66. FILIPINIANA ART ON OLX.PH AT POPULAR PRICES

BAHAY KUBO BY THE BROOK, signed T.I. Sanchez, dated 1962.

You'll never know what you'll find in olx.ph--once known as sulit.com. I have been pretty successful sniffing out bargain art on this selling site. For example, I got this 1962 Filipiniana painting signed by T.I. Sanchez, at an amazingly affordable price. Mabini-style paintings are just my cup of tea, and this mid-century piece, though a bit scruffy,  is certainly a welcome addition to my collection.

THE PAINTING, as advertised on theonline selling site Olx.ph

I have scoured art books to find out who the painter is, but I have not been successful. The closest was an artist named Turino M. Sanchez, listed as a member of the Philippine Arts Guild in the the book, “The Struggle for Philippine Art”. I have also checked online sites auctions selling art, and  found one or two vintage T.I. Sanchez paintings with prices ranging from $16 to $350, but no info on the artist.

I sent a shout-out to art aficionados and had a response from an art collector who saw a similar painting for sale in a Long Beach flea market.  

SANCHEZ PAINTING FOR SALE AT LONG BEACH FLEA MARKET
Courtesy of Mr. Wuth Franza

Surprise, surprise! The artwork was not only painted by the same artist, but he painted the same subject too. The two looked almost identical, except that they were painted a year apart.

 

IDENTICAL T. SANCHEZ PAINTING, painted 1963, courtesy of Wuth Franz

At this point, finding the real name and background of this painting has become irrelevant. It’s the folksy appeal of the piece that is more important to me. When  at last, I cleaned the painting, its vibrant colors were revealed.

After a bit of retouching, I had the painting re-stretched and then re-framed. The results are on this spread.