In 1954, Manansala painted Altar Credo, an oil and enamel work that he presented in a solo exhibition held in December of that year at his beloved home, the Philippine Art Gallery, which had just moved to its new address at Mabini corner Arquiza Streets in Ermita, Manila. The work depicts an ornate retablo mayor of an old Spanish colonial church. An earlier iteration of the piece—a study—was featured as the cover of This Week's 11 July 1954 issue. Arguilla described this painting as Manansala's consummate showcase of his color sensitivity, which she explained was \"second to none.\" Altar Credo would be acquired by an American named L.E. Phillips.
\nIn 1956, Manansala submitted another altar painting, this time titled Dambana, as part of the 5th Anniversary Exhibition of the PAG. The work was a showstopper, even spotlighted in This Week's pages. Dambana would then be acquired by Fernando Zóbel. Zóbel may have seen affinity with the piece, as he had created a thematically similar one, Carroza, which had previously won the First Prize in the 1953 AAP Semi-Annual. During this time, Zobel had long manifested his interest in Philippine religious iconography, culminating in his monumental 1963 monograph titled Philippine Religious Imagery, tackling the history of Philippine sacred images during the Spanish era in relation to his search for a genuine Filipino expression in art.
\nDambana's story did not end with its acquisition by Zóbel. The following year, in 1957, it would again grace the PAG halls in its 6th Anniversary Exhibition. Incidentally, the anniversary celebration was marred by swelling uneasiness due to problems with the monthly rent.
\nThe Manila Bulletin writes of this incident. \"But a problem was bothering the members. Rent for the locale of the Gallery on Arquiza Street, near artists' row on Ermita, was soon due, and there was no knowing how it was to be paid.\"
\nThe re-entry of Manansala's powerful work aimed to reinforce hopes for a successful sale, attracting visitors and buyers, old and new. Bulletin notes its significance to the exhibition. \"…not to mention Manansala's \"Altar\" being reshown, [it] gave promise of making the exhibit a memorable one for the Gallery.\"
\nThe 1956 Dambana would also be showcased in the widely publicized and acclaimed \"Tour of Philippine Contemporary Art,\" a 1958 roving art exhibit of Filipino paintings sponsored by the AAP that visited major Asian cities: Tokyo, Hong Kong, and towards the western part of the continent. The tour, which lasted a year and a half, assembled a tour de force of the country's flowering modernism and showcased the Philippines as a rising Asian cultural power. Works by Botong, HR Ocampo, Legaspi, Anita, Zobel, Luz, and Abueva were also at the traveling art show. Talks for this exhibition had already been discussed in early 1957 during the Southeast Asian Art Conference and Competition (also sponsored by the AAP) held in the country, where, interestingly, Manansala won second place and a cash prize of $750 for his solemn work Give Us This Day.
\nAt the conference, Manansala and the other participating artists were requested to submit a work that best represents them. Manansala chose Dambana, \"borrowing\" it from its owner, his dear friend, Zobel. He also submitted another entry titled Tahim Buhay No. 7.
\nThomas Ichinoise of The Mainichi Times, one of Japan's \"Big Four Newspapers,\" praised the exhibition, observing that Filipino art is something that radiates \"a special atmosphere in a sense of form, of nuances, of textures, of color, of rhythm, creating their distinct presence.\"
\nCharles S. Terry of another Japanese \"Big Four Newspaper,\" Asahi Evening News, also commended the Filipino painters, noting that \"they have gone beyond the stage of imitation to that of experimentation.\"
\nThe authoritative and highly popular The Manila Times particularly commented on Manansala's Dambana, praising that it \"transforms a large table into semi-abstract relationships. The glow of colors… is rich and deep….\"
\nAfter all its exposure, even republished many times in magazines, the 1956 Dambana was gifted by Zóbel, along with his extensive collection of Filipino modern art to the Ateneo de Manila University in 1960, forming the core collection of what is now the Ateneo Art Gallery
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The 1957 Dambana, Heir to the Iconic 1956 Altar
The praises received by Dambana led Manansala in 1957 to paint another iteration, which is now offered in this year's opening salvo. It is a smaller yet more intricately beautiful painting depicting the same subject in the same style. Manansala's color palette exudes a lush mixture of the gravitas of meditation and a scintillating sensuality for the visuals. It is almost as if Manansala's pulsating colors impart a sense of physicality to an otherwise flat painting. The figures of the santos are rendered in what Rod. Paras-Perez noted in his book on Manansala as “the reduction of the image into calligraphic gestures became more pronounced, particularly in the delineation of each icon. The subject or motif, an altar, also lent itself to the concern for the informel…preoccupying Manansala at the time.”
\nIt was in France where Manansala encountered art informel, which was at its peak in the early 50s when he pursued his scholarship at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of the University of Paris. Manansala's employment of the informel technique distills the subject to its essence, with his vigorous colors displaying a rich sensibility that captures the Baroque grandiosity of the country's colonial churches.
\nManansala's adaptation of the informel concept, or paintings born of/inspired by improvisation, befit his mantra of painting what he feels.
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