{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":1712,"auction_id":3,"set_id":4,"lot_number":"24","artist":"Manuel A. Rodriguez, Sr. (1912 - 2017)","title":"Flight of Angels","starting_price":700000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1997 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"48\" x 36\" (122 cm x 91 cm)","property":"PROPERTY FROM THE LOIDA NICOLAS LEWIS COLLECTION","coa":null,"provenance":"Acquired directly from the artist","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"Reaching for the Skies for the Filipino Artist by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL
\nBorn on New Year’s Day in Cebu to a jeweler named Severino Rodriguez, Manuel Antonio had art running through his veins at an early age. He would say that he first became enamored with painting while watching an uncle dabble in watercolor when he was just four years old. He would follow his dream to Manila to enroll at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, from where he graduated in 1939.
\nHe would attract attention as early as 1948 by winning major prizes at the Art Association of the Philippines’ influential annual exhibition and competition and become a stalwart of the iconic Philippine Art Gallery, the country’s first gallery to champion abstract art. Rodriguez would be featured in the Philippine Art Tour in New York City sponsored by the PAG which would prophesy his career trajectory in the United States.
\nIn 1973, Rodriguez would continue to win prizes with the AAP; and would be conferred the Award of Merit by the Association for his contribution to the ‘Advancement of Art in the Philippines.’
\nFinally in 1976, he would bid farewell to Manila to move to New York, where he put up his own studio, the Pioneer Print Center on Broadway. He would continue to paint and make his mark in his new setting.
\n The work at hand, Flight of Angels, is a joyful celebration of femininity and freedom. Three girls appear ready to fly into the stratosphere, the wind in their hair, their feet never touching the ground. The painting is positively alive with the energy of the colors that create a distinct texture that is recognizably Rodriguez’. In the background, three trees magnify the mood of liberation.
\nThis thoroughly exuberant portrait of young women reaching for the skies was to be found in the home of Mrs. Loida Nicolas Lewis, amid her assemblage of Picassos and other European post-impressionist masters in her Park Avenue triplex. Mrs. Lewis was quoted as saying that it was important that this work find its way back to the Philippines in support of a good cause — the development of Filipino artists as they spread their wings abroad in much the same way as this Flight of Angels.","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Manuel A. Rodriguez, Sr. (1912 - 2017) Flight of Angels signed and dated 1997 (lower right) oil on canvas 48\" x 36\" (122 cm x 91 cm)