Romeo Tabuena (1921 - 2015)
Untitled (Still Life)
signed and dated Mexico 1958 (lower left)
oil on panel
23" x 44 3/4" (58 cm x 113 cm)







Self-confessed to be highly influenced by Cubism and Chinese vertical paintings, the majority of Romeo Tabuena’s works were acrylics, oils, and watercolors that featured a combination of Filipino and Mexican cultural themes, such as traditional housing, working people, and native plants. His cross-cultural amalgamation of different styles and genres resulted from his experiences in Mexico. It was there where Tabuena learned about the potential of combining different approaches to create something entirely new—given that modernist Mexican art was, much like Filipino art, a synthesis of European influences and indigenous practices. Thus is often classified as belonging to the postwar Neo-Realists movement, with his then fresh approach to form sometimes compared to Chinese calligraphic brushstrokes. Everything in his canvas, from his minimalist depiction of farmers to his bare treatment of rural architecture, seemingly only utilizes the essentials in order to put forward an undoubtedly singular experience. His ability to induce emotion with his ambient atmospheric renditions solidifies Romeo Tabuena as an artist whose ability to capture both a feeling and a moment truly unparalleled. (J.D.)