Collectors choice.
I have written
articles in past posts about beginning the journey of becoming a
collector of fine art. I have talked about the need to be an educated
buyer and to always be cautious in what you purchase.
Being an educated
and informed collector is your best protection always.
I have been asked to
talk about the sculpture I wrote about in the last post. I have been
questioned as to my sincerity in my comments, so as I have now sold
the sculpture I will talk about the piece in question.
The name of the
sculpture was “ Bewitching Pose “ by Isabelo L. Tampinco signed
and dated 1908.
cast marble,
H:21” x L:8” x W:7”(53 cm x 20 cm x 18 cm)
I include the
article below that was on the internet as source material and it
speaks of the life of the sculptor Tampinco.
Tampinco: Bewitching
Pose
Isabelo L. Tampinco
(1850 - 1933)
Bewitching Pose
signed and dated
1908
marble
H:21” x L:8” x
W:7”(53 cm x 20 cm x 18 cm)
Estimate: P 200,000
Providence:
Acquired directly
from the artist’s grandaughter, Amparo Z. Tampinco
Lot 86 of the Leon
Gallery Auction on 7 February 2015.
Isabelo Tampinco
was a Filipino sculptor known for his woodcarvings for churches, most
notably the Church of San Ignacio in Intramuros: altar, the pillars,
the ceilings and the other intricate portions of the church; public
edifices; and homes. Specific examples of his work were polychrome
wood figures of saints and angels. Among his works were Manila
Cathedral’s famous facade, the high relief on Santo Domingo
church’s molave door, the main altar of the Laoag Cathedral, and
woodcarvings in San Agustin church. Out of a desire to create a
uniquely Filipino style, he incorporated native flora and fauna
designs in his sinuous openwork and Art Nouveau whiplash outlines
style of woodcarving. Among his native motifs were the banahaw, areca
palm, and bamboo. The said detail became known as “Tampinco
frames.”
A Chinese mestizo
and a direct descendant of Rajah Lakandula, he was born in Binondo,
Manila. He was the son of Tampinco y delos Reyes and Maria Justa de
Lacandola. He apprenticed in the carving shops of Binondo and Santa
Cruz districts and was able to start his career in his 20s. His works
dated as early as 1870. When Tampinco began his art, even while he
was trained in school with a classical foundation, there was a
revival of the gothic style in Europe. These styles became very
evident in his design of churches, such as that of the fallen San
Ignacio Church. At age 26, he was chosen as the representative of the
Philippines at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in the
United States. In 1878 Tampinco landed an important commission- the
undertaking of the historic Ayuntamiento which neded refurnishing.
Tampinco worked on the statues, lions, the
wooden crowns of
state chairs and additional ornamentation for Queen Mercedes’
catafalque.
Receiving the
“Diploma de Honor” given by the Royal Jury from the Exposicion
General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid, Spain in 1887, was said to
be his most important recognition. Other awards and distinctions that
Tampingco reaped were the Gold Medal at the Exposicion de Filipinas
in 1895, another Gold Medal was at the St Louis Exposition in 1904.
When the Spaniards
left and the American colonizers came, Tampinco enjoyed the newfound
freedom as he was able to complete majority of his nude sculptures.
Most of his works were either plaster of Paris or concrete. During
the American Period, Tampinco was to land a few more commissions,
including the interior decoration of the National Museum Building and
later the Malacanang Palace in 1926 when he was already past his
seventies. This female figure from 1908 reflects a lot of Tampinco’s
formal training.
At age 15, he
enrolled at the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura, Manila’s art academy,
and studied sculpture under Agustin Saez and Lorenzo Rocha. He was
hailed as one of the most outstanding sculptors of his time and was
admired by Jose Rizal , who was his classmate in a modeling class at
the Ateneo Municipal de Manila. He also had formal schooling at the
Escuela de Artes y Oficios under the tutelage of Agustin Saez and
Lorenzo Rocha. Escuela de Artes y Oficios was patterned after the
Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture which was established in 1648
by King Louis XIV of France. At this time (mid to turn of the 19h
century) realism in the Classico-Romantic style was highly favored -
an artistic style that was at the same time realistic, classical and
romantic- an idealized version of the physical reality imbued with a
delicate touch of emotion.
Tampinco’s style
would show aspects of Neoclassicism, from the 1900s to his death in
1933. This was already the American Period. The style emphasized on
“symbolic or allegorical iconography” and his penchant for
faithful representation of details and psychological realism. This
female figure as an allegorical personification is reminiscent of the
neoclassical style. Inspired by Greek and Roman antiquity, this
figure integrates classical motifs as the scroll in her hand.
toto gonzalez faved
this
Leo Cloma 4mo
Sold on auction
for PHP 420,480.
