
signed by Fernando C. Amorsolo, 2132 Azcarraga Street, Manila and
received on his behalf by ML Buenaventura on 1 Dec. 1937; made
out to Col. Robertson for final payment in the amount of P60 for ‘his
picture in oil’; from thence by descent to his daughter Del Robertson
Dowling of Berkeley, California; then as a gift to her first cousin
Elizabeth Darphin Callender

ABOUT THE WORK

Art historians agree that Amorsolo’s golden years spanned the period from the First World War to the Second; and his portraits from the 1930s representing the height of his powers, honed by the demands of a colonial clientele. Then as now, Amorsolo’s studio, said his biographer Alfredo R. Roces, was “still filled with about a half a dozen portraits in various stage of completion.” He noted, Amorsolo was a master portraitist, since his forte was a figure painting. “Even his genre works are essentially of people, with the landscape and rendering of light serving as elements to bring out a face or several faces. Amorsolo liked to do portraits of members of his family. He even did self-portraits.” This painting of an American cavalry officer in Manila depicts a ram-rod straight gentleman, with reddish-gold hair. He is dressed in the tropical khakis of the Philippine command; this colonel clasps his broad leather belt in a relaxed yet powerful stance. Such portraits were a requisite part of the tour of duty of officialdom of the United States. (Lisa Guerrero Nakpil)