52. REWARDED WITH AN OSCAR

When I began collecting paintings in 1995, one of the very first I acquired was a large work on canvass by an artist named Oscar T. Navarro. The name of the painter was my least concern at first—it was the theme that mattered to me most. I have always been partial to conservative Filipiniana paintings and this particular ‘woman on a banca’ scene I instantly liked—not just because of the subject but also because of the price; it was available in two easy installment terms!

 Eventually though, I got interested in the artist behind the painting. I looked up “Oscar Navarro” on available art books and found out that his works were included in the Jorge Vargas Filipiniana Collection. Born on 24 January 1921, Navarro had belonged to the first batch of U.P. Fine Arts students whose studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Most of his classmates died in the Bataan Death March. After the war, he established his talyer in Ermita in 1949.

Painting in the realist tradition, he won many prizes in the Conservative Category at the AAP Exhibitions from 1951 thru 1955. He also was a superb landscapist, and it was his mastery of this genre that attracted me to his work in the first place.

Since then, many have started discovering the works of this Manila artist, and a quick search on art auction sites, including good old ebay, turned up a small cache of Navarro paintings now carrying hefty price tags, from a low of $399 to over $1,000!

So it was indeed a pleasant shock for me to discover a rather long and large Oscar Navarro flower painting in a ramshackle antique shop in Bulacan, hidden behind vintage furniture pieces.

Other than the name of the artist which can be legibly read, the dealer knew nothing about the artist. When pressed for more information about the painting, he told me that it had hanged in the living room of an old house.

The painting, dated 1970 and measuring approximately 24 x 48 inches, was done in the later years of the artist’s life (he died 22 December 1973, aged only 52). It sharply departed from his traditional landscape works of which he was more noted for; this example shows a still-life of brilliant colored zinnia flowers bursting from a vase, each rendered in distinct bold strokes and using thick paint, characteristic of Navarro’s deft, energetic technique.

It is a highly commercialized work for sure, more decorative than artistic, meant to enliven a drab wall or to fill up an empty space, but it still is a pristine example from the artist’s late period. Except for crayon markings on the lower part of the canvass, the painting, in its original stretcher and wood and gesso frame—is in very good condition.

And now, the most exciting part was inquiring about the price of this Navarro work of art. Will I be able to afford it? Will I be able to bring it home? Or will this be another case of “the one that got away?”

 The quote was Php3,500 pesos.

 And this Oscar goes to...