Vendor
signed and dated 1983 (lower right)
oil on canvas
35" x 36" (89 cm x 91 cm)

León Gallery wishes to thank Mr. Marcel Antonio forconfirming the authenticity of this lot




Angelito Antonio’s nascent cubism has often been compared to National Artist Vicente Manansala. The comparison is not without its basis – Manansala was Antonio’s composition professor at the University of Santo Tomas and both artists found themselves drawn to the folk genre, often depicting vendors, cockfighters, and women in their cubist style. But while Manansala’s cubist figures never lost their figurative qualities, Antonio’s distortions, though still figurative, are far more aggressive. He experiments with vibrant – almost neon bright – colors, delineating the figures with sharp abrupt color changes to create a vivid figuration of the Filipino culture. Antonio’s 1983 Vendor is the artist’s rendition of the common Filipino theme. In shades of aggressive reds and vibrant oranges, his titular vendor is sharp and angular with the fruits she sells drawn on the background in a haphazard, almost fantastical manner. Vendors have been a quintessential theme within Philippine history. Artists throughout the generations have put their own spin on the eternal and everlasting idea of vendors. Antonio's glaringly bright rendition all but forces the viewer's eyes on them, calling to attention those we so often neglect. As perpetual as the theme of vendors is to art, so are the vendors. Truly among the unsung heroes of Philippine society, Antonio (along with other artists) highlights the vendors’ indispensable position within society, reminding us of the continuing fight for genuine social and economic equality for all classes. (Hannah Valiente)