Birds of paradise 

Curator: Ah, “Birds of Paradise,” a watercolor from Vicente Manansala. The way the hues swim together, almost fighting… Editor: My first thought? It's a dizzying array of sapphire brushstrokes tumbling through sunlight. Almost like looking through stained glass at birds mid-flight. Curator: It certainly evokes a sense of movement. Manansala, a Filipino cubist, you know, has this knack for capturing the energy of his subjects, not just their likeness. Do you notice how the geometric forms break apart and then coalesce? Editor: Indeed. It seems almost an embrace of deconstruction, right? Shattered and reforming, never quite resolving. Is this indicative of any sort of period or exploration for Manansala? Curator: Absolutely! Manansala developed a style he termed “transparent cubism.” Note how he layers these semi-transparent planes. He is allowing the light to permeate the canvas and letting those shapes breathe in relation to each other. Some people say its akin to looking through capiz shell windows on a bright day, if you have been to the Philippines. Editor: Oh, what a marvelous image that conjures. Given the subject matter then, might this suggest an idea about paradise found in fragmentation? That true beauty lies in the composite parts, not just some singular ideal? Curator: Perhaps! It reflects something fundamental in Filipino aesthetics, this embracing of both joy and melancholy. You see it in the folk songs too. "Birds of Paradise" seems less about representing an actual scene and more about distilling a feeling. Editor: It’s thought-provoking, really. The way a sense of unbounded freedom merges with the controlled, geometric shapes—it’s as if the artist wanted to give form to that intangible human yearning. The yellow gives such depth against the figures as well. It is like they swim forward and into a background simultaneously. Curator: Precisely! And consider this was post-war, the social ferment in Manila and beyond, then it’s as if these birds are symbolic. This expresses flight towards freedom. A painting for all ages indeed. Editor: What a treat this has been. So evocative and so ripe for pondering!