Lot Essay
The Manila-born Esteban Villanueva y Vinarao, like Félix Hidalgo (lots 18 and 19), trained under Agustín Sáez in Manila and at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. His work appears to be rare, with just a small group of portraits of Filipinos in the collection of the Prado, Madrid, dating to 1875 and 1878 when he was studying and living in Madrid.