{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":14613,"auction_id":14,"set_id":26,"lot_number":"21","artist":"Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972)","title":"Planting Rice","starting_price":5000000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1962 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"24\" x 34\" (61 cm x 86 cm)","property":null,"coa":"León Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo \nfor confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":"Private Collection, Manila","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"The fusion of Fernando Amorsolo's psyche and the soul of the Philippine countryside established an indissoluble bond that is now immortalized in the former's canvases. Seven months after he was born in Paco, the Amorsolo family moved to Daet. Amorsolo spent the first thirteen years of his life enjoying the fertile rice fields and abaca plantations, innocently acquainting himself with his rural environment in the process. At the age of 13, after his father's death, Amorsolo and his mother and siblings moved into Fabian de la Rosa's home. During this time, de la Rosa had emerged as the master of genre painting; he had just won the gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair with his iconic piece, Planting Rice.
The young Amorsolo would occasionally witness his uncle's painting excursions in the studio, eventually becoming an apprentice to the latter. According to Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, his father \"observed and learned the basic rudiments in painting while in the studio.\" De la Rosa would become Amorsolo's first mentor and earliest influence. These circumstances would serve as catalysts for one of Amorsolo's most enduring subjects—the Rice Cycle.
Most of Amorsolo's rice cycle opuses were executed in Central Luzon, known as the \"Rice Granary of the Philippines.\" One may remark on the predominance of women in these paintings. He sought to emphasize their unheralded roles. Women account for up to 60% of the required labor in rice farming in Southeast Asia. They are traditionally engaged in the primary functions of rice production, such as weeding, paddy cultivation, transplanting, harvesting, and winnowing. These realities on the ground are enshrined on Amorsolo's genre paintings, substantiating his profound familiarity with the practices of the countryside.
As with other variations of this iconic subject, this piece depicts peasants in their brightly colored rural clothes. The sunlit setting that complements the farmers' blissful facial expressions exudes strength and vitality, implying the significance of rice in our physical sustenance and shaping our cultural unity. As written by Amorsolo Lazo: \"The figures that peopled his landscape were representative individuals of Amorsolo's time and place, whose feelings the artist had internalized and for whom he had faith that even when painted at a far distance as a mere fleck of color, a peasant or maiden, would register across as a living being in touch with the land.\"","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972) Planting Rice signed and dated 1962 (lower right) oil on canvas 24\" x 34\" (61 cm x 86 cm)