Old Man
signed and dated 1928 (lower right)
oil on canvas
12 1/4" x 15 1/2" (31 cm x 39 cm)

Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot
PROVENANCE: Private collection, Edward J. Nell



The Filipino Everyman Juan de la Cruz in the Eyes of AmorsoloBy the end of the 1920s, Fernando Amorsolo was perhaps one of the most famous (if not the most famous) Filipino artists of his time. Swiftly rising to fame as the 1910s reached their advent, his works have been quintessentially Filipino, touting his beloved lavanderas, rice farmers, and his ever-famous dalaga on his sunlit canvases. In the 1920s, a decade brimming with nostalgia as the country faced rapid social, political, and economic changes, Amorsolo’s unabashed and unbridled longing for the past resonated with the Filipinos even today. Amorsolo was an artist "on the crest of national nostalgia for the Filipino pastoral lifestyle” as critic Alfredo Roces writes, and his 1928 Old Man overflows with just that. Amidst the brisk modernization that the Americans brought with them as they set their colonial roots in the country, Old Man chose to revert its attention to the common masses. In particular, it zooms in on the elderly man on the field, a close-up of his face as he rests in the shade with a salakot hat on his head. This wide-brimmed native hat had been synonymous with farmers as they often used it as adequate protection under the sweltering Philippine sun. Amorsolo’s Old Man brings to the forefront the common Filipino and the hardships they face in the fields. The stifling heat of the afternoons meant they had to get up even before the sun broke the horizon in the east; the constant barrage of storms meant a moment’s delay could spell bankruptcy for the season. Indeed, as one childhood rhyme sings: “Magtanim ay hindi biro.” And yet despite these tribulations, the work itself retains a tinge of optimism. “I do not intend to bring out any of those thoughts,” Amorsolo said in a 1967 interview when asked about the rapidly deteriorating state of the countryside. “I do not want to paint anything that would bring out the ugly and the painful.” Herein lies the beauty of Amorsolo’s work. Through this piece, which was situated right in Amorsolo’s Golden Period of the 1920s to the 1940s, the artist portrays the Filipino everyman washed with unrestrained nostalgia despite the adversities. His romanticism is at its peak and with it comes his optimism. Amorsolo does not shy away from the horrors of the world but his conscious decision to portray the brighter things in life is grounded not in naivete but in hope. He continued to portray a peaceful pastoral society with the loyalty of a besotted man and in his eyes, as proven by the lot at hand, the Filipino everyman is rooted in grit, perseverance, and resilience, characteristics Amorsolo holds in the highest esteem. (Hannah Valiente)