The Louvre of 19th century Philippine art in the Visayas
EVERYTIME I find myself in Cebu City, I would always wonder what lies in those mountains I only see from downtown.
Three weeks ago, I bumped into a collector and author at a book launch at the National Museum. We actually had an interesting context. We first met during the 2010 annual conference of the Philippine Historical Association where I gave a lecture on a 19th century Filipino painting and parroted some assumptions on aesthetics by another scholar. In the open forum, he kindly disagreed with me on those assumptions and claimed he owned even better paintings of the artist in question. The incident made me a bit wary of the guy but later, I found out he was indeed right in many respects and all these years I thought he did not have a good impression of me.
But he generously introduced me to his people. I told him that I read about his soon-to-be-opened art museum and cultural hub in Cebu and to my surprise, he said he would be going there in a few days and maybe I could drop by. I told him that incidentally I would be in Cebu around that time.
And so last Friday, November 11, I was driven to those mountains of Cebu City. We reached the house he designed on the second mountain where he welcomed me and immediately gave me a tour which I expected to be short but lasted for more than an hour. Apparently, it was a huge complex with much beautiful landscaping and a really beautiful view not just of Cebu City, its harbor and Mactan Island but of three Philippine provinces in one frame: Cebu, of course, Leyte and Bohol. It’s like seeing the route the 1521 Magellan expedition took there.
Inside his museum were some memorabilia of his whole career, a collection of works by Bulacan artists, his own abstract paintings, superb works by the Paete, Laguna sculptor Luis Ac-ac, including a room full of his erotica, Rizal replicas and other historical works, erotica from around the world, shell paintings, antique religious images, old piña handkerchiefs, and vintage cars!
But the heart of the exhibit is his collection of works of 19th century Philippine art, perhaps the most comprehensive collection in terms of artists in one place, many
hitherto unpublished in books, even if the author had done dozens already, featuring what he has, although he did not disclose where they are for security reasons.
I am not an expert on Philippine art history but I know enough to tell you that when this art museum opens soon, it could well be the Louvre of Philippine art in the Visayas. Cebu is blessed!
Just to tell you how important some of the pieces are, our public museums don’t even have a Damian Domingo; this collection has three. There are paintings by Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay (yes, the cartographer), Simon de la Rosa Flores, José Honorato Lozano, Lorenzo Maria Guerrero, Telesforo Sugcang, Felix Martinez, Fabian de la Rosa, and many others. It is quite overwhelming. Also, it has the most extensive collection of the most internationally awarded Filipino sculptor of his time, Felix Pardo de Tavera. We are not even familiar with this side of him. Aside from a number of Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s most beautiful works, it has the only known Juan Luna sculpture! Also, what is said to be a José Rizal watercolor not familiar to most scholars. I kid you not.
How did he get this collection? The collector worked in Spain for many years and really wanted to buy a Juan Luna. With his knowledge of Spanish and being an avid reader of history, he started contacting and befriending the descendants of former Spanish officials who eventually sold their paintings to him. These were not bocetos, but the finer ones which were sold by our artists in Spain.
But since his collection is unfamiliar to some, he invited people to see it but they did not even care to come even if they had agreed. They won’t get invited again, of course. But those who want to learn about Philippine art, and hopefully not just for instagrammable photos, will be allowed to come for a fee, 50 pax a day, and they will receive knowledge about classical Philippine art history not in a PowerPoint presentation, but in observing and appreciating their most beautiful actual works.
He told me that I could write about his collection in my column, except that I cannot mention his name until his museum opens. And by then, he would have fulfilled the dream of his lifetime: for serious students and scholars to finally flock to see what he had saved and brought home for the Filipino people, who so deserve to see and appreciate them.
I am glad I said yes to his invitation.