“But I did not want to be like Amorsolo and so forth. I had to look for myself.
I found myself in still life. Not many people around the world do still life.
And I looked for original ways of doing still life.
Why does everything have to be on a table? Why always fruits and flowers?
Why not rags, objects inside old cartons?
So I did my Sampayan series, where I hung calados on the clothesline.
Nobody else did that before.”
Araceli Limcaco Dans
ARACELI LIMCACO DANS: A COFFEE TABLE BOOK celebrates the life and works of the internationally acclaimed Filipina artist. Dans, who is one of the country’s most consummate artists, is famous both locally and abroad for her detailed, real-life depiction of the calado, a hand-embroidered lacework made of jusi and piña fabrics.
It chronicles her colorful childhood—from her upper class upbringing and how her talent for drawing blossomed under the guidance of her mentors Angela Fernandez and National Artist Fernando Amorsolo—to hard times following World War II and finally, to her productive days as an art educator, prolific artist, and mother to her eleven children.
The paintings are all distinctively Filipino, a fact that Dans is most proud of especially since her works have already been exhibited abroad to resounding critical acclaim.
A French newspaper has this to say of her works of art: “They are beautiful. They are not ordinary. The watercolor paintings of Araceli Dans, who is from the Philippines, will leave even the insensitive with nostalgic thoughts of romance and a love for beautiful things.”
Featured in the book are still life, landscape, genre, and live sittings that are done in oil, acrylic, and water color. It contains seventeen of her exquisite full page drawings and 88 paintings.
Filled with the artist’s deep sense of Filipino artistry and nationalism, Araceli Limcaco Dans: A Coffee Table Book offers readers a unique visual experience like no other. Call Abiva Publishing House at tel no. (02) 712-0245 to 49 local 203 and 209 or email info@abiva.com.ph for orders.
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