Never-before-seen Sanso artworks at SM

MANILA, Philippines - Juvenal Sanso mounts “Sanso: Pioneer of Expressionism” which opens on Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m., at the SM Art Center, fourth floor, SM Megamall A, Mandaluyong City.

The show is organized by Galerie Joaquin in cooperation with SM Megamall in celebration of Sanso’s 80th year. As part of the festivities, three artworks from Sanso will be raffled off to guests on opening night.

 “Sanso: Pioneer of Expressionism” takes art lovers back to that phase in his career in the late ’40s and early ’50s when started sowing the seeds for a whole generation of Filipino expressionists. Among these never before exhibited works are paintings done after World War II when like many of his generation, the young Sanso carried with him the anguish and deep scars of war.

The exhibition will present the artist’s works depicting the scenes of desolation in war-torn Manila that Sanso came upon as he went to study in the heavily bombed UP Fine Arts Faura campus and its new campus in Diliman. There on his canvases were the unfortunate souls that roamed the streets, the destitute individuals in whom the subliminal pain and anger he felt found expression.

Also in the exhibit are Sanso’s European paintings, drawings and prints done in his Rome and Paris period in the 1950s. This period is then followed by his rediscovery of still life and landscape done in the serene countryside his French acquaintances brought him to, marking a catharsis and his journey from darkness to the light.

The recently concluded survey show at the Mandarin titled “Sanso: A Show of Shows” gave Sanso followers a peek at his early years with a few rare works from his personal collection.

The show is on view until Dec. 16. For information, call 723-9418 and 723-9253, or visit www.juvenalsanso.com.