Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

For Amorsolo, Realism dealt not with the perfection of line and form, but entailed spontaneous yet exacting handling of paint, suggesting direct observation by the artist while portraying the untamed qualities of nature without going so far as depicting the harshness in life of his subjects, a hardy band of Igorots on a mountain trek. The mountainous backdrop is a carefully less finished than is usual with Amorsolo: he moves away from exactness of detail towards a misty finish, probably with the intent of emphasizing the roughness of the mountain trek. Yet the presence of the small dogs indicated by their sharp silhouettes, keeps the ethereality of the backdrop on check. Amorsolo’s approach is that of the remote outsider: while the handling of the foreground is detailed, the Igorots seem to merge into the unrestrained wildness of their earthbound universe.