Rhyanon Demery
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Lot 31
Antonio Blanco(Filipino, 1912-1999)'Rani in the Clouds'
14 September 2021, 13:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge£20,000 - £30,000
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Antonio Blanco (Filipino, 1912-1999)
'Rani in the Clouds'
signed 'Antonio Blanco' (upper centre)
oil on canvas
95 x 67cm (37 3/8 x 26 3/8in).
signed 'Antonio Blanco' (upper centre)
oil on canvas
95 x 67cm (37 3/8 x 26 3/8in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner's father, circa 1968 (the title being given at the time of purchase).
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.
In the present work, Rani in the Clouds, Blanco has captured his wife, Ni Ronji, whilst performing a traditional Indonesian dance. The scene is imbued with a sense of fantasy and mysticism, with a flurry of brushstrokes submerging half of her body in a plume of smoky clouds. Ni Ronji sat regularly for Blanco and one can sense here the voluptuary pleasure which he took from painting her.
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.