Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Legaspi is called a Neo Realist with Modernist aesthetic sensibilities. Legaspi's art is Cubist and his human figures have a geometric, angular rendering of the musculature. He is called a Neo Realist because of the social relevance of his works. He features the working class toiling at work and the marginalized in their plight amidst the harsh realities of life. Legaspi who is known for his male torsos, painted "Nude" in 1992, two years before his death. The male nude's torso and legs are muscular and angular. The muscles in the human anatomy are painted in Cubistic leaf-like patterns. He is kneeling as if in a moment of prayer looking up to the sky with an expression of ecstasy while his arms are up in an act of surrender. He is engulfed in flames while a bird of prey with huge wings and a tail flies above the flames. The bird looks like a phoenix. The mythical phoenix which rose from the ashes is a symbol of triumph over sufferings. The anguished male in prayerful surrender is like gold that is tested in the flames of life's challenges. Legaspi himself had to overcome many obstacles in his life. When he was a child, he had a lung condition that was treated periodically. He was a color blind boy from Tondo and yet he chose to be an artist and reached the highest level of excellence. Like the phoenix, the male figure rises above the sufferings he endured and with his resilience and determination, his sense of hope, trust in Divine Providence and faith in his Creator, he is resurrected and rises again victorious.