A flurry of bidding swept through the Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen’s auction room on Monday evening, when three works by the Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo went under the hammer. The winning bids far exceeded expectations, with the hammer falling at DKK 2.77 million / EUR 371,670 (incl. buyer’s premium), DKK 1.58 million / EUR 212,380 (incl. buyer’s premium) and DKK 976,800 / EUR 130,970 (incl. buyer’s premium) respectively.
Monday evening, the Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen’s Live Auction of Fine Art saw intense bidding for three paintings by the Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo.
A still life featuring mangoes and sugar apples sold for an astonishing DKK 2.77 million / EUR 371,670 (incl. buyer’s premium), dwarfing its estimate of DKK 300,000-400,000. Another work depicting harvest workers in the field sold for more than double its estimate, fetching a hammer price of DKK 976,800 / EUR 130,970 (incl. buyer’s premium), while a work featuring one of the artist’s most beloved motifs – a young woman bathing by the shore – went for DKK 1.58 million / EUR 212,380 (incl. buyer’s premium), having been estimated at DKK 300,000–400,000.
“Fernando Amorsolo is a pivotal figure in Philippine art, and his works are considered the epitome of Philippine culture. The evening’s impressive sales confirm his tremendous standing and popularity among international art collectors,” says Julie Arendse Voss, Head of Department of Fine Art at Bruun Rasmussen.
The diverse facets of Amorsolo’s artistic legacy
According to Julie Arendse Voss, the three works perfectly exemplify the diverse facets of Amorsolo’s artistic legacy. He is known especially for his evocative, light-filled portrayals of the Philippine landscape, rural life, the distinctive nature and cultural traditions.
The works were acquired in the Philippines in 1935 by Niels Breinholt Bach (1885–1973) and have since been passed down through the family. A chemical engineer, Bach travelled to Java just before the outbreak of World War I, where he secured a position at a Dutch sugar factory, hence his nickname, “Java-Bach”. In 1923, Bach acquired a vast sugarcane plantation in the Philippines and established the company “Bachs Cane Sugar Co A/S, 1923”.
Sun-drenched landscapes and Philippine beauty ideals
Fernando Amorsolo (1892–1972) achieved great national and international recognition in his time. His works were a key link in establishing the national identity of the Philippines as an independent nation. Amorsolo was an artist during a period of major change in the Philippines. The island state, which had previously been a Spanish colony, transitioned to American governance in 1898, for example. He pursued the lifestyle familiar from his rural childhood, as yet untouched by the influence of American culture.
He painted bright, sun-drenched vignettes of everyday life in the Philippine countryside, such as peasants harvesting rice, cooking, picking mangoes, doing the laundry in the river, at festive gatherings and at markets. Amorsolo also focused on Philippine beauty ideals, developing an archetype known as the “dalagang Filipina” – a woman embodying his vision of quintessential Philippine beauty, which appeared in many of his works.