Vicente Manansala (1910 - 1981)
Still Life
signed and dated 1973 (upper left)
oil on canvas
21" x 27 1/4" (53 cm x 69 cm)


Accompanied by a certificate ofprovenance issued by Finale Art File.
PROVENANCEAcquired directly from the artist



Vicente Manansala's approach to still life paintings is confined within the peripheries of his Filipino sensibility. This approach brings to light his genuine appreciation for our collective identity and an affinity for the Filipino way of living. Manansala brings out all the vibrance of a traditional Filipino kitchen in this still life piece. But beyond that, Manansala exhibits his Filipino sensibility by applying the native concept of spatial dynamics, filling every space with form and detail. He employs maximalism, which art professor Felipe M. de Leon Jr. describes as "a manifestation of the Filipinos' highly sensitive and expressive nature that is rooted in communal existence." Horror vacui is the Latin term for "fear of empty space." Manansala uses the full potential of space to evoke our own concept of cohesiveness and communal living. In this piece, the artist presents kitchenware and viands usually found in Filipino kitchens, such as the puso ng saging, galunggong, tilapia, and tinapa. Isabel Nazareno writes in Discovering Manansala: "Several were, virtually, visual recipes, which detailed ingredients typically found in traditional Filipino dishes. The various components, including mortar and pestle, cooking pot or pan, as well as an array of fruits for dessert, are all put together in one scene." Despite the diversity of elements, the entire composition exudes harmony. They are put together in a single scene, integrated among each other to form an unimpaired whole. De Leon writes in the essay In Focus: Philippine Arts in Context: "The Filipinos' intuitive, holistic, and multisensory approach to life militates against fragmenting experience into separate levels or compartments. Indeed activities, objects, and the arts tend to be multifunctional." Manansala temporarily veers away from his trademark Cubism to not disintegrate the subjects' figures. This deliberate abandonment makes this piece teeming with vitality and dynamism. The subjects' sensuous form and their rich, vivid color that evokes the natural world breathes life and animation into the still life. "Filipino art turns to various techniques for presenting many sides or views of the object precisely for the purpose of preserving its wholeness and articulating its nature. The omniscient perspective of communal art reveals a keen interest in depicting the object as we know it rather than as we see it. As a rule, the broadest sides are tilted towards us for greatest recognizability of the object," writes De Leon in the same essay. Manansala's still life alludes to this kind of cohesion that Filipinos are culturally assimilated to. He moves towards the integration of different figures, symbolizing the Filipinos' collective and holistic approach to living; that our collective identity as a nation is best expressed through our diversity. With its overflowing delectability, Manansala's kitchen still life scene not only offers a palatable and visual feast but also a sense of affiliation and belongingness. (A.M.)