{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":22253,"auction_id":24,"set_id":43,"lot_number":"160","artist":"Carlos \"Botong\" V. Francisco (1912 - 1969)","title":"Constabulary Officer","starting_price":2000000,"signed_dated":"ca. 1953","medium":"oil on plywood (marine)","size":"27\" x 34\" (69 cm x 86 cm)","property":null,"coa":"Accompanied by a certificate issued by the National Museum of the Philippines confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":"Acquired in 1953 \nA gift from Mr. Lucio Tan to the family of the present owner","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco was the country’s pre-eminent muralist. And he used this artform to put across not only a vision of a mighty Philippines but also the power of a new artistic movement. Alongside Victorio Edades and Galo Ocampo, he formed a triumvirate to present this new style of painting and persuade the general public of its importance.
\nThe mural was the perfect platform. In 1934, he created two : Rising Philippines for Capitol Theater in Manila and Unity of Culture at the Golden Gate Exposition of San Francisco.
\nAfter the war, he received commissions from Manila Hotel for Pista sa Nayon and Muslim Dance.
\nHis cinematic style was also perfect for film backdrops and he created magnificent backdrops and movie posters for director Manuel Conde, such as Siete Infantes de Lara and Genghis Khan.
\nIn 1952, he began painting a gargantuan mural titled “500 Years of Philippine Progress” — records show that it was 88 meters long and 8 meters high — for the first-ever world exposition in Southeast Asia, the ambitious Philippines International Fair of 1953. This ran from February 1 to April 30, 1953 and attracted international acclaim. It received a double-spread color feature in Newsweek Magazine. (In the same year, Botong would also paint the enormous pantheon Progress of Medicine for the Philippine General Hospital.)
\nThe Fair, according to archivist and popular columnist Danny Dolor of the Philippine Star, was organized by such luminaries as Jose Marcelo, Alfonso Sycip, Eduardo Taylor, Antonio de las Alas, Santiago de la Cruz and J.T. Naylor.
\nIn the work at hand, Constabulary Officer, we see the country’s post-war police force in its prime. President Elpidio Quirino had issued an executive order in March 1950 merging the constabulary with the Philippine armed forces. This transferred power of the Philippine Constabulary to the supervision of then-Secretary of National Defense, the charismatic Ramon Magsaysay. It would become the precursor of the Philippine National Police or PNP.
\nIt was Magsaysay’s agenda to control the threat of insurgency posed by the fearsome Hukbalahap movement and in this work, the stony-faced soldier is ready for battle in a background of mountains and fields.\nConstabulary Officer is one of the few remaining fragments of this missing masterpiece from a shining period of Philippine history that remains extant.","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Carlos \"Botong\" V. Francisco (1912 - 1969) Constabulary Officer ca. 1953 oil on plywood (marine) 27\" x 34\" (69 cm x 86 cm)