Mother and Child
signed and dated 1994 (lower right)
oil on canvas
48" x 16" (122 cm x 41 cm)
Accompanied by a certificate issued by West Galleryconfirming the authenticity of this lot



Art critics agree on a consensus that Malang's painterly charm comes from his "highly imaginative sense of color." The revered Arturo Luz once noted that Malang's "colors glow, running the spectrum from end to end." Each painting serves as "a visual feast, saturating the canvas and filling the senses, as though celebrating the very act of painting." These words were also echoed by Victorio Edades, referring to this notable attribute of Malang's style as "singing colors." In 1996—two short years after Malang produced this mother and child piece—art critic Rod. Paras Perez praised Malang's brushwork as "intimate; it caresses and lingers, each stroke carefully building up from the previous [one]." Malang was thoroughly enamored with his Filipino roots. As elaborated by art critic and painter Emilio Aguilar Cruz, "Malang's paintings are as unlike those of the traditional school represented by Amorsolo as a straight line is different from a scroll, yet they bear the stamp of that quality that Filipino art lovers mean when they say 'Filipino.'" As an artist who celebrated the Filipinos' way of living, Malang poured his native sensibility and affinity for his countrymen into his works. In the words of Arturo Luz, "it is a personal vision, not only of a gifted artist, but of an active participant and observer sensitive to the color, texture, and temper of the city he has learned to love and paint." (A.M.)