Romeo Tabuena (1921 - 2015)
Candle Women
signed and dated 1951 (lower right)
oil on wood
24" x 12" (61 cm x 30 cm)

PROPERTY FORMERLY FROM THE DON J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

PROVENANCELeón Gallery, The Asian Cultural Council Auction 2016,Makati City, February 20, 2016, Lot 58
EXHIBITEDPhilippine Art Gallery, 1951
LITERATURE'Neo-Realists.' This Week, Manila Chronicle. November 18, 1951,page 15. Sepia-colored illustration top left.

Intuition rather than intellect continued to dictate the kind of paintings Tabuena was to do from 1951 onwards. Darkly rendered figures are also manifest in his other works in 1951, such as “Man with Rooster,” done in encaustic. The idiom that Tabuena subsequently chose to paint in as the 1950s passed, cubism, is a highly analytical approach, but emotion rather than reason continued to shape his artistic vision. Tabuena was quoted in 1975: “As an artist, I believe that the best way I can express myself in my work is to strive to paint universal things in a personal way. The things in art that are of universal value are those whose essence appeals to all mankind for all time. I aspire to communicate through my work the essence of life, the sentiment of people and the magnificent beauty of nature. These are the lasting truths I wish to exemplify in my art.”