A Life in Color and Refuge: Beloved Painter Betsy Westendorp Passes Away at 94
On November 23, the Spanish-Filipino artist Betsy Westendorp passed away in her Aravaca, Madrid home at the age of 94. The art world mourns her loss.
Here I am thinking of one specific painting of hers. It's actually one of her favorite paintings, too. "Incomplete Family" was completed in 1978. Here, we can see her and her three daughters idling around on what seems to be a regular day in the family living room. There is only calm. We, however, can sense subtle hints of gloom. Look more closely and we'll observe the empty armchair that Westendorp is leaning against. It was a nod to her late husband, former San Miguel Corporation Executive Antonio "Tony" Brias, who she had lost a while back. That was his chair. His absence persisted throughout the rest of their days. She made a portrait of the weight of loss and the sublime in grief.
We may argue that perserverance is a universal theme among her subjects. Throughout her life, she lost her husband, one of her daughters, and a grandson. Maybe that's why her paintings felt intimate that way. It didn't matter if it was her portraits or her atmosferografias; they were always expressions of the great tenderness in life. Her pieces were passages, as if they were meant to ask for a ceasefire with time. Each exhibited the kind of featheriness and vulnerability someone needs in order to take on life's hardest transitions.
"She captured the imagery of the world with such care, sincerity, and lightness, creating a distinctive rhythm and mood to her subjects and atmospheres that just feel natural, fresh and soft."
"Incomplete Family" (1977-1978) by Betsy Westendorp.
Perhaps it's her fauna and flora that we'd mostly come to remember her by. Most of us remember her for her large-scale depictions of idyllic scenery: the volume and texture of the roses, the clouds, the carnations, and the orchids, the people she loved. They were lush in character and form. She painted the beauty and glory of the nuances that shaped them.
She captured the imagery of the world with such care, sincerity, and lightness, creating a distinctive rhythm and mood to her subjects and atmospheres that just feel natural, fresh and soft. There's a natural flow and cadence to them entirely her own. One may say that they each have elements of both japonisme and centuries-old Flemish techniques. In any case, they're the epitome of the ethereal in art. Her pieces were done with such grace and each always managed to achieve solace. They also exuded the warmth of Filipino sensibilities.
She admitted to being a portraitist first before anything else (she was named Betsy after her Dutch aunt, who was also an artist). Westendorp started out drawing and painting her family members from a young age. But it was only when she started her new life in the Philippines that she took it seriously. She would go on to pursue art for the rest of her life.
View this post on Instagram>pWestendorp would find herself moving to Manila in 1951 after her marriage to Brias. She was only 21 at the time. The move would prove to be the most important decision in both her personal life and art practice. Westendorp would go on to make quite the career for herself. >pIn the Philippines, her work just blossomed. As her subjects flourished, so did her patrons. High society personalities had taken a liking to her work and would commission her for various portraits themselves. An international network of patrons would notice her, as well. Her portraits were fit for kings, literally. Also known as a royal portraitist, Westendorp would go on to paint the portraits of King Felipe VI and the other children of the Spanish Royal Family.>p
View this post on Instagram>pALSO READ:>pCarlo Magno's 'Formal Parallels' Exhibit Is Anything But Formal>pWrapping Our Heads Around Salvador Ching's 'Pabalat' Exhibit>pHer paintings became some of the most sought-after pieces of work in the market, as well. For instance, her untitled 1986 floral bouquet painting, which measured close to 11-feet long and seven-feet wide, had even sold for P17.5 million at the León Gallery Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Auction earlier this year.>pShe was revered across various cultural and social circles worldwide. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo honored her with the Presidential Medal of Merit for Art and Culture. Spain's King Juan Carlos had also honored her with the Lazo de Dama de la Orden de Isabel la Catolica. >pSalcedo Auctions Chairman and Chief Specialist Richie Lerma once said of her pieces in one of her final exhibitions with them:>p
“It is the unfettered quality of the works that lends the sense of intimacy between the artist and the viewer. The exhibition is a conscious shift away from the large mural works that Westendorp is known for towards the quiet naturalness of these charming compositions.”>p
"Flowers" (1994) by Betsy Westendorp, Acrylic on Paper. This was sold through Salcedo Auctions.>p
Photo by SALCEDO AUCTIONS.We lost a pillar of Philippine art. "You can endure many hardships in life if you have art," she once said. Endured, she did and so will her portraits, flora, and fauna.>p
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