Salcedo Auctions’ gavel&block embraces summer with a masterful mix of almost five hundred classic and contemporary pieces at its quarterly ‘art+design’ online auction.
The premise of this quarter’s gavel&block ‘art+design’ auction is quite simple and sensible enough: “big, bold, blue”— big pieces and bold colors for the blue summer skies; art that complements the season of celebrations, fiestas, blooms, and nature’s bounty.
It’s a festive time that is best accentuated by the works of National Artists and modern masters that showcase vibrant colors to evoke the richness and warmth of Filipino culture. (Or, quite frankly, how hot summers can be in this country.)
Take Ang Kiukok’s “Untitled (Virgin and Child),” for instance (shown above). The seriagraph, with its vivid orange and yellow hues accented with bold blacks and cool blues, reminds me of a dancing flame, what with the striking curves and radiating crown. J. Elizalde Navarro’s “Dark Room” is like a reimagined thermal scan, if you will.
“Dark Room”
Signed (upper right) and undated
Oil on canvas
91 x 91 cm (36 x 36 in)
Untitled (Chicken Vendor)
1998
Serigraph 27/100
35 x 45.7 cm (13 3/4 x 18 in)
Pangtawid Buhay
Signed and dated ‘1981’ (lower right)
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 50 cm (24 x 20 in)
Mother and Child
Signed and dated ’31.III.1997′ (1997, lower right)
Oil on canvas
19.4 x 29.5 cm (9 x 12 in)
Fruit Vendor (Violet)
1995
Serigraph 10/50
48 x 37 cm (19 x 14.75 in)
Anita Magsaysay-Ho’s “Untitled (Chicken Vendor),” Manuel Baldemor’s “Pangtawid Buhay,” and Mauro Malang Santos’ “Fruit Vendor (Violet)” and “Mother and Child,” lean more toward images that are refreshing, nostalgic, and reminiscent of summer days gone by. The fruits are a nice tropical touch, while the scenes of mother-and-child and countryside labor evoke a certain sense of wistfulness.
Then there’s something more on the nose and undeniably contemporary: Leeroy New’s “Flaming Chair.” It might as well represent any chair that we’re sitting on these days, what with the unbearable heat!
Flaming Chair
Mixed media sculpture
143 x 71 x 33 cm (56 1/2 x 28 x 13 in)
But if the sweltering conditions are making you long for a certain cool, calm, and collected energy, then take a 180-degree turn and immerse yourself in black and white, or even the cold aura of glass. Perhaps, an abstract Zobel, a stark Antonio, or an ashtray that takes the shape of frozen wind clad in crystal?
Orilla Gris, #221/460
Signed (lower left) and undated (c. 1980s)
Lithograph, 221/460
53 x 70 cm (21 x 27 1/2 in)
Sabungero
Signed and dated ’20’ (2020, lower left)
Oil on canvas
40 x 29.5 cm (12 x 16 in)
A ‘Gao’ trinket dish or ashtray
Crystal
10 x 5 cm (4 x 2 in)
Whatever it is you’re in the hunt for, this season’s gavel&block online auction welcomes everyone in looking to collect, decorate their spaces, or simply to acquire meaningful pieces that bring joy.
The gavel&block art+design: big, bold, blue online auction takes place on Saturday, 6 May 2023 at 11am. View the online catalogue and register here: bit.ly/GB_art-design-May2023
