Provenance: Private Collection, USA

ABOUT THE WORK

In 1955, Tabuena settled in Mexico, where he lived with his Norwegian wife Nina. However, he retained his Philippine citizenship. That Tabuena has not lost his decorative sense during the his Mexican period is abundantly clear in this work. Yet compared to his calligraphic imagery of people when he was still in Manila, these images of a boatman and a woman carrying wares and a child, Filipino as they are reflected his newfound direction for what Leonidas Benesa wrote in 1975 as “developing a stronger feel for structure, which he needed". While the figurative element became absorbed into space, the almost monochromatic palette abides. The 50s was a time when he also made “studies in New York and Paris, travels in other European cities visiting Museum, and especially after settling down in Mexico in the mid-50s".