The ''La Pintura'' is a painting by the Filipino artist Félix Resurrección Hidalgo done in the style of Impressionism. The painting depicts a woman holding an paintbrush while turning back to the viewer, as she gazes towards an unfinished canvas. Hidalgo's ''La Pintura'' was subsequently sold for a world record of the artist of PHP78.256 million (US$1.51 million) at a Salcedo Auctions' ''Important Philippine Art'' sale in the Philippines on September 21, 2019.

Description

The ''La Pintura'' was created by Hidalgo in the impressionist style inspired by the trend of ''

Japonisme ''Japonisme'' is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858. Japon ...

'', as the collecting and display of ukiyo-e prints was gaining significant traction among Western art circles. Beginning in the 1890s, Hidalgo began veering away from the

historical realism Historical realism is a writing style or subgenre of realistic fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals a ...

style that brought his work towards international recognition, as denoted with his award-winning composition ''

Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho ''Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho'' or ''The Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace of Madrid'' is a famous 1884 history painting by Filipino painter, reformist, and propagandist Félix Resurrección Hidalgo.

'' (1884) that garnered him a silver medal, along with that of compatriot and his personal friend Juan Luna who won his first gold medal (out of three) for ''

Spoliarium The ''Spoliarium'' (often misspelled ''Spolarium'') is a painting by Filipino painter Juan Luna. Luna, working on canvas, spent eight months completing the painting which depicts dying gladiators. The painting was submitted by Luna to the ''Expos ...

'' at the 1884 ''Exposicion General de Bellas Artes'' in Madrid. The identity of the female painter depicted in the work has not been fully determined by scholars, previously attributing the sitter to Maria Yrritia who was Hidalgo's muse and

common-law wife Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal framework where a couple may be considered married without having formally registered their relation as a civil ...

until his death in 1913. One plausible conclusion is that the model for the artwork was Nellie Boustead, one of the former lovers of the Philippine nationalist

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national he ...

. Boustead was one of the daughters of Eduardo Boustead, the illegitimate son of Edward Boustead, a wealthy British trader, and his Filipina partner who had residences in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

and Paris. She became famously embroiled in a

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...

between her, Rizal, and fellow propagandist (later military general) Antonio Luna that almost led to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

between the two.

Return to the Philippines

''La Pintura'' was publicly exhibited at the 1893 ''Exposición Histórico-Natural y Etnográfica'' at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. Further research reveals that the work's provenance traces the painting being part of the collection of the Philippine politician Pedro Paterno, who was a known friend and patron of Hidalgo.

Segismundo Moret Segismundo Moret y Prendergast (2 June 1833 – 28 January 1913) was a Spanish politician and writer. He was the prime minister of Spain on three occasions and the president of the Congress of Deputies on two occasions. Biography Moret was bor ...

, who then served as the Minister of Overseas tasked that Paterno to provide pieces for the Philippine component of the Madrid exposition at the last minute. It is not clear what became of the painting after the exhibition before being in the ownership of Don Jose Vazquez Castiñeira, a former mayor of Sarria, a municipality in the province of

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

in Spain for nearly 130 years. One can surmise upon Paterno having been appointed as the new Director of the Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas, the paintings were later sold or given to the Vazquez Castiñeiras. Paterno was married to Maria Luisa Piñeiro de Paterno who originated from Galicia, the same area were Vazquez Castiñeiras hailed from. This Galician connection between Paterno and the Vazquez Castiñeiras was further revealed prior to the sale of the ''Boceto for

'' by Juan Luna in 2018. In 1996, Maria Nuñez Rodriguez, a childless widow of Don Francisco Vazquez Gayoso summoned her relatives into her household to be able to divide her estate. Included in the said estate were Philippine works of art that included an earlier version of ''

España y Filipinas ''España y Filipinas'' (“Spain and the Philippines") is a series of oil on wood paintingsHonasan, Alya B"España y Filipinas" by Juan Luna, Into the 21st Century, lopezmuseum.org.ph by Filipino painter, Ilustrado, and revolutionary activist, Jua ...

'' (1884) by Luna, the Spoliarium study, the Hidalgo painting, and other Philippine works of art. One side of the heirs of Nuñez Rodriguez subsequently sold the version ''España y Filipinas'' at a 2012 Balclis auction sale in Barcelona to an anonymous Philippine art dealer. It was subsequently purchased by the National Gallery Singapore at the 40th-anniversary sale of the Sotheby’s Hong Kong branch in 2013 for PHP156.52 million ( HKD$25.88 million), a world record price for a work of art by Juan Luna. In 2019, ''La Pintura'' was subsequently sold for a world record price of PHP78.256 million (US$1.51 million) at a Salcedo Auctions' Important Philippine Art sale in the Philippines. The sale beat the previous record held by an earlier work by Hidlago from his Philippine period ''Pareja de jóvenes tagalos ante un rio'' (1879) that sold for PHP51.60 million (US$957,863.78) at Subastas Segre sale in Spain.

Sources

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pintura, La 1890s paintings Paintings by Félix Resurrección Hidalgo Philippine paintings