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Lot Essay
For a brief period, Anita was labeled the 'Female Amorsolo' as both shared the same dedication for women and genre subjects. The affiliation however, is not more than this sharing of the common subjects. Anita essentially works in a different epoch and her works are influenced by the modernist movements which was at its most fervent in the 1950s. It was during the 1950s when various Western 'isms' were introduced to the Filipino artists in quick succession. It was an exciting period in the Philippines when young artists were burning with the desire to revolutionise and turned their back on accepted aesthetics.
Anita bravely re-defined the images of women in her works. It was observed that "...subjects included women harvesting fruit, gathering shaves of grain, or selling fish in the market, the artist emphasized movement and bustling interaction by means of bold, vigorous brushstrokes and strong tonal contrasts of light and dark. Brisk decisive lines become a marked tendency to simplify forms into basic geometric shapes; triangles for the bananas and rectangle for the skirts, thereby creating a lively counterpoint of sharp, angular forms. ...here, the women briefly exchanging words and glances shifts positions and carry out the stages of a process within a closed space that is entirely occupied by their figures, with some cropping along the four sides." (Alice G. Guillermo, 'A Woman's Journey to Selfhood in Art', Anita Magsaysay-Ho: A Retrospective, Manila, 1989, p. 18).
The present work painted in 1954, was infused with a concentrated energy that reinforced the circular movement of the positions. The women are of generalised shapes and forms instead of unique individuals. They are a representational group with stylised features which are devoid of sweetness and charm that are synonymous of Amorsolo's celebrated beauties.
Anita bravely re-defined the images of women in her works. It was observed that "...subjects included women harvesting fruit, gathering shaves of grain, or selling fish in the market, the artist emphasized movement and bustling interaction by means of bold, vigorous brushstrokes and strong tonal contrasts of light and dark. Brisk decisive lines become a marked tendency to simplify forms into basic geometric shapes; triangles for the bananas and rectangle for the skirts, thereby creating a lively counterpoint of sharp, angular forms. ...here, the women briefly exchanging words and glances shifts positions and carry out the stages of a process within a closed space that is entirely occupied by their figures, with some cropping along the four sides." (Alice G. Guillermo, 'A Woman's Journey to Selfhood in Art', Anita Magsaysay-Ho: A Retrospective, Manila, 1989, p. 18).
The present work painted in 1954, was infused with a concentrated energy that reinforced the circular movement of the positions. The women are of generalised shapes and forms instead of unique individuals. They are a representational group with stylised features which are devoid of sweetness and charm that are synonymous of Amorsolo's celebrated beauties.