Lot description
Arturo Luz (b. 1926) Trio Performers acrylic on canvas 38” x 61 1/2” (95 cm x 156 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 A self-described “semi-representational and semiabstract” artist, Arturo Luz first underwent training in the arts under the guidance of Pedro Amorsolo then at the University of Santo Tomas and other prestigious academies in New York and Paris. Most of the highly acclaimed masterpieces of Luz are modest and superfluous in nature, echoing the modernist principles of adroitness, refinement, and control. Furthermore, these works have been described as a reflection of a zenith for Modernism in the Asian context. Since the 1960s, Luz has been constantly fascinated with acrobats, bicycles, and musical instruments. His depictions of these subject matters create an impression of an inconspicuous conversation between movement and melody. In Trio Performers, Luz employs a conscientious shorthand that he has developed in his particular geometric language. Purely geometric in form, this work is void of any complexity in style coalesced with a minimalist approach. Straight lines and circular shapes are intentionally emphasized and a black backdrop is employed to highlight the linear characteristic of his figures. In the July 1958 issue of Mobilways, Luz was described as “a painter’s painter, his craft is craft in the fullest sense of the world: controlled, astringent, deliberate, and completely devoid of pyrotechnics or glamour.”
