{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":3551,"auction_id":6,"set_id":8,"lot_number":"150","artist":"Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932 - 2011)","title":"Night in Marantz","starting_price":1800000,"signed_dated":"signed, inscribed Barcelona<br /> and dated 1961 (upper left)","medium":"oil on wood","size":"55\" x 31\" (140 cm x 79 cm)","property":null,"coa":"León Gallery wishes to thank Christian M. Aguilar for confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":"Private Collection, Makati City","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"National Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz's avant-garde \"Barcelona Years\" are highly acclaimed as his \"golden period\"; his works during these years are the most coveted in his oeuvre. During this prolific period, Alcuaz seemed to attain new peaks every year. He was unstoppable, and countless awards and honors were bestowed upon him: First prize at the Premio Moncada (Barcelona, 1957); Prix Francisco Goya Award (Burgos, 1958); Diploma of Honor at the International Exhibit of Art Libre (Paris, 1961); first prize at the Pintura Sant Pol del Mar (Spain, 1961); 2nd prize at the Premio Vancell at the Fourth Biennial of Tarrasa (Barcelona, 1964); Decoration of Arts, Letters, and Sciences Award by the French Government (Paris, 1964); and the Order of French Genius (Paris, 1964), to name only a few.<br /><br />Alcuaz mounted exhibitions in major Spanish cities and the esteemed European centers of Paris, France; Lisbon, Portugal; and Hamburg, Germany.<br /><br />Barcelona was where Alcuaz came to terms with his artistry, having found his unique modernist language in the sunny city through his association with the \"La Punalada Group\" (La Punalada was a restaurant along Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona's most iconic avenue, where the group frequently convened), counting among its members Jaume Muxart, Sergio Aragones, and Jordi Aluma, disciples of the great Picasso and now, pillars of Spanish modern art.<br /><br /> Barcelona was Alcuaz's home base for forty years. He set up his studio on the fourth floor of 285 Calle de Aragón, which—even in interludes to other countries, including his native Philippines—he maintained from July 1957 until August 1997.<br /><br /> Alcuaz's \"Barcelona\" paintings all share the same attribute: the artist's love for music. In these works, Alcuaz injects euphonious lyricism and melody into his enigmatic compositions, compellingly resonating more with the viewer's perspective.<br /><br /> The young Alcuaz grew up in a home where music takes center stage and inspires the everyday excursions of its inhabitants. In Rod. Paras-Perez's book on Alcuaz titled Parallel Texts, Ute Schmitz, the artist's wife, shares that her beloved other half always loved music. \"He comes from a musical family,\" Schmitz says. \"His father was a composer and played the violin and piano, and Fred played the cello. Other members of the family are accomplished musicians as well.\"<br /><br />  Painting for Alcuaz is like performing at his own concert; his vigorous strokes evoke the soul-stirring cadence of a conductor's baton or a cellist's dramatic fiddling of his violoncello. Music and painting are wed in absolute harmony: inseparable and inviolable.<br /><br /> Schmitz further elucidates: \"When the boys were young, Fred was a very good, patient, and cheerful father to our kids, if he was around… I remember that every weekend, he would buy a bunch of flowers to bring a touch of color to our home in Barcelona. There was always music in our home.\"<br /><br /> In the work at hand titled Night in Marantz, one discerns an enigmatic atmosphere, augmented by Alcuaz's dynamic and spontaneous brushstrokes and distinct take on Surrealism. The blazing oranges and the rich greens equally stand out vibrantly, seemingly conversing with each other through a riveting classical musical score. The work's title references the renowned audio manufacturing company, Marantz, founded in New York in 1953 by American musician and pioneer of high-fidelity audio components Saul Marantz.<br /><br /> Schmitz says: \"At home, in his studio, he would have music to accompany him while he paints. He loves classical music— anything and everything from Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven to Mahler.\"<br /><br /> One can easily imagine Alcuaz painting this work while playing in his Marantz turntable Chopin's melancholic and poignant Nocturne Op. 9, No.2, Mozart's exultant Eine kleine Nachtmusik, or even Beethoven's haunting Symphony No. 9.<br /><br /> A year before Alcuaz made Night in Marantz, his firstborn, Christian Michael, was born in Hamburg. The joys of parenthood thus add to the poetic expressiveness of the painting. <br /><br />Night in Marantz is like being transported to a dream-like world in which music is ever-present, soothingly resonating to the delicate ears. It's like a \"Night of Thousand Beethovens, Chopins, or Mozarts\" condensed into a single, lyrical magnum opus.<br /><br /> Night in Marantz brings a multitude of feelings, recollections, and sentiments, depending on the viewer's disposition. This is why Alcuaz's works in his Barcelona Series are the most desired by every discerning art collector; they lend a liberty of visual exegesis. (A.M.)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":2200000,"bp":0.168,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":2200000,"userBid":5926,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":2569600,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":3818,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/6/8/lot/150.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":3821,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/6/8/lot/150a.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[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":149,"next":151,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}