Lot description
Arturo Luz (b. 1926) Red Performance signed (lower right) dated 2007 (verso) acrylic on canvas 38” x 64” (97 cm x 163 cm) Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Ms. Luisa Luz-Lansigan confirming the authenticity of this lot Arturo Luz’s iconic cast of characters—from circus folk, horn players, and fiddlers to unicyclists—inhabit a stark world, pared down to its simplest metaphors, animated only now and then, by sculptural blocks of color. His acrobats, musical instruments, and bicycles have been objects of fascination since the 1960s, perhaps because they demonstrate most of the power of the unseen, creating an invisible dialogue with sound and motion. Schooled first by Pedro Amorsolo and then at the University of Santo Tomas and other academies in New York and Paris, Luz has described himself as semi-representational and semi-abstract. Trio performing contains the rigorous shorthand that Luz has developed in his particular geometric language. Luz’s signature non-cluttered approach to abstraction, linear simplicity, and geometric technique is revealed. Playfulness and fun are hinted at, qualities often noted on his abstractions. Luz’s preference for the stark, elemental, and simple reflects in his works, in effect making him a pioneer of Philippine minimalism.
