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Lot Essay
It has always been commented that as a gentle and calm person, Jose Joya displayed an astonishing amount of energy in his works. The artist has also been long recognised as one of the leading abstract painter of the Philippines in the 60s.
Joya played an important role in the Philippine art scene. He was part of the 'new wave' of modern artists who exhibited at the important Philippine Art Gallery (PAG), and a member of the 'Saturday Group' collective. In 1962, he became the president of the Art Association of the Philippines, and with Napoleon Abueva, was selected to represent the Philippines at the Venice Biennale. He received grants from the John D. Rockefeller III Trust and the Ford Foundation to study at the Pratt Institute in New York in the late 1960s. Between 1970 to 1978, Joya became the Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines, and in 1985, the Fernando Amorsolo Professorial Chair.
Within the late 1960s to early 70s, Joya's works underwent a visual shift - from heavy impasto and dynamic, occasionally impatient energy, his abstract renditions became softer, more fluid and meditative. His themes were often of landscape s, yet the depicted shapes were impressionistic, rounded, ephemeral, and reminiscent of floating continents and plateaus; rather than realistic representations of particular scenes.
Painted in 1966, Landscape was created at the height of Jose Joya's career, amidst some of his most triumphant accomplishments. Characteristic of Joya's work in the 60s, this well-balanced composition bears textural impasto and gestural black calligraphic lines, contrasted against the fluid tones of blue with shades of green flecked with orange and brown. The abstract forms which
make up the overall pictorial plane are reminiscent and typical of his deconstructed landscape s. The prismatic and weightless beauty of Landscape evokes a lush homage to nature, while affirming Joya's seamless integration of the modernist aesthetic with an abiding Eastern sensibility
"When an idea evolves, particularly an intense idea, I try to record the idea before it flees. The pictures are done spontaneously - the creative impulse of the moment is strapped to the canvas before it changes
its nature."
Jose Joya, Contemporary Philippine Art: From the
Fifties to the Seventies, Vera-Reyes Inc., Manila,
1972
Joya played an important role in the Philippine art scene. He was part of the 'new wave' of modern artists who exhibited at the important Philippine Art Gallery (PAG), and a member of the 'Saturday Group' collective. In 1962, he became the president of the Art Association of the Philippines, and with Napoleon Abueva, was selected to represent the Philippines at the Venice Biennale. He received grants from the John D. Rockefeller III Trust and the Ford Foundation to study at the Pratt Institute in New York in the late 1960s. Between 1970 to 1978, Joya became the Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines, and in 1985, the Fernando Amorsolo Professorial Chair.
Within the late 1960s to early 70s, Joya's works underwent a visual shift - from heavy impasto and dynamic, occasionally impatient energy, his abstract renditions became softer, more fluid and meditative. His themes were often of landscape s, yet the depicted shapes were impressionistic, rounded, ephemeral, and reminiscent of floating continents and plateaus; rather than realistic representations of particular scenes.
Painted in 1966, Landscape was created at the height of Jose Joya's career, amidst some of his most triumphant accomplishments. Characteristic of Joya's work in the 60s, this well-balanced composition bears textural impasto and gestural black calligraphic lines, contrasted against the fluid tones of blue with shades of green flecked with orange and brown. The abstract forms which
make up the overall pictorial plane are reminiscent and typical of his deconstructed landscape s. The prismatic and weightless beauty of Landscape evokes a lush homage to nature, while affirming Joya's seamless integration of the modernist aesthetic with an abiding Eastern sensibility
"When an idea evolves, particularly an intense idea, I try to record the idea before it flees. The pictures are done spontaneously - the creative impulse of the moment is strapped to the canvas before it changes
its nature."
Jose Joya, Contemporary Philippine Art: From the
Fifties to the Seventies, Vera-Reyes Inc., Manila,
1972