US$120,375.00 Portrait of Rosa Nalda Gil,1890 Oil on canvas 82 x 60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 1/2 in) The appreciation of a portrait begins in the private realm - its depth and fullness of meaning known only to the subjects family and close friends. But when a picture enters the public domain _ that is, when the sitters inner circle is no longer around or for one reason or another decides to bring it outside, then the question of identity takes a back seat (unless of course the sitter is of historical importance) and notions of beauty and symbolism _ and by extension virtue - are held up for scrutiny by other viewers. The ability of an artist to create an image that conveys these ineffable qualities, therefore, becomes the measure of the success of a portrait, not simply as a mimetic representation of a particular person, but ultimately as a work of art. It is hardly surprising then that some of the most important paintings that have come down through the centuries are portraits: the Arnolfini couple of Van Eyck, Vermeers Girl with a Pearl Earring, Las Meninas by Velazquez, and undoubtedly the most famous one of all, da Vincis Mona Lisa. Viewing this half-length portrait signed and dated �Paris 1890 by the celebrated Filipino expatriate painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, one is immediately taken by the charming depiction of this little girl - her doe eyes and rosy cheeks rendered with a delicate glow, perfectly capturing her youthful innocence. The French Impressionist style, marked by a great attention to the effects of light, the use of loose brushwork, and details that appear as fleeting fragments, is in luminous and luxurious evidence as seen in the lace hem and tasselled sleeves of the subjects dress, her stud earrings and...