How Rivals for Manansala’s Works Became His True Champions—While Becoming Friends Along The Way

One of our most prominent national artists, the late Vicente Silva Manansala (1910-1981), has made his mark on the art world with his signature transparent cubist style of painting. Inspired by the works of Picasso and Cezanne, he added his sense of realism to his figures, and founded a group of Filipino Neo-Realists and was one of the Big Three in the local modernist movement.    

You might also know him better as “Mang Enteng,” as his friends fondly called him. And speaking of his friends, three of them shared their endearing story recently to State of the Art, the new show hosted by Iza Calzado focused on the Philippine art scene. Together, they form the Friends of Manansala Foundation, Inc. (FMF).

 

Cora Lopa, Mita Rufino and Maritess Pineda of Friends of Manansala, Inc. with State of The Art host Iza Calzado

 

Maritess Mendoza-Pineda, one of the foundation’s three pioneers, describes how it all started. “It was so funny because before we formed the group, we were sort of competitors,” she says of her fellow art collectors Cora Lopa and Mita Rufino. 

Every year, the three of them vied for one free painting that Manansala would give away to the first visitor on his birthday. The three ladies would then show up at his Binangonan home at exactly midnight to get that painting.  

At first, their individual yearly visits to the Manansala home were about collecting the latest piece from Mang Enteng. But this race for art soon turned into Sunday group hangouts, developing into a warm and strong friendship with the Manansala couple that lasted for several years.  

After Manansala’s death, his granddaughter Ronna Manansala joined the three ladies to form the Friends of Manansala Foundation, Inc. as the official proprietors of the artist’s work. They continue to celebrate his birthday by holding retrospective shows in the Metropolitan Museum or Ayala Museum every two years, and have published a book featuring prints of his paintings for students to appreciate. 

 

 

Because art is food for the soul. . National Artist Vicente Manansala’s 1958 painting, ‘Still Life with Fish’ evokes feelings of nostalgia, just as it brings back memories of the ‘Important Philippine Art’ auction in 2014, where it was sold as one of the highlights of ‘The Well-Appointed Life.’ . As a member of the Thirteen Moderns, Manansala was at the helm of the Philippine modernist art movement. His vanguard role continued well into the postwar period as one of the leading lights of Neo-Realism, developing a transparent cubist style, where the tones, shapes, and patterns of the subject are superimposed to entrancing effect. . By breaking the figures down into basic geometric shapes and using solid primary colors, Manansala encourages viewers to see not just the image of a meal on a table, but the interrelation between elements of color, line, and shape. Dark tones border the frame and contrast against the red fish and warm-colored tableware, adding volume to their forms. He also gifts viewers with another work, painted on the reverse - an orchestra! The seamless blend of bright colors is symbolic of symphonic music, just as it reinforces the harmony Manansala achieves with the mellifluous blending of different elements in his paintings. . If you have an important work of Philippine art, furniture, objets d’art including fine bone china and sterling silver, tribal and ethnographic art, rare books and maps, fine timepieces and jewelry, or rare automobiles that you are considering offering to ‘The Well-Appointed Life’ at The Peninsula Manila in September 2018, drop us a line by sending an email with images and other details to info@salcedoauctions.com or phone +632 659.4094 | 823.0956. . #art #artph #artist #painting #neorealism #cubism #masterpiece #manansala #auctions #artph #importantphilippineart #TWAL2018 #filipina #collectibles #fineart #salcedosays #thewellappointedlife

A post shared by Salcedo Auctions (@salcedoauctions) on Jul 2, 2018 at 4:23am PDT

 

 

 

Tres Marias by Vicente Manasala 1972 at Leon Gallery for auction tomorrow #vicentemanansala #manansala #leongallery #auction #artph

A post shared by Bernie Paras Gan (@bernieparasgan) on Mar 1, 2018 at 5:23pm PST

 

Sadly, they still encountered inauthentic pieces. In 2012, the group intercepted an auction offer for a copy of Manansala’s Birdman (1973) at Christie’s in Hong Kong. And in 2015, Lopa learned of offers for three fake sketches in just one month.     

Now, the foundation is more focused on documenting and cataloguing his works to help preserve his legacy. 

 

 

EXHIBITION ONGOING. Vicente Manansala’s #plantingrice #manansala @leongallerymakati #spectacularmidyearauction

A post shared by Jaime Ponce de Leon (@jaimepdeleon) on Jun 3, 2018 at 12:52am PDT

 

 

Philam Life series #mural #manansala #nationalmuseumofthephilippines #filipinopride

A post shared by Shan Basas Perry (@shan.abp) on May 22, 2018 at 7:16pm PDT

 

 

Museums are my go to places When I'm sad.. When I'm happy.. When I want to be alone and free.. When I want to get in touch with the deepest parts of my humanity ??????#philippines #vscophilippines #vscophile #vscocam #artph #vscoart #vscocam #vscophilippines #vscophile #manansala #cubism #vicentemanansala #nationalartist

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While many of his paintings now grace private collections, the public can continue to enjoy viewing his works at the Vicente Manansala Gallery at the Museum of Kapampangan Arts at the Holy Angel University in Angeles, Pampanga; the Singapore Art Museum; the Philippine Heart Center Medical Arts Building; the National Museum of Fine Arts; the Vicente Manansala Shrine in Binangonan, Rizal; the Lopez Memorial Museum; and the Cultural Center of The Philippines. There are Manansalas at the The Honolulu Museum of Art; and The Philippine Center in New York City as well.

You may also request to view the Private Manansala Collection of FMF, as owned by Pineda, Lopa, and Rufino, or request a viewing at Salcedo Private View (adjacent to Salcedo Auctions) Unit 105-B, G/F Three Salcedo Place, 121 Tordesillas Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City +632.659.4094.

 

 

 

Manansala. ?Hidalgo.?Luna.??We know their work. We've read their stories. ?This week on State of The Art with iza Calzado, we take a fresh look at their lives through the eyes of their legacy. Catch a new episode of State of the Art this Sunday at 11PM on the ANC-X block of ANC. (Channel 27 and 182 for HD)

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Catch State of the Art every Sunday at 11PM on the ANC-X block of ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel.