{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":61661,"auction_id":209,"set_id":242,"lot_number":"83","artist":"Elaine Navas (b. 1964)","title":"Tupac and Lorena","starting_price":600000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 2019 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"48\" x 72\" (122 cm x 183 cm)","property":null,"coa":"Accompanied by a certificate issued by Finale Art File and signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":"Private collection, Manila","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"There is softness beneath the dense, gritty surfaces of Elaine Navas’ paintings. Each sculptural gesture of her palette knife carries both deliberate weight and emotional vulnerability, transforming heavy oil paint into an intimate dialogue with form. Through her signature impasto and poetic compositions, even the simplest subjects acquire a deeper resonance. The work titled Tupac and Lorena was part of Navas’ 2019 solo exhibition, Little Monuments which presented a series of five still lifes of fruit and vegetable arrangements. The title itself hints at a confluence of personal references, drawing unexpected cultural touchstones into the quietude of the domestic sphere. The still lifes became a means of preserving a memory; for this piece, as described by Carina Santos in her exhibition notes, the scene takes place in her daughter’s home in Los Angeles, featuring a simple bowl of fruit against a vivid blue background. The composition—its fruit, its field of color, and its apparent simplicity—invites more introspection, offering a glimpse into Navas’ experience of visiting her daughter. Seen through a mother's gaze, the scene is both ordinary and deeply personal, balancing emotional distance and intimacy. The curious selection regarding the order of fruits—a calamansi or a Dalandan amongst pears, apples, grapefruits, and oranges, may imply a memory. The deliberate inclusion of a native Philippine citrus among Western staples acts as a subtle anchor, bridging geographical divides and weaving a quiet nostalgia into the foreign light of Southern California.<br/><br/> The conceptual depth found in her works may be traced to the foundations of Navas’ artistic practice. An alumnus of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of the Philippines, she studied under Roberto Chabet, whose influence on Philippine conceptual art encouraged generations of artists to deconstruct the image of simplicity. Chabet was a mentor and later the curator of her first solo exhibition. Through this lens, Tupac and Lorena is more than a domestic subject; it carries the weight of a milestone and the memory surrounding it.<br/><br/> Molded and trained by a contemporary master, Navas’ practice exhibits the unmistakable depth bestowed upon her by her mentor. In this work a bowl of fruit becomes a vessel for memory—a quiet, textured monument to distance, change, and a mother’s enduring attachment. The thick, almost visceral ridges of pigment preserve time itself, ensuring that an inherently ephemeral arrangement achieves a permanent, tactile presence. In elevating the fleeting moment of a mother's visit into an enduring visual artifact, Navas redefines the classical still life as an act of devotion, where every layer of paint keeps the warmth of human connection alive across any expanse of space. (Paulette Neri)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":600000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":600000,"userBid":5930,"isPaid":0,"userId":34,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":25124,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":720960,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":68560,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/83.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":68854,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/83a.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":68853,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/83b.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":68852,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/83c.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":68851,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/209/242/lot/83d.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":82,"next":84,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}