1951 / Enamel on masonite board / 51 x 59 cm / Artist: Vicente Manansala / Ateneo Art Gallery collection

This work is significant because it shows the development of modernism in the early postwar years and because it marks the shift in the art of the modernists from the rural idyll of the Amorsolo school to the urban scene. However, the urban scenery, rather than showing images of industrial growth, has a strong folk character that also tells of the struggle for survival in the midst of change.

Jeepneys, constructed by Filipino ingenuity, are popular means of transportation. The culture does not allow them to be merely functional. They are embellished with all kinds of ornaments, such as metal horses on the hood, false antennae, colored plastic streamers, crocheted curtains, framed religious icons and pin-ups; and painted with arabesques, emblazoned names, and even Amorsoloesque landscapes.

Manansala captures the colors, sounds, and pulsing liveliness of jeepneys in a modernist style that places value on design and overall impression rather than on realist detail. The warm colors evoke the sounds of traffic, while the numerous jeepney shapes suggest movement and speed. Clearly, by the early 1950s the modernists had already mastered the lessons of modernism within the Philippine context, as this painting by Manansala shows.