{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":1703,"auction_id":3,"set_id":4,"lot_number":"15","artist":"Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022)","title":"Orchids","starting_price":700000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1980 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"39 1/2\" x 32\" (100 cm x 81 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Private Collection, Spain","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"lowers are a defining theme in the art of Betsy Westendorp. Her paintings capture their beauty and purity, fresh and uncut, never placed in a vase but flourishing in their natural setting. Betsy’s floras awaken the eyes of its beholder to the wonders of nature.
\n“I find flowers fascinating. Flowers are for everybody,” she once said.
\nWestendorp’s earliest floral subjects were roses and carnations, most were gifted to her. Later, she painted her flowers en plein air. Her orchid paintings started when she visited a greenhouse in Madrid called the Centro de Jardinera Bourguignon. She asked permission to paint the orchids inside the greenhouse and was fortunately permitted. The Spanish-born artist believed that in order to be acquainted with her floral subjects, she needed to be in their presence.
\n\n“At the beginning, I had to paint on location. So, I can get in touch with the orchids,” she said in a conversation with art critic Cid Reyes. “It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.”
\nBetsy even painted with a sprig of orchids hanging on a canvas she was working on. As a way to immerse herself in the subject, she acquired a collection of books on orchids, which are kept in her Madrid residence and Makati condominium, as a handy reference since she has memorized even the botanical names of various species of orchids.
\nWestendorp pieces have always found favor with all the succeeding regimes in Malacañang, as several of her works are still displayed in the palace. For Reyes, “perhaps it is the freshness and wholesomeness of her works depicting tropical orchids and Philippine landscapes, viewed by a foreigner’s eyes with genuine affection, that subtly communicates her love of the Philippines.”
\nThe Philippine government awarded Betsy Westendorp the second highest honor next to the Order of National Artists, the Presidential Award of Merit for Art and Culture. (P.I.R.)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022) Orchids signed and dated 1980 (lower right) oil on canvas 39 1/2\" x 32\" (100 cm x 81 cm)