Anita Magsaysay-Ho

Private Collection (a gift from the artist)
Christie's, Hong Kong, July 6, 2003, Lot 42
Private Collection, UK

This work is in good condition overall with a clear and taut canvas. There is a minor, faint linear abrasion on the middle left (approximately 2 cm, located 3.5 cm (1 ¼ in.) from the middle left and 20 cm (7 ¾ in.) from the bottom left) and two areas of pin-sized paint loss on the lower right quadrant (on the banana and on the arm of the figure on the far right). Otherwise, the paint layers are well-preserved for its age and is in stable condition. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals two spots of retouching in the middle of the painting (the collarbone area of the figure on the far left and just above the money). The colour of the skin tone is warmer in reality. Framed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"For whenever I looked at an empty canvas, I saw only my Filipino women."
ANITA MAGSAYSAY-HO CITED IN Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, 'Introduction', Anita Magsaysay-Ho: A Retrospective, MAGSAYSAY INC, MANILA, 1988, P. 164.

Banana Sellers is a rare example of the artist's works from the early fifties. Magsaysay-Ho began experimenting with the theme of peasant women during her days at Cranbrook Academy of Art at the University of Michigan. Her early oil paintings show a synthesis of the dynamic pictorial compositions she developed in Cranbrook and the painterly gesture that she learnt at the Art Students' League under the American artist, Kenneth Hayes Miller. Miller, whose students included Reginald Marsh and Edward Hopper, became famous in the 1930s with his depictions of pre-Depression era women in the act of shopping. His expression of an urban reality were filled with pathos and humour, and in their pictorial arrangements – groups of women jostling, interacting – they seem also to have much in common with the works that his student Magsaysay-Ho produced from the 1950s.

The canvas is dominated by the figures of two women at a market; one woman holds a basket laden with vegetables, while the other, presumably the vendor, is counting money before a stand overflowing with bananas. They, along with another woman in the background, are set before an abstract background highlighted with the outlines of bananas hanging above the market stalls. The painting is executed with an exceptionally free and expressive brush, unprecedented in Magsaysay-Ho's depiction of rural women up to that time, and marks an exciting transition in her work. Unlike the later works, which seem to emphasise the geometric shapes of various pictorial elements, this example seems to be more concerned with colour and light. Physical description is kept to a minimum, allowing the body language to articulate the realism of the moment – the joy, sympathy and emotional bond shared by the sorority of women at work.