Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto. 1892-1972.
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El Ciego (The Blind Man). 1929. Oil on canvas. 30x 24 (frame 38 1/4 x 31 3/4). Signed and dated, lower right. Original hand-carved frame. This painting comes with a certificate of authenticity from Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, the artist's daughter and studio assistant. Provenance: Purchased from the artist by Captain Samuel J. Wilson USN, thence to his son, William P. Wilson, thence to his heirs. This work has a unique provenance, as it was commissioned by a naval intelligence officer who helped in the liberation of Manila during World War II. The work is extremely important and rare. Price upon request.
This is a magnificent genre study, executed in 1929. Armosolo painted very few studies of this image. The warm browns are typical of the artist’s earlier works. He continued to move towards a much lighter palette. Although this is an interior scene, the man is bathed in subtle light. This is not a social protest painting. Although the guitar player is blind, there is no sense of pity generated. It presents the moving relationship between the man and the adoring woman. The painting is one of Amorsolo’s masterpieces. Only two versions of the subject are known -- one in the Lopez Museum and one in the collection of the Central Bank of the Philippines.
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