Lot description
A Family of Farmers Under a Mango Tree signed and dated 1951 (lower right) oil on canvas 27" x 37" (69 cm x 94 cm) Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE Acquired from the Artist by “the employees and laborers of the Hawaiian Philippine Company” to be presented to Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Mc Master” on September 1951, as evidenced in a brass plaque attached to the painting. Fernando Amorsolo would make paintings of the Philippines as a sun-dappled paradise famous throughout the country — and because of its appeal to the foreigners who worked or visited, just as renowned in the rest of the world. This particular work from the 1950s is, however, particularly unique, featuring a pair of busy mothers and their children. Both women partake of favorite Amorsolo themes, from “Cooking the Noonday Meal”, which the woman briskly attends to in the foreground, stirring an earthenware pot over an open fire. There is a basket of sweet fruit and vegetable ingredients beside her. Her tiny tot, her head covered to shield her from the summer heat, is captured listening to what can only be her grandfather — another familiar character from Amorsolo’s canon, who his family has confided was one of their manservants. A hen and a rooster represent the Filipino family in microcosm. It is also a nod to the favorite pastime of grandfather, who in other Amorsolo paintings is depicted with a fighting bird. A second woman, carrying a baby not quite ready to walk, stands in the shade of the spreading branches of the classic Amorsolo mango tree. In the distance, able-bodied men work the fields to harvest the precious grain. A trusty carabao hauls a cart. The painting is outlined with a blue mountain, one of the dozens that dot the territory of Negros Occidental. This particular artwork was presented to Mr. and Mrs. J.W. McMaster of the Hawaiian-Philippine Company, the oldest surviving sugar mill in the country and located in the town of Silay in that province.
