The Boxer
signed and dated 1975 (lower right)
oil on canvas
30" x 30" (76 cm x 76 cm)


Accompanied by a certificate issued by Ms. GisellaOlmedo Araneta confirming the authenticity of this lot
PROVENANCELeón Gallery, The Magnificent September Auction 2014,Makati City, 13 September 2014, Lot 102

LITERATUREThe Art and Times of the Seventies, by Corazon S. Alvina, Augusto MRGonzalez III, Jaime C. Laya, Lisa Guerrero Nakpil, Marian Pastor Reyes;Januarius Holdings, Inc. 2020. Page 93 with a Full Color Illustration onpage 94.
Through his expressionistic figurative and surreal paintings, Onib Olmedo has created a career that has influenced the modern art scene with his distinctive style. One distinct aspect that Olmedo highlights from the many subject matters of his artworks is the theme of celebrating the human spirit as it triumphs facing pain and suffering. This piece entitled; “The Boxer” exemplifies Olmedo’s style of synthesizing these elements of expressionism and surrealism into his paintings. The boxer himself is depicted to be in the corner getting ready for another round but at the same time the way Olmedo presents him is that he looks to be tired, as if the boxer has little fight in him after several boxing rounds and is ready to give up. At the same, his coach is by his side holding the boxer’s head high and giving him water, as if despite the boxer’s state the coach is supporting him and lifting him up. The boxer himself is contrasted in clearer detail and brighter lighting compared to the rest of the background and his surroundings as Olmedo is bringing more focus into the detailed desperation and fatigued state of the boxer. It is also interesting how the coach may be blurred into the background, but his hands are as clear and well lit as the detail of the boxer, as if there is a light emanating from the boxer and it is almost a supernatural and divine representation. The surrealist and expressionistic coloring of the scene and how it is depicted further emphasizes the feeling of not only the coach's belief but the hope and the uplifting of the fighting spirit of the boxer. Paintings such as this continue to show Olmedo’s signature style of synthesizing these surrealist and expressionistic elements with the overall theme of the human spirit in triumph over pain and despair.