Lot 279
  • 279

FEDERICO AGUILAR ALCUAZ | Still Life

Estimate
140,000 - 250,000 HKD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Federico Aguilar Alcuaz
  • Still Life
  • Oil on canvas
  • 76 by 62 cm; 29 3/4   by 24 1/4  in. 
  • Executed in 1975This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Provenance

Formerly in the private collection of the artist
Private Collection, Germany

Condition

This work is in good overall condition as viewed. All other inconsistencies are due to the artist's working method. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals signs of minor restoration to the upper corners, some infilling to the lower right edge, and lower left quadrant of the work. 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

After studying his foundations of painting at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts and concurrently studying law, Aguilar Alcuaz received a scholarship grant to study at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. This prestigious university had generated some of the greatest maestros of all time, from Spanish modernists Picasso and Dalí to 19th century Filipino masters Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo. In Spain, the artist mingled with the informal group La Puñalada, which consisted of pioneering Catalan artists and purveyors of neo-figurativism, such as Tàpies, Tharrats, Cuixart, Aragones, and Aluma among others. Aguilar Alcuaz defied the ideologies of the Salon artists who dominated the art of the early 20th century, eventually winning awards for his bold, Avant Garde abstract paintings that he exhibited extensively throughout Europe. In 1964, the artist returned to Manila and promptly penetrated the bustling Filipino art scene. Aguilar Alcuaz was declared a National Artist of the Philippines in 2009. Executed in the mid-1970s, the period celebrated as the pinnacle of Aguilar Alcuaz’s productive years, this Abstract Still Life  truly encapsulates the “wild harmony to the chaos of [the artist’s] imagination.” 1 In the present lot, Aguilar Alcuaz deconstructs typical elements of his studios – including a chair, a table, a paintbrush, and a palette, among others – and subsequently reunites these fragmented forms to fabricate new formal relationships. Resounding the sentiments of the Cubists, each plane and form exists on its own axial and spatial trajectory, rhythmically motioning towards their allocated spaces in the picture plane. The final formation is anthropomorphic, as Aguilar Alcuaz takes the artistic liberty of rounding the canvas at center, such that it’s silhouette mimics that of a human countenance. Simultaneously, this face serves as a beacon into a world outside the confined enclosure of his studio: a window revealing a surreal landscape, with clouds hovering over a field of grass reduced and delineated to geometries.

1 Juan T. Gatbonton, Art Philippines, The Crucible Workshop, Manila, Philippines, 1992, p. 197