{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":61595,"auction_id":209,"set_id":242,"lot_number":"17","artist":"Rosario Bitanga (1934 - 2024)","title":"a.) Portrait of a Lady b.) Portrait of a Lady","starting_price":200000,"signed_dated":"a.) ca. 1950<br>\noil on wood<br>\n40 1/2\" x 25\" (103 cm x 64 cm)","medium":"b.) ca. 1950<br>\noil on wood<br>\n40 1/2\" x 25\" (103 cm x 64 cm)","size":null,"property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Estate of the Artist","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"An eminent modernist artist, Rosario Bitanga took the path less followed when she delved headfirst into abstraction at a time when few artists, and even fewer women, dared to. Regarded by critic Manuel Duldulao as the first Filipina abstractionist, she first found tutelage under distinguished artists like Manansala and Edades at the UST School of Fine Arts before, like many artists before her, she set off for the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where American painter and mentor Fred Mitchell encouraged her to develop her own style. It was here that her evocative, abstract style bloomed in its maturity.<br><br> While Bitanga is celebrated for her abstract works reflective of her musical and artistic inclinations, she also excelled in figurative art, albeit a lesser-known aspect of her oeuvre. These two portraits of a lady, both painted in the 1950s, bear witness to Bitanga’s artistic range, combining her traditional and expressionist sensibilities to create textured portraits.<br><br> Her color scheme evokes the natural world. Vibrant orange dominates one lady’s dress, while sky blues and yellows inject a sense of contemplation that mesmerizes the audience. The other lady, on the other hand, wears a yellow dress and a white headscarf. She sits quietly, her hands crossed on her lap, and her expression downcast. Thus, in contrast to her warm, bright palette, a hint of melancholia hangs in the air.<br><br> The contrast between the artist’s palette and her subjects reveals the emotional depth she infuses into her works. Additionally, these works were among the few of Rosario Bitanga’s portraits to reach the market, highlighting their unique place in her body of work. (Jessica Magno)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":240000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":240000,"userBid":34,"isPaid":0,"userId":34,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":24709,"reserve_price":0,"hammer_price":288384,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":68496,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/17.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":68969,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/17b.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":68653,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/17a.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[220000,240000,260000,280000,300000,320000,340000,360000,380000,400000,450000,500000,550000,600000,650000,700000,750000,800000,900000,1000000,1100000,1200000,1300000,1400000,1500000,1600000,1700000,1800000,1900000,2000000,2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":16,"next":18,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}