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PROPERTY FROM THE DON VICENTE “TIKING” H. LOPEZ, JR. COLLECTION Pieta signed and dated 1970 (lower right) oil on canvas 22" x 29" (56 cm x 74 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist A deeply spiritual and devout person, Don Tiking Lopez—who actively participated in the spiritual retreats and other ministerial activities of the Cursillo Foundation of the Philippines and later became a Eucharistic minister at Ermita's Nuestra Senora de Guia Parish—found solace in the moving image of Christ's passion and death, a reminder of his commitment to his vocation as a servant of the Lord. Being a devout Catholic, Don Tiking acquired several masterpieces from Manansala, whose religious works convey both the sacred and the profane. Among the Manansala opuses Don Tiking acquired was this poignant interpretation of the Pieta, depicting Mary sorrowfully cradling the dead body of her son, Jesus. A June 26, 1971 article from The Manila Bulletin described Don Tiking as "one of the country's avid art collectors." "He has recently converted his hacienda in San Carlos City into a haven for artists who devote themselves to perfecting techniques," the article noted. "Lopez today boasts of one of the biggest collections of Filipino paintings in the country today. His office at the Elena Apartments in Ermita has become converted into an art gallery." Seasoned writer and journalist Jullie Yap Daza once wrote in her The Times Journal column In search of a voice, "Unlike many of his contemporaries who collect for speculation's sake, Tiking loves his collection to the point of being thoroughly emotional about every single piece." Daza continued, "Nearly every artist of note enjoys the honor of being hung on the walls of the penthouse of Elena Apartments, which he owns." Manansala's Pieta was among those works once proudly displayed in Don Tiking’s own collector's haven. Manansala created Pieta at a time of his sweet, overwhelming success. In the same year as this work, he was conferred the Araw ng Maynila Award. Seven years prior, in 1963, Manansala was awarded the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, the prestigious precursor to the National Artist Award. But more than this string of continuous success, Pieta shows the maturation of Manansala's Transparent Cubism, with his smooth, delicate brush strokes showing refinement and the meticulous ability to render transparent layers of superimposed planes, thereby retaining their sheer realism and heightened emotional resonance while imbuing a sense of humanization. Manansala's journey to Transparent Cubism was an arduous two-decade-long process. He first laid its foundations during his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Banff, Canada in 1949 and his nine-month Parisian sojourn of 1950-51, during which he became the first Filipino to be awarded a scholarship by the French government to the famed École des Beaux-Arts of the University of Paris. There, Manansala was mentored by the French cubist Fernand Léger, a close contemporary of the pioneers of Cubism Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, two of Manansala's foremost luminaries. Agnes Duval, in her article "Manansala" in the April 1968 issue of Solidarity: Current Affairs, Ideas, and the Arts magazine, writes of Manansala's particular catalyst for the birth of his Transparent Cubism. "Window shopping one day [in Paris], he [Manansala] noted the interplay of reflected images on the plate-glass and the objects inside the window displays." From there, Manansala began forging his own path and embarked on carving his legacy. Pieta also encapsulates Manansala's Catholic faith. In his landmark book Conversations on Philippine Art, Cid Reyes said to Manansala: "Isa pa hong lagi ninyong ipinipinta e yung Kristo." To which Manansala answers, "Oo. Taon-taon yan, gumagawa ako ng isang Kristo.” The artist adds that it has become a kind of devotion, a religious vow. In Rod. Paras-Perez's book Manansala, the maestro revealed: "I used to go to Mass every day at the San Francisco Church. At 14, I wanted to become a priest." On that account, Manansala imbues his paintings of the suffering Christ not only with a solemn, reverential atmosphere but also with a profound understanding of his human nature, the Son of God incarnate. In his language of Transparent Cubism, Manansala never fragmented the subject; he remained faithful to its corporeality. Hence, Pieta evokes solemnity and humanity at once; a hallowed reminder of God's humble partaking in humanity's sins and suffering. (Adrian Maranan)