Jaime de Guzman and the Hallowed Mount Banahaw The Filipino Artist as a Mystic
When Jaime de Guzman started his career in the late 1960s, he instantly rose to fame with his dark and angsty expressionist-cum-surrealist paintings, exploring social, political, historical, psychological, and even mythological aspects. His 1970 murals—Gomburza and the three-part Metamorphosis (all now in the Cultural Center of the Philippines collection)—are the consummate examples of de Guzman’s trademark style at the beginning of his artistic career.
De Guzman’s expressionist style stemmed from the sociopolitical and socio-economic turbulence brought by the thenimpending dictatorship. However, during his 1970-71 study grant, sponsored by the National Historical Commission, to learn mural techniques in Mexico, de Guzman met American ceramic artist Anne Polkinghorn, with whom he would have a romantic relationship. Spurred by this love encounter, de Guzman returned to the Philippines in 1971, bringing Anne with him. The two traveled to Sagada and Bontoc and would eventually settle in the rustic environs of Liliw, Laguna, de Guzman’s hometown.
De Guzman and Polkinghorn were an itinerant couple, moving from place to place, even crossing overseas: 1974 in California; 1977 in Candelaria, Quezon; the 1980s in Sagada, Mountain Province; and back to Candelaria by 1993. In between those years, de Guzman traveled back to Manila for exhibitions and sojourned to Dumaguete from 1992 to 1993, sailing to Apo Island and Siquijor, where he created numerous works.
Overall, romance amid the backdrop of the idyllic would transform de Guzman’s disposition and his art. The pervading darkness would be enveloped by a penetrating mysticism.
De Guzman had gradually begun to find peace from and within the tranquility of his environs, which would be captured in his canvas.
This piece from 1990, which de Guzman created during his mellower years, depicts a ubiquitous scene on the mystical Mount Banahaw, which straddles both de Guzman’s hometowns of Liliw and Candelaria. A candle burning brightly inside a makeshift altar formed through a hollowed tree trunk evokes a sacred presence, as stressed by an image of the “Eye of Divine Providence,” seemingly watching over and guiding pilgrims in their hallowed excursions into the mountain. Altars of this kind, known as “pwestos” or natural shrines (rocks, springs, caves, and peaks) that profoundly manifest God’s power, are the objects upon which the “pamumuwesto” (traditional prayer practice of pilgrims to Mount Banahaw) are acted on.
A highly symbolic work, de Guzman’s painting is palpable proof of an artist wedding the personal with the sacred, where the idyll of nature offers a much grander space for personal introspection and reconnection with one’s spirituality. Jaime de Guzman was among the first artists to be honored in the inaugural edition of the CCP Thirteen Artists Award held in 1970. (Adrian Maranan)
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist