{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":61616,"auction_id":209,"set_id":242,"lot_number":"38","artist":"Rosario Bitanga (1934 - 2024)","title":"Untitled","starting_price":600000,"signed_dated":"ca. 1970s","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"40\" x 60\" (102 cm x 152 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Artist's Estate","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"The Matriarch of Filipino Abstraction The Vanguard Vision of Rosario Bitanga <br><br> Rosario' Charito' Bitanga dedicated most of her life to music and the arts. Born into a family of musicians, she had a natural gift for music and excelled especially at the piano. But after discovering her talent for drawing, Charito shifted her focus from music to the arts, secretly taking art and painting classes. At 18, she joined the Arts Association of the Philippines, the youngest member AAP ever had. <br> <br>However, her parents strongly disapproved of her being an artist and insisted that she become a lawyer instead. Given her upbringing as a \"good daughter\" who obeyed her parents without a second thought, Charito took a two-year preparatory law course at the University of Santo Tomas to appease them. <br><br> But the artistic fervor in Charito's heart did not go away, did not even falter. Upon receiving her Associate of Arts diploma in 1955, Bitanga immediately enrolled in Fine Arts, still at UST. Only this time, she has her parents' approval and support. Her formal art education included mentorship from prominent Filipino artists like Araceli Dans, Victorio Edades, Vicente Manansala, Galo Ocampo, Diosdado Lorenzo, and Antonio Garcia Llamas. <br> <br>Still hungry for artistic cultivation, Rosario Bitanga went to the United States to pursue her graduate studies. In 1958, she enrolled at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts, where she once again trained under American masters such as Berthold Schwetz, Jack Madson, and Fred Mitchell. <br><br> Trained under the tutelage of traditional masters, Bitanga's early works were figurative and followed the traditional style. During her Cranbrook years, Charito learned sculpture making and, with the encouragement of her mentors, developed her own style. After much practice and exploration, her works progressed into fully non-objective abstract compositions that entail movement, inspired by her love for music. <br><br> In 1960, Charito finally graduated from Cranbrook, the first Filipina to be conferred the degree of Master of Fine Arts. Immediately after, she returned home to the Philippines and was set to hold her first solo exhibition. In July, the Contemporary Arts Gallery, with the support of the Arts Association of the Philippines, opened its doors to Bitanga's first show, featuring her works from her master's thesis. While most paintings were abstract, there were still a few figurative ones, however, bearing her expressionistic brushstrokes. <br><br> From then on, Rosario Bitanga became renowned for her works that reflect both her musical and artistic inclinations. Her compositions highlight the artist's intuitive use of color and form, her musical arrangement of lines, inviting viewers to explore her harmonious relationship with these elements, earning her a distinction as one of the leading Filipina abstractionists. <br> <br>Certainly, Rosario Bitanga was an artist of much acclaim, both in the local and international scenes. Her prolific career produced a collection of works spanning figurative and nonfigurative compositions, landscapes, still lifes, sculptures, and even jewelry. Her works are found in museums and prominent private collections in the Philippines, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Germany, and the United States, among others. She also participated in countless solo and group exhibitions. Furthermore, she designed several Philippinebased awards, including the neckpiece for the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, underscoring her contributions and legacy in Philippine art and culture. (Jessica Magno)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":600000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":600000,"userBid":34,"isPaid":0,"userId":34,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":24815,"reserve_price":0,"hammer_price":720960,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":68517,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/38.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":68928,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/38a.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[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":37,"next":39,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}