安東尼奧·布蘭柯

布蘭柯博物館收藏，峇里

D.H.·達米勒，《安東尼奧·布蘭柯之作品、人生及夢想》，布蘭柯藝術基金會，印尼烏布，1990年，第124頁

The work is in good condition overall, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. Upon close observation, there is evidence of light wear and handling around the edges of the painting, along with very faint networks of craquelures predominantly on the top left corner (white paint) and the center. Examination under ultraviolet light shows no sign of restoration. Framed, in the artist's original frame.
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As one of the most famous foreign painters who made Bali home, Antonio Blanco was Spanish by birth and received education in the Philippines and America.  He believed that his Spanish roots linked him to the artists Joan Miró and Salvador Dali, both geographically and spiritually.

The subject matter of Mother And Child is extremely rare among his artist peers. For most ‘Euro-Indo’ artists such as Le Mayeur and Theo Meier painted the Balinese landscapes with women weaving, dancing, offering or engaging in traditional ceremonies.  The present work, as the title suggests, depicts a Balinese mother embracing her baby. The composition brings to mind the legacy of the icon, which harks back to the European tradition of Madonna and Child paintings.

More interestingly, the subject matter is in fact, a gentle divorce from Blanco’s favorite theme of women typically modeled by his muse and wife Ni Ronji. While the quick impressionistic brushwork suggests the silhouette of a woman, the focus of the painting is undeniably the baby in the forefront. In comparison to the mother, the child is deliberately executed in much greater details whose features are more defined. The intimate composition suggests that the work could be painted shortly after the baby was born. Moreover, the artful manner in which Blanco rendered the figures, while expressing the unconditional motherly love and the intense connections with the newborn distinguished his unparalleled talents among his peers at the time. The interplay of loose brushstrokes with the negative space is most beautifully displayed in Mother And Child. Together with the vibrant colours, the modeling of space as well as the bold painterly strokes, the present work emphasizes the vitality of the baby. Henceforth, Mother And Child is indeed Blanco’s tribute towards motherhood and his joy of having a child.