Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Tony Mahilum specialized in genre paintings populated by peasants, in a forested town setting, unique windows on a vanished folk culture. His style is famed for showing crowds of small figures, seen from a high viewpoint, and spread evenly across the central picture space. The setting is typically a rural town space surrounded by houses, within which the figures have a fundamentally individualized manner of portrayal, with individuals or small groups engaged in their own distinct activity. But not all of Mahilum's work are all crowded surfaces as shown by this work. Like most of his works it is likely that Mahilum intended this painting to have a festive sense rather than simply being an affectionate portrayal of peasant life. The strongly hinted presence of the church makes it clear that they are preoccupied with spiritual as much as material matters. In these types of genre paintings Mahilum stands in marked contrast both to painters of his day and many others who preceded or followed. A charming sense of spatial movement is indicated by the woman being carried by a bamboo pole among other details.