{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":60822,"auction_id":203,"set_id":236,"lot_number":"111","artist":"Hernando R. Ocampo (1911 - 1978)","title":"Color Study","starting_price":500000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1952 (lower right)","medium":"oil on cardboard","size":"17 1/2\" x 12\" (44 cm x 30 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Private collection, USA","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"The early 1950s proved to be especially crucial for the flowering of Philippine modernism. Within a span of a year, between 1953 and 1954, two landmark exhibitions were mounted by the legendary Philippine Art Gallery, the first artistic space dedicated entirely to the cause of modern art in the country (it was the Filipino modernist's safe space, a haven for unbridled creativity and camaraderie with like-minded people). The first was the First Philippine Cultural Exhibition held initially at the Carnegie Endowment International Center in New York City before being showcased next at the American International Underwriters Corporation, on famous, bustling Wall Street.
PAG matriarch and exhibition organizer Lyd Arguilla recounted in her article \"The Little Wheel Grinds On\" published in Weekly Women's Magazine, \"Overnight, in a lively glow of colors, the works of our artists burst upon the unsuspecting passers-by. The cop around the corner sauntered over, beaming, \"Gosh! Wall Street was never like this!\"
But the exhibition that really made a dent in the art scene was the cultural milestone, the First Exhibition of Non-Objective Art in Tagala in December 1953. In both shows, Hernando R. Ocampo was notably present, rising to prominence in his home country as the foremost exponent of non-objective art. He was christened by critic Magtanggul Asa (Aurelio Alvero) as the \"Father of Non-Objective Art,\" with him writing: \"Ocampo's energy and prolificness have proved most vital to the cause of non-objective art in this country.\" Ocampo, along with Fernando Zobel, notably led the non-objective art show, which demonstrated Filipino modernism at its most avant-garde, eschewing the need for objective and cognizable representation and elevating the merit of the plastic elements of painting, which are essentially the nucleus of the modernist's continuing strive to liberate Philippine art from the shackles of classicism.
Ocampo's Color Study is a vibrant relic from that exciting period in the history of Philippine modernism, its colorful struggles and meritorious, bold efforts to show that this new style is the fitting visual language that can articulate well the situation and needs of the post-war climate.
Color Study noticeably places emphasis on the plastic elements. The work belongs to Ocampo's \"Transition Period,\" which his biographer and fellow Veronican and literary compadre Angel G. de Jesus described in the artist's monograph as follows: \"Non-objective painting became his main interest…His figures and natural objects became simplified. He eliminated details of the human anatomy, disregarded perspective, and his forms became increasingly distorted. His objective was to flatten planes and achieve unity of composition and design through a combination of hues, tonal values, and textures. The painting became a living, organic, logical unit.\"
Ocampo's Color Study manifests the artist's lifelong obsession with color: vibrant, tropical hues that evoke the natural hues of his motherland. Ocampo's non-objective paintings stretch the plastic elements of painting to their limits; that is, they brim with horror vacui, capturing the Filipino's \"baroque-ness,\" his natural inclination towards maximalism, but this time through the interesting interaction among the plastic elements. In the work, tension is introduced, with each of the plastic elements depicted in a chaotic yet theatrical interplay—the luxurious colors, expressive lines, and seemingly tactile, breathing forms—all dancing and harmonizing in one beautiful mess.
Pure design, for Ocampo, is an inherent quality in any work of art that no literary or philosophical explanations can supersede or fully explain. For non-objectivists, a painting's design and colors are first sensed and grasped rather than its symbolism or meaning. Especially in the post-war context, in which the Filipino soul had been traumatized and wounded, the enigmatic and riveting waltz of the plastic elements could be a first step towards healing and catharsis, a quick and immediate respite from the ruins and desolation of war.
\"The failure of a child of six or an expert shoemaker to appreciate a Michelangelo, a Rembrandt, an El Greco, a Matisse, an Amorsolo, or an Edades cannot in any way detract from or add to the aesthetic qualities inherent in any of the aforementioned paintings,\" he wrote in staunch defense of modern art in his article \"How I look at pictures,\" published in This Week Magazine in 1948.
The materiality of color is most important for Ocampo in this painting, emphasizing a variety of textures highlighted by the free-flowing lines that form organic shapes, thus breathing life into the composition. Color Study encapsulates the very foundation of non-objective painting: to appreciate it for what it is and understand it through its plastic elements rather than to struggle to understand it metaphorically.","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":1700000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":1700000,"userBid":34,"isPaid":0,"userId":34,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":19780,"reserve_price":800000,"hammer_price":2042720,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":66837,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/203/236/lot/111.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":67279,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/203/236/lot/111a.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[900000,1000000,1100000,1200000,1300000,1400000,1500000,1600000,1700000,1800000,1900000,2000000,2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":110,"next":112,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}