Lot description
PROPERTY FROM THE SENATOR LETICIA RAMOS SHAHANI COLLECTION Rain Clouds signed and dated 1976 (lower right and verso) oil on canvas 24" x 30" (61 cm x 76 cm) Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mr. Alexander Richard Joya Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot Born in 1931, Jose Joya would begin the relentless upward trajectory that would define his artistic career as early as his college days in the University of the Philippines. He would win press attention in his early 20s and prizes from the Art Association of the Philippines. He would be featured as one of the youngest artists of the legendary Philippine Art Gallery and cut his teeth at several one-man shows there; apart from various international shows in the company of Fernando Zobel and Nena Saguil. He would be the first Filipino artist to receive a Rockefeller Foundation grant (now the Asian Cultural Council.) In the year that this was painted, Joya had just completed the monumental work, Pagdiriwang, for the Philippine International Convention Center. A work spanning 5 meters by 8 meters, it is widely regarded as the country’s largest abstract work of art. In it, one can sense the contrast of Rain Clouds’ brooding restraint. It is nonetheless a powerful work, animated by bold strokes that depict a dark sky illuminated by what appears to be lightning strikes. Joya would create a series of these black and white works into the late 1970s.
