NENA SAGUIL, “ La Crepusle de Dieux” [ Twilight of the Gods]

NENA SAGUIL, “ La Crepusle de Dieux” [ Twilight of the Gods]

Oil on canvas, 57ins x 37ins.

[The photograph of the painting has been cropped as the principles did not want it displayed in its entirety, it is available for viewing at Galeria de las Islas.]

 This wonderful painting by Nena Saguil is clearly one of her signature paintings and has never been on exhibition before in the Philippines..

The simplicity of this magnificent painting is its strongest asset. The cluster of Islands on the ocean, with the setting sun behind them and the risen moon in the foreground, so set the tenor of the painting.

Nena had built her artistic career as an ex-pat Filipina artist in Paris and I feel that this painting is so symbolic of that life she lived there, even the title, “ The Twilight of the Gods” sends out a certain but subdued message.

The expatiate artist will always be in the French society but separate from, always the ex-pat is pulled in two directions and as with all loves, time apart does build a romantic view of the past, coloring it brightly as imagined memories take over from real memories.

Within this painting we get to find a moment, caught in time like an old fashioned snap shot photograph of her Parisian life verses her Philippines homeland.

This piece was painted in Paris, and within this painting I see the longing of the Filipino heart for certainty, direction and acceptance.

My vision of this painting sees these islands representing her homeland, far away, still a magical place set in a golden sea and the tropical Sun setting slowly behind the islands, as if setting on her ever returning home to her beloved Philippines.

I see the moon so large and majestic rising out of the golden ocean, so symbolic of her new life in Europe and her increasing fame as her art career now dominates her world. The blue of the moon ever increasing in size as her artistic career grows and grows, the pink sky slowly pushing away the tropical colors of the Philippines. 

Her career had her on a different journey now where the colors of the tropics had changed into the subtle cooler colors of her Parisian lifestyle. 

To me this is a very happy and serene painting, even though the title would suggest a closing of times, being twilight.

The Gods are her two loves, the Philippines, the Islands and the Sun and Paris the Moon and her art career and yet it is a twilight time. The painting speaks of a happy remembered past, an artistic career chosen in a foreign land and yet something is lost?

Nena's success was in Paris, she had a loyal following of collectors there and fans that stretched all the way back to the Philippines.

This painting “La Crepusle De Dieux” is such a confident work by mature artist at the height of her genius, it is a signature piece.

As I said earlier the simplicity of this painting shows the great strength of a confident painter but the story it tells is of a complicated life caught between the life of Paris and the ever present call of the Philippines.

I find it one of those paintings that the more you study it, the more it gives back to you.

Nena Saguil was a Filipina painter, she was a beautiful, intelligent, courageous woman painter who bravely paved a path for all Filipino ex-pat artists to follow.

I commend this truly wonderful painting to you, full of life and vitality, yet within its joyfulness is the subtle feeling of a longing for home, as only an ex-pat would understand.

Nena was very much part of the Parisian culture that she had embraced, but a tiny piece of her heart still longed for her beloved homeland.

Nena Saguil, 1924 – 1994.

Written by, 

Mark E Shellshear.

Art consultant.