Boti! Garapa!
Ca.1946
signed (lower left)
oil on wood
15 1/4” x 10 1/2” (39 cm x 27 cm)

Provenance:
Private Collection, USA
Literature:
Galo B. Ocampo et al, Paintings of Anita Magsaysay, Manila Bureau of Printing, 1946, p.8

Exhibited:
Paintings of Anita Magsaysay, United States Information Library, Soriano Building Manila, February 23 to March 10, 1946

Leon Gallery wishes to thank Ms. Doris Magsaysay-Ho for confirming the authenticity of this lot

Anita Magsaysay Ho talks about her art education starting with her formative years: “I started painting at the age of nine under Irineo Miranda. He was my private tutor. I remember I used to copy the black and white illustrations in the Saturday evening post…”

“…I studied in the University of the Philippines under Fabian de la Rosa, the two Amorsolos, Fernando and Pablo, and then again under Irineo Miranda and Vicente (Rivera) y Mir….”

During the early 1940s, Magsaysay - Ho’s works showed the influence of Fernando Amorsolo both in their subject matter and their luminosity. The influence of her teacher Fernando Amorsolo was clearly visible, both in terms of the subject and brightness of the paintings. Gradually, her paintings evolved towards modernism as they moved towards cubist distortionand evolved stylized visual rhythms. She was included on a list of “Thirteen Moderns” compiled by artist Victor Edades, and was at one point known as the “female Amorsolo.”

With the country reeling from the ravages of World War II, and as the Commonwealth government under the Presidency of Sergio Osmeña took on the arduous task of rebuilding a scarred nation left in shambles, it too initiated an ambitious program for the cultural rehabilitation of the Philippines.

In the words of Capt. Salvador Lopez, Chief, Division of Cultural Relations, Office of Foreign Relations, the program was premised on the “renascent vigor of Philippine culture” and set out to reconstruct our war damaged cultural institutions: “to build anew or restore...to build better and more worthily than before”.

A joint undertaking of the Philippines and the United States through the auspices of the Philippine Foundation of America in New York, the legal entity tasked with fundraising for the effort, and the Philippine Committee on Cultural Rehabilitation, one of the initial projects that was borne out of this vision was an exhibition of paintings of Anita Magsaysay- Ho – 47 artworks in all — that was held at the United States Information Library in Intramuros on February 23, 1946 to March 10, 1946. First Lady Esperanza L. Osmeña served as Guest of Honor during the opening reception.

The impetus for the selection of Anita as the exhibiting artist was best elucidated by Galo B. Ocampo*, who at that time was the Chief of the Art Section, Division of Cultural Publicity, Office of the President:

The artworks that comprised this exhibition were produced after Anita’s stint at the Arts Students League in New York and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in the 1930s and just a year prior to her betrothal to Robert Ho in 1947. And as with her future output, Anita’s art was always in praise of Filipina women – she held them in deep admiration — and the quiet yet powerful ways they contribute to society. This work in oil on wood, Mother and Child, entitled Boti! Garapa!, bears this affection.