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Lot description
Painting # 1010-99 signed and dated 1999 (lower left) oil on canvas 37 1/2" x 51 3/4" (95 cm x 131 cm) PROVENANCE Galleria Duemila, Inc Private collection, Manila Multiple cultures and national identities crafted the works of Betsy Westendorp. A Dutch descendant born in Spain just years before a civil war broke out, Westendorp spent periods of time in the Philippines as she lived with her Filipino husband. As a result, her works, particularly the floral pieces, seem to melt and meld multiple inspirations that yield a magnificent, almost otherworldly effect. Her flower portraits land among her most iconic pieces. Consciously or not, Betsy followed the footsteps of her Dutch ancestors, who were the first to put flowers as the main character in their canvas in and of itself, as opposed to the supporting characters they were placed in at landscape works. Critic Elena Flores has noted her flower portrait, stating that despite its abundance in Spanish soil, flowers are “rarely represented” in Spanish painting. Her 1999 Painting # 1010-99 is among her list of works done after her husband’s death. She had moved permanently to the Philippines after her husband died in the late 1970s, and she was falling in love again with her adopted country. Perhaps it is a mix of grief and love, but her works after her husband’s death had become softer and more ephemeral. “My portraits have become softer since my husband Antonio Brias passing a decade ago,” Betsy told Manny Miñana in 1985 in Aravaca, Madrid. “Furrows, laugh lines and a suppleness characterize my subjects’ faces. There is calm and respite.” Indeed, Painting # 1010-99 is a fresh and imperishable representation of the flowers she so dearly loved. Unlike utilizing a cold, almost scientific approach, Betsy’s floral pieces have an air of dreaminess to them, as if they were less of a copy and more of a memory already on their way into oblivion. Though not necessarily an orquidea, Silvana Diaz’s critique of Betsy’s flowers fits Painting # 1010-99. Her flowers seem to be an echo of her – she, like her subject matters, is seemingly fragile. Yet, she blossoms. Her flowers occupy the canvas the same way Betsy’s personality, charm, and wit fill a room, a mirror reflecting her strength cloaked within a soft appearance. (Hannah Valiente)
