Eighty works by the country’s best visual artists are up for bids in the “Astounding” Auction by Avant, the Philippines’ first online art auction house.
The yearend auction is now open for online bidding via www.avantauction.com, and will culminate in a real-time lot-by-lot hammering on Nov. 25, starting at 1:30 p.m.
Top lots include:
Lot 1–“Man with a Pick Axe” by Benedicto Cabrera, 11.5” x 8.5”, pen and ink, 1967
This drawing showcases National Artist BenCab’s long- time fascination with embodied subjects and their sociopolitical milieu. For this artist, bodies constitute the social world and manifest the nation’s struggles.
Lot 6—“Satuday Night” by H.R. Ocampo, 9”x 6”, watercolor, late 1940s
National Artist Ocampo was a poet, fictionist, playwright, screenwriter, and master abstractionist; an expert at subtle narratives as can be gleaned from this rare, sensual figurative piece hinting of a young woman’s intimate weekend.
Lot 10–“Casa Azul” by Juvenal Sansó, 17.5” x 35”, oil on canvas, 1958
Sansó is a Spanish artist who has lived in the Philippines and France and whose works take inspiration from the cultures of these three countries. This surreal composition of a mystical landscape rendered in his favorite blue shows the artist’s fused aesthetic.
Lot 26–“Intramuros” by Fernando Amorsolo, 12” x 16”, oil on canvas, 1951
The country’s first National Artist was a master of illuminated pastoral landscapes. In this exceptional postwar piece, Amorsolo juxtaposes past and present in a dreamlike depiction of Intramuros standing tall amid the ravages of war.
Lot 36–“Still Life (Fishes)” by Vicente Manansala, 18” x 24”, watercolor, 1981
The national artist best known for transparent cubism was enamored with the rustic and provincial. Here he pays homage to the austere life of the pastoral.
Lot 39–“Abstract” by J. Elizalde Navarro, 18.5” x 15,” oil on wood, circa 1960s
National Artist Navarro was a spirited art-maker who sought to constantly innovate and experiment. This playful abstract echoes a similar three-dimensional assemblage now on view at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Lot 50–“Lavanderas” by Fernando Amorsolo, 10” x 13.25,” oil on canvas, 1927
This is the prime lot in the auction. This rare oil piece, circa 1923, depicting a merry band of provincial lasses playfully performing their laundry rituals by a river, would become a recurring theme in the master’s oeuvre.
Call 7778888; 6657755.