Musicians
signed and dated 1990 (lower right)
acrylic on canvas
29 3/4" x 41 1/2" (76 cm x 105 cm)
Accompanied by a certificate issued by Ms. Gisella Olmedo-Aranetaconfirming the authenticity of this lot
PROVENANCEAcquired directly from the artist by the present owner

LITERATURELaya, Jaime C., Mariano C. Lao, and Edilberto B. Bravo. HiddenTreasures, Simple Pleasures. Makati City: Bookhaven Inc., 2009.Full-color illustration and photo caption page 83.
Onib Olmedo's propensity for subject matters related to music can be attributed to his daughter, Bambi, who took up ballet classes. While Olmedo's works from the 1990s are lighter in ambiance than his earlier works that explicitly depicted human anguish, alienation, and desolation, they are nonetheless still imbued with powerful distortions that give credence to his stature as Philippine art's most prominent figurative expressionist painter. Olmedo's style of figurative expressionism has influenced several contemporary artists, notably Elmer Borlongan. Of Olmedo's influence on his art, Borlongan praises his luminary: "I admire his spontaneity and closeness to his subject matter. I love the freedom in his brushstrokes, without hewing to the correct proportion of human anatomy but capturing the soul of every figure." The 2000 book Kayumanggi: Biographies of Philippine Visual Artists writes: "While most of his works consist of faces of people, these are not portraits in the sense of physical likeness, but rather haunting soul pictures of humans warped and distorted by anguish and suffering, victims of social injustice, as well as of their own tortured psyches. [Olmedo] has described his art as imploding into an inner universe, where bodies glow from within, like phosphorescent creatures. [His] figures convey a sense of dehumanization and alienation." The subjects of Olmedo's works are usually inspired by the ordinary peoples of Sampaloc and Ermita, which includes musicians, workers, vendors, servers, and even prostitutes. This work titled Musicians belongs to a distinguished collector. The collector revealed that this was one of Olmedo's favorite paintings. In this piece, the artist depicts an ensemble of cello players in what seems like a symphony orchestra. Their faces are highly distorted and connote distress. Here, Olmedo captures the numerous struggles that a musician must endure. Personal and professional setbacks and existential crises have pervaded a musician's pursuits. These are issues that Olmedo compellingly captures in this painting. However, Olmedo's approach to figurative expressionism also imbibes a humanizing quality to his subjects, paying homage to the triumph of the human spirit in the midst of their misery, anguish, and hopelessness. The soothing and harmonious sound of an orchestra that is evoked in this piece is Olmedo's subtle reminder to the viewer that things will all eventually fall into their rightful place. (A.M.)