{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":56569,"auction_id":110,"set_id":144,"lot_number":"144","artist":"Onib Olmedo (1937 - 1996)","title":"Bambino","starting_price":800000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1980 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"30\" x 30\" (76 cm x 76 cm)","property":null,"coa":"Accompanied by a certificate issued by Ms. Gisella Olmedo-Araneta \nfor confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":null,"exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"Like many Filipino children, Onib Olmedo was given a childhood nickname that vastly differs from his real name. Born Luis Claudio, he was better known around family and friends as Onib, which he takes after his father’s favorite athlete, Babe Ruth. In December 1934, two years before Onib was born, Babe Ruth (who was also known as Bambino) was among the delegation that faced off against the country’s all-star team players at the then newly built Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
He was first called Bambino, then shortened to Bino. Over the years, however, a linguistic trend has popularized spelling words backwards. And so, father became erpats, projects became jeproks, and Bino became Onib.
With that in mind, Onib’s 1980 Bambino carries a different meaning. Here, Bambino (which translates to child in Italian) is portrayed in Onib’s signature expressionist style. The kid has his hands up in the air, his tiny face scrunched up and wailing. One thing to note is that, unlike Onib’s dark features, this baby is a fair-skinned blonde with blue eyes. Despite that, however, the grit of his works is still evident, as aside from the kid, everything else is dull in coloring.
Among the Philippines’ eminent expressionists, Onib has carved out a legacy for himself as an artist who can capture a person’s soul vividly in their portraits. His f igures, distorted as they may be, are Onib’s depictions of the real world.