ANGEL BOTELLO (SPANISH / PUERTO RICAN, 1913-1986) ORIGINAL ABSTRACT PORTRAIT OF MOTHER AND CHILD, oil on board, signed lower right, old inscription to backing board verso "Property of J. T. Rodale / TRENCH ARTIST / Puerto Rico". Housed in likely original carved wooden frame. Mid 20th century. 10 1/2" x 8 1/2" sight, 19" x 17" OA.
Very good overall visual condition with minor surface abrasions. Frame with minor wear.
Provenance: From the Joe Cesarini estate collection, Ridgely, MD.
Catalogue Note: Born in Spain, Angel Botello (1913-1986) was enrolled at the San Fernando Academy in Madrid when civil war erupted in the country. After serving with the Republican forces during the fighting, Botello and his family were forced to flee, eventually settling in the Dominican Republic and neighboring Haiti. It was here in the tropics that Botello found a new home, developing his reputation and new-found success as the "Caribbean Gaugin". In Haiti, he also gained recognition as a wood carver, a skill clearly in evidence with the likely original frame adorning the presently offered lot. Botello moved to Puerto Rico in 1953, where he and his wife would remain. The present work, completely fresh to the market, represents the artist's unique, and powerful, style.
This work by Angel Botello was formerly in the collection of Jerome Irving Rodale (1898-1971), a publisher, editor, author, playwright, and founder of Rodale, Inc. Born in Manhattan where his parents were grocers, Jerome Rodale and his brother, Joseph, founded Rodale Manufacturing in the 1920's, an enterprise that specialized in making electrical equipment. During the Depresson, the brothers moved Rodale Manufacturing to Emmaus, Pennsylvania, where Jerome also started a publishing company, Rodale Press. An innovative company that published books and magazines on such subjects as organic farming and healthy lifetsyles, Rodale oversaw the publication of forward-looking periodicals such as "Organic Farming" in the 1940's and "Prevention" in the 1950's, the latter, a magazine devoted to promoting healthy lifetsyles in an effort to prevent disease. Also in Pennsylvania, and partly inspired by the ideas of Albert Howard, Jerome established the Rodale Organic Gardening Experimental Farm, one of the first wholly organic agricultural enterprises of the 20th century that is today recognized as a pioneering organization.

Very good overall visual condition with minor surface abrasions. Frame with minor wear.