There is nothing more ‘Don’ Antonio Blanco than his boudoir collection of female nude paintings, bordering on erotica, with the languid body contours and often couched in subdued colours. Here, the model is lying down in a lascivious pose reminiscent of Gustave Courbet’s hugely controversial The Origin Of The World (1866). In Blanco’s repertoire of women in all states of undress, there is always a sensual air of cotton-puff softness, and tenderness. The female nudes have been a favourite with artists like Titian, Ingres, Velazquez, Goya, Egon Schiele, Manet, Modigliani and even Hokusai. In an interview with Ooi Kok Chuen published in the New Sunday Times on Oct 11, 1992, Blanco said: “Everything is an illusion. Life is not really what it seems. You’ve got to penetrate the veil. The reality about me is that I am immortal. My life has nothing to do with fact. It is sheer fantasy.” Born in Manila, Antonio Blanco boasted of Catalonian roots and had a stint in Florida and California in the United States doing portrait painting. He’s recognised in Spain, too: he was awarded the Order of Cruz de Caballero, which carries the title ‘Don’ by the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, and was also awarded the Prize of the Art Critique. He set off for Bali in 1952, being inspired by Mexican artist-ethnologist Miguel Covarrubias’s The Island Of Bali (1937). In the ship, he met Prince Norodom Sihanouk who sidetracked him to Cambodia and presented him the Chevalier du Sahametrai. He was also awarded the Society of Painters of Fine Art Quality of President Suharto and the Tiffany Fellowship (Society of Honolulu Artists). In Bali, the King of Ubud Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati gifted him a piece of land in Campuan, now the site of his museum.