
Rhyanon Demery
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Sold for £25,250 inc. premium
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Head of Sale
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner's father, circa. 1968.
Antonio Blanco revelled in a bounteous and extravagant artistic vision. He was born in the Philippines to Spanish parents and schooled in Manila. He would then go on to study at the National Academy of Art in New York. It is here that he cultivated an interest in figurative painting which would stay with him throughout his life.
Having been gifted some land in Ubud, Bali, by the King of Ubud, Blanco settled in Indonesia in 1952. Here, he married the dancer Ni Ronji and fashioned himself as an eccentric aristocrat, steeped in artistic and cultural knowledge.
It is in Bali where Blanco was inspired, and his work reached its full potential. Here, his sitters are imbued with sensual potential, at once desirous and desirable. His mood and imageries are passionate yet playful. This tone is clearly struck in the Reclining nude offered here, as the sitter lays in a suggestive manner whilst surrounded by myriad symbols of both sensuality and lust. Most notable of these being Blanco's recurring motifs of fruit, a devil mask, a large glass flask and fine wisps of smoke emanating from an incense burner.
Blanco lived and worked in Ubud until his death in 1999. His work was consistent throughout this time as he endeavoured to capture the sensual essence of his muses, both real and fantasied.