{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":14654,"auction_id":14,"set_id":26,"lot_number":"61","artist":"Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972)","title":"Mango Gatherers","starting_price":7000000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1970 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"33 1/2\" x 48\" (85 cm x 122 cm)","property":"PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION","coa":"Accompanied by a certificate issued by Ms. Sylvia Amorsolo Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":"Acquired directly from the artist","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"AMORSOLO'S FRUITS OF AN ETERNAL SUMMER
\nThe life and career of Fernando Amorsolo spanned an era of unprecedented transformation for the Filipino people. Urbanization, technological breakthroughs, and changing ideals rose to greater heights each succeeding decade. However, the nostalgia for simpler times during this period of advancement would linger in the subconscious domain of the Filipino psyche. This fervent longing would serve as one of the catalysts for Fernando Amorsolo's pastoral works. A spectacle of idyllic countryside living imbued with classical Filipino values would pervade the artistic vision of Amorsolo.
\nAmorsolo's approach to genre paintings encompasses his burning desire to reminisce about the glory days of his youth in Daet. As Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo recalls: \"The rural scenes that Papa painted were based on the actual day-to-day chores of the simple and poor people that he observed as a young lad until his growing years.\"
\nAmong the sceneries that the young Amorsolo may have witnessed in the vast agricultural fields of Daet were peasants enjoying a blissful afternoon under the cool canopy of the mango tree while harvesting the fruits of their labor. Mango Gatherers is one of the idyllic pieces from the grand master that immortalizes this delightful spectacle. Here, men, women, and children pleasantly partake in a collective endeavor. With this piece, Amorsolo hopes to preserve and perpetuate the Filipino native principles of communal living and pakikisama. He deemed these values gradually vanishing due to the individualistic culture that colonial modernity had propagated. The artist also emphasizes the inherent relationship between the community and the individual. Fostering the traditional Filipino ideals, Amorsolo conveys that harmony and unity form the nucleus of our collective identity as a nation. Amorsolo paints not just for the sake of self-absorption but, more importantly, for the advancement of a profound consciousness of our oneness as Filipinos.
\nApart from the evocative underpinnings of his work, it is also crucial to discern the creative prowess Amorsolo demonstrates in every piece he paints, even in his later years. One immediately notices that the afternoon sunlight permeating through the leaves and branches of the tree provides natural illumination to the composition. Amorsolo fittingly situates the lightest light and the darkest dark. The backlit figures accentuate the vividness of the tropical sunlight. As noted by Alfredo Roces, \"the color-richness of Amorsolo's shadow areas is what exudes the quality of Philippine light.\"
\nThe villagers are positioned within the shadows of the tree, except for the lady carrying a basket of mangoes. The sunlight directly illuminates her sweet, innocent face. This emphasis evokes Amorsolo's affinity for the dalagang bukid, a recurring motif in the artist's oeuvre. The bright colors of the townsfolk's clothes complement the surroundings' refreshing, tropical greens. A gentle radiance caresses the backdrop, giving prominence to the thriving flora of the forest.
\nUntil his passing in 1972, Amorsolo continued redefining his interpretation of the classic Filipino landscape that has become one of his defining legacies in Philippine art.","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972) Mango Gatherers signed and dated 1970 (lower right) oil on canvas 33 1/2\" x 48\" (85 cm x 122 cm)