Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972)
Lady in Red (Portrait of Mable Reese(McGowen) Robertson)
signed and dated 1937 (lower right)
oil on canvas
30" x 27 1/2" (76 cm x 70 cm)


Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. SylviaAmorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot
PROVENANCECommissioned and acquired directly from the artist by Col. Daniel S.Roberston of the U.S. Cavalry, when he was stationed at Fort McKinley,Taguig; as evidenced by an official receipt from the artist's studiosigned by Fernando C. Amorsolo, 2132 Azcarraga Street, Manila on 1Nov. 1937; made out to Col. Robertson in the amount of P110 for the‘portrait of Mrs. Robertson painted in oil’; from thence by descent tohis daughter Del Robertson Dowling of Berkeley, California; then as agift to her first cousin Elizabeth Darphin Callender.



Because Amorsolo was a portraitist by inclination and training, taking after Fabian de la Rosa,” wrote Alfredo R. Roces in his comprehensive study entitled Maestro — Amorsolo, “some of his best works are portraits.” He would continue, “The art of portraiture is most vulnerable to the pressures of the paying client, and therefore open to compromise and the imposition of the patron’s taste in place of the artist’s vision.” Amorsolo would once remark knowingly, “There are those who wish to appear better on canvas than in real life.” There is no such quandary with this striking portrait which immediately captures not just the sitter’s prettily pleasant face but in one fell swoop, her vivacious personality. The coral-colored, rather form-fitting jersey dress is accentuated by a black stole that falls just off her milky-white shoulders accented even further by geometric cut-outs. A glittering ring is the perfect but subtle accent to her otherwise bare hands. Fernando Amorsolo would have the country’s longest reign as the king of Philippine painting; and to have a portrait made by him was a prestigious and precious memento of the graceful Manila life. (Lisa Guerrero Nakpil)