Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mr. Salvador Juban for confirming the authenticity of this lot

ABOUT THE WORK

The tikbalang is a popular mythical creature in Philippine lore with a human-like body and hands and horse-like hips and legs. Depicted in various forms and styles in high art and pop culture, it is known to sleep at daytime and hang around bangkal trees at night, mischievously leading people astray. In Cebu, it is called sigbin, and in Ilokano, the dugang. Deeply interested in Philippine myth and folklore, National Artist Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco draws and illustrates mythical creatures such as the manananggal and kapre, also the mangkukulam and nuno. He is all the more fascinated with the tikbalang; he called one of his most famous works, also titled Tikbalang, as The Critic, giving it a double-edged meaning. These valued renditions contribute to the rich iconography in the Philippines and are testaments of how drawn Botong is to anything Filipino, of his nationalism.