Ang Magbabayo (Pounding Rice) 1979

Vicente Manansala's painting of Ang Magbabayo is a window into Filipino life, constructed with oil paint and a clear love for Cubism. The painting feels like a memory, with ochre and green melding together, and forms emerging from the canvas's surface. Manansala uses these fractured planes to create a sense of movement, almost like a stop-motion film. Look at the man's arm, how the yellow ochre light catches the muscles, the action of pounding the rice. You can almost hear the rhythmic thud! And nearby, the woman's gentle gaze and the angle of her head, all captured in soft blues and greens. The artist's brushwork seems to revel in the act of painting itself, in a way that reminds me of Braque. Ultimately, this painting celebrates the beauty of labor, the warmth of human connection, and the vibrant spirit of the Philippines. It suggests that art is less about perfect representation and more about capturing the essence of a moment, a feeling, a culture.