{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":56505,"auction_id":110,"set_id":144,"lot_number":"78","artist":"Bernardo Pacquing (b. 1967)","title":"Nicolo Paganini","starting_price":1200000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 2007 (verso)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"72\" x 48\" (183 cm x 122 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Finale Art File","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"Pacquing’s work resists easy categorization. Always experimental, always in flux, his art lives somewhere between painting and sculpture; between structure and surrender. He doesn’t just use materials; he tests them. Thick with texture, layered with intent, his pieces often feel like they’re still becoming. Everyday objects show up unexpectedly, transformed not just in function but in meaning. In his hands, even the most familiar elements feel unsettled, unanchored—opening up a space where contradictions sit comfortably together. This is abstraction not as escape, but as invitation: a space for feeling, doubting, re-seeing.<br /><br /> For Pacquing, abstraction isn’t a style; it’s a way of thinking. His approach moves beyond the formalism that can often make abstract art feel distant or academic. Instead, he makes it tactile, personal, sometimes even playful. His refusal to conform has earned him recognition both locally and abroad, including the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Thirteen Artists Award and the Freeman Fellowship. But perhaps more importantly, he’s carved out room for others to follow—proving that art doesn’t need to explain itself to be meaningful, and that freedom can be found in ambiguity. <br /><br /> This spirit is vividly alive in Niccolò Paganini, a raw, haunting work that pulls you in through its strange, uneasy energy. Named after the famously eccentric and virtuosic violinist, the painting becomes a kind of abstract portrait; not of likeness, but of intensity. A blocky, yellow-red form sits atop two spindly legs, the \"head\" dripping with streaks of red and white, like bleeding strings or unraveling nerves. Small black hands dangle mid-air, disembodied yet expressive, caught in a moment of violent grace. The entire figure is both ridiculous and disturbing, echoing the wild, almost mythical energy associated with Paganini himself. <br /><br /> Here, Pacquing turns chaos into character. The background, smeared and ghostly, feels like the aftermath of sound; like noise that’s been scraped onto the canvas and left to dry. The figure’s absurd proportions and frenzied palette reject any notion of classical portraiture. And yet, there’s something deeply honest here. Niccolò Paganini becomes less about the man and more about the sensation he leaves behind: an artist possessed, a body barely able to contain its genius. Pacquing paints this not with precision, but with a kind of furious intuition, letting the emotion lead. (Jed Daya)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":2000000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":2000000,"userBid":5926,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":2403200,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":60289,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/110/144/lot/78.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":60743,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/110/144/lot/78a.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":60742,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/110/144/lot/78b.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":77,"next":79,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}