Filipino artist Aleah Angeles is just in her early 20s, but the realist painter is about to get some international attention, as her piece "Lazy Daisy" is included in an upcoming Christie's auction of Asian Contemporary Art in Hong Kong.
Painted in 2010, "Lazy Daisy" is estimated to be worth $4,138 to $7,759, and is featured along with Chinese artists as well as other cross-region contemporary talents.
Her works are described as "lyrical compositions with a warm romantic flair."
"Lazy Daisy portrays Angeles’s alter-ego, falling asleep under a tree with her half read book draped over her face. Trapped in the pages of her fairytale or fantasy novella the heroine in her slumber is sweetly unaware of the looming dream-forest behind her, as though conjured directly from her unfinished tale. With her ruffled skirt, knee-socks slipping down her legs, outflung hand, Lazy Daisy is an archetypal rendition of corrupted girlish innocence," reads the lot notes on Christie's website.
"Inspired by the figures of young girls, which the artist herself relates to and draws from life based on her own photographs; her paintings often show them in recumbent positions, half caught in dreams and fantasy," the notes read.
Angeles is a resident artist of Mendez Big and Small Art Co.
Apart from Angeles, Filipino artists BenCab and Patricia Eustaquio also have works in the auction, which will be held on May 27, 3pm at Christie's Saleroom Convention Hall, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, Hong Kong.
BenCab's 1984 ink and acrylic on paper "Yellow Confetti" goes for an estimated price of $32,350 to $51,776.
Meanwhile, Eustaquio's oil on canvas diptych Reprise III & IV goes for an estimated price of $15,400 to $23,100.
In last year's Christie's Hong Kong Spring sale, Filipino artists new to the market performed extremely well, according to Asian Arts blog LuxArtAsia. "Contemporary art from the Philippines in particular showed an impressive growth, with 95% of the lots by Filipino artists being sold," wrote Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop.
Artintern also observed that the sale set records for lesser-known Filipino artists like Jose John Santos III and Eustaquio, then a first-time auction participant.
Spot.ph noted that a number of Filipino artists sold their pieces for more than their estimated price in the 2011 auction. Eustaquio's dreamlike "A Bird in Cloud Country" sold for HK$300,000, almost thrice its estimated price. Ronald Ventura, Geraldine Javier, Tatong Rechata Torres, Kiko Escora and Lynard Paras were also successful.
BenCab's "Edo Gesture" and "Anxiety" were sold for a total of HK$ 1,420,000.
Also auctioned off were Vicente Manansala's 1973 painting "Luksong-Tinik" (HK$1,640,000), Fernando Zobel's "La Piedra IV" and works by Ramon Orlina, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Onib Olmedo, and Fernando Amorsolo. — KG/ELR, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
