The Tipster
signed and dated 1971 (lower right)
oil on canvas
30" x 32" (76cmx81cm)

Accompanied by a certificate issued by Ms. Gisella Olmedo-Araneta confirming the authenticity of this lot
PROVENANCEPrivate collection, Manila



1971is a momentous year for Onib Olmedo. He formally opened his artistic career with his first solo exhibition Singkong Suka at La Solidaridad Gallery. Even then, his works already bear the markings of his future works – his signature distortion is present, although miniature in scale, and the perspective moderately skewed. “Shocked and repulsed” were how Domini M. Torrevillas described Onib’s first gallery viewers, so used were they to the idyllic rural scenes that Onib’s emaciated figures shocked the viewers to their core. It would take a while for them to warm up to Onib’s works, adds Torrevillas, but once they did, his works have rightfully gone down the annals of Philippine art history.Onib’s penchant for the grotesque and the uncomfortable stems from his intimate knowledge of the masses. Prior to devoting his time to his art full-time, he worked at the San Lazaro race track, first as a racing steward and later as a judge. Here, he came face to face with hope and despair intermingling as winners rejoiced alongside losers. Humanity is found in the masses, he discovered, palpable as the hopeful and the desperate bet on their favorite racehorses.Even outside his work, Onib finds himself drawn towards the common folk. Aside from his neighborhood in Sampaloc, Onib roams the streets of Ermita and Malate, the intermingling of tourists and locals proving a never ending source of inspiration for the expressionist artist. The sprawl of Manila becomes his muse and her citizens immortalized in Onib’s canvases.This enduring interest for the masses is evident in his 1971 The Tipster. Depicting a crowd watching a race, the artist focuses on four figures with the foremost man holding a binocular with a lit cigarette in his mouth. Onib has enlarged the figures' faces, a taste of his later distortions notable even at the start. The large face draws attention to the figures' expressions with their disinterest, desperation, and hope notable and palpable.There is a proletarian sensibility in the worlds created by Onib. The 1970s Philippines is rife with political instability and The Tipster encapsulates the uncertainty the masses surely have felt. His contorted figures echo the unjust system with which the poor continue to get poorer. However, hope is not lost for Onib; amidst the suffering is a sense of resilience that continues to push his subjects forward. They trudge on, eyes pinned on the future when they are finally liberated from an oppressive status quo. (Hannah Valiente)