Couple
signed and dated 1956 (lower right)
oil on canvas
22" x 18" (56 cm x 46 cm)
Accompanied by a certificate issued by Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi and Claude Tayag confirming the authenticity of this lot



Macario Vitalis was a France-based Filipino painter whose art was inspired by Cubism and Impressionism. He was born in a middle-class family at Lapog, Ilocos Sur in 1898. The young Vitalis left the country for the United States in 1917 where he attended an art school by day and worked as an elevator boy by night. In 1926, he departed and settled in France. There, Vitalis studied at the Academie de Montmartre and set up his studio in the Parisian suburb of Puteaux. In Paris, Vitalis met iconic modernists including Pablo Picasso, and created works that depict the ambiance of pre-war Parisian life. Later on, he resided in Brittany during the ‘50s where he did a series of Breton seascapes that featured Post-Impressionist color sensibility. Among the notable aspects in the stylistic evolution of Vitalis is the dynamic color palette, setting him apart from that of his contemporaries. In this 1956 oil on canvas piece, the artist’s concern is not of the genre but in the execution of the visual potential of a subject into a highly textured orchestration of colors and tones. Vitalis’ art also exudes a timeless quality and his compositions are always appealing to the eye. (P.I.R.)