Exhibited: : Charlie's Art Gallery, Romeo Tabuena: The Collection, Bacolod City, September 21 - October 21, 2022

ABOUT THE WORK

The art of Romeo Tabuena is admired for its combination of Filipino and Mexican cultural themes. Aside from countryside sceneries, his paintings are also inhabited by native plants, traditional houses, and folk figures. For the lot at hand, Boy with Watermelon, this acrylic piece exhibits his creative and unique experimentation with cubist elements. His prismatic deconstruction and rendition of elements were able to fluently translate the reality of his subjects into the brilliant planar figures that have astounded his audiences time and again. In 1955, Tabuena moved to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, where he would paint for decades to come. Yet, despite residing far from his homeland, his art remained in touch with his Filipino roots. His fondness for the cultural idylls of the Philippines and Mexico has allowed him to devise a distinctive quality to his oeuvres. The cubist maestro’s use of such close-to-home themes has evolved over the years, and despite the many advancements in his style, he has retained that unmistakable Tabuena flair. He lived a humble and simple life in the foreign land, and in there he met his wife, Nina, who also studied art and learned about her future husband through a magazine. (P.I.R.)