Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: Private Collection, USA

ABOUT THE WORK

Fernando Amorsolo’s affinity for the idyllic tradition of the countryside translates to a sweet nostalgia for the rural life of his childhood years in the humble town of Daet, Camarines Sur, where the everyday living of the townsfolk depended on the blessings of agriculture. Seven months after he was born in Paco, Manila, the Amorsolo family moved to the rural environs of Daet. The young Amorsolo spent the first thirteen years of his life playing by the seemingly boundless rice fields and the vast abaca plantations. Even when Amorsolo had already left the province in the late 1900s to pursue his artistic passion, he still frequented the countryside and sketched its scenic pastoral living. This excursion would continue until the twilight of his career. For this specific reason, Amorsolo became acquainted with the numerous practices and customs in agricultural affairs. The greatest colorist of the 20th century, Henri Matisse, wrote that “An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.” This belief gives pertinence to Amorsolo’s quintessential subject of “Planting Rice” and its variations. In Amorsolo: Love and Passion (Volume II: Landscapes and Other Works), Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo detailed the setting where her father would usually paint this subject. She wrote: “Most of his agricultural subjects, especially planting rice and related works, were mostly done in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, though there are compositions depicting Mount Arayat and Mayon Volcano. So, he also went to Pampanga and Legazpi in Albay… Actually, these places are where vast lands are meant for planting rice.” According to Amorsolo-Lazo, her father’s rice cycle paintings depict “a familiar Philippine rural scene of farmers in the field and a composed picturesque panorama of hills and clear skies, leafy mango trees, and towering bamboo groves.” As with other variations of Planting Rice, this piece depicts blissful peasants in their brightly-colored rural clothes and straw hats. A clear and sunlit landscape provides the setting of their collective laboring. The composition is then made complete by the mountainous terrain with its thriving, green flora. Amorsolo exhibits his mastery of capturing natural light, as seen in the detailed reflection of the farmers on the watery fields. Amorsolo was always committed to an idea of Filipino national character as rooted in rural communities and the cycles of village life. This viewpoint perfectly fits Amorsolo’s Planting Rice, where the maestro fosters and advances our agricultural roots as the foundation of our shared identity. Moreover, the theme was also where the artist found oneness with his beloved country, bringing to light a genuine connection between Amorsolo and his motherland. In its fullness, Amorsolo’s Planting Rice epitomizes his prowess in capturing harmony and beauty in a single composition. This perhaps explains its legacy as a permanent fixture in Philippine art.