Seated Man
signed and dated 1982 (lower right)
pastel on paper
22 1/2" x 15 1/4" (57 cm x 38 cm)

Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mr. Alexander Richard Joya Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot




“The humble and the downtrodden” find themselves on the center stage of Jose Joya’s canvases. “They seem to me, to offer a broad range of stimulating forms [...] mirroring their true character,” he writes in his monograph Joya by Joya: Book of Drawings. This honest portrayal is evident in his 1982 Portrait of a Man. Clearly an image of a native Filipino man (as evidenced by the dark curly hair and the deep brown skin), Joya puts into the forefront the oft-forgotten Filipino natives. His mastery of line and form shows the sturdiness of the Filipino man who often worked on taxing physical labor as a means of livelihood. In Portrait of a Man, Joya not only localizes a common portraiture, he also calls to attention his dexterity in his craft with Rodolfo A. Salaveria saying, “If Joya had merely produced drawings, he could still count among the major artists of the country." (Hannah Valiente)