Cebuano Artists Painting Collection- Nida Alcoseba

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Spring Lake, 1965, 48" x 26", Avanzado Family Collection

Growing up in our old home in Mandaue, Cebu in the early seventies, the centerpiece of our living room beside the piano was the beautiful 48"x26" Spring Lake, a 1965 impressionist painting by Nida Alcoseba Samaniego.

Nida Alcoseba was originally from Carcar, Cebu but she lived her most of life in General Santos City.  She studied Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas and one of her professors was the National Artist Prof. Victor Edades. Her daughter Marite said that the painting in our living room was her signature painting style, which has elements of realism and impressionism.  She relayed to me that she has a similar painting, but the theme was in Autumn, (Autumn Lake) whereas our painting depicts Springtime. 
 
Nida's daughter, Marite Samaniego Castro, is also a well-respected artist who manages an art gallery in Manila. From my correspondence with her, I learned that Nida passed away in 1973. It was her mother who introduced her to the visual arts and she had her first exposure when she attended Nida's major exhibit in the Davao Insular Hotel in the 1970's. 
 
Over the years, she has acquired most of her mother's work and has no intention of putting them up for sale.
 
    "...Also to be found are the vibrant richness of life studies that bring the power of dance, the serenity of a lake and the beauty of a bird to life, while rounding out the exhibition is a selection of oil paintings, one paired with the bird the other three hanging together as an eye-catching trio among a hall of eye-catching pieces that carry with them depth of realism is genuinely exquisite" - Inara Pey, a review of Nida Alcoseba's exhibit in the 70s.
 
 


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