Landmark exhibit gathers paintings of Cory Aquino
ly, not just with Dr. George and Mary but also with their sons and daughters,” Sobrepeña told Lifestyle.
A painting from the Ty collection is of two women surrounded by pink roses. Titled “Sisters and Friends Forever,” it depicts the relationship Aquino had with Mary Ty.
The painting is striking for two reasons. First, Aquino rarely included human figures or faces in her paintings, and second, she gave a title to this, unlike her other pieces that she simply numbered or listed as part of a series.
After what would turn out to be her last foreign trip with the Metrobank Foundation to Nanjing, China, Aquino gifted Alessandra V. Ty, the daughter of George and Mary, a floral painting with a yellow background.
“Instead of giving expensive and extravagant gifts, Cory shared her talent and love of art with the Ty family,” Sobrepeña said.
She gifted many others with her paintings and touched many lives with her graciousness.
Meaningful
Jose T. Pardo, chair of The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. and one of Edsa People Power Commissioners, said, “My wife and I have three paintings between us but the two that Aquino herself gave me are especially meaningful. One of them is part of a series of rosaries and roses that I cherish because it reminds me of the rosary she lent me when I underwent a triple bypass operation.”
Years in public office—he was in President Estrada’s Cabinet—had taken a toll on his health. During a routine medical check-up in 2002, his doctor told him he was “a walking time bomb.”
The surgery was set and before Pardo went under the knife, Aquino lent him the rosary given her by Lucia, one of the children whom the Virgin Mary appeared to in Fatima.
“The rosary was wrapped around my hand during the surgery and I think it helped because three days after my operation I was already walking. I still had to undergo physical therapy but I was able to regain control of my body fairly quickly,” he said.
The second painting he received and which will also be on exhibit is a forest scene. “She handed me the painting on my birthday when I was still the Finance Secretary. That’s how gracious she was and this is why I still
hold Cory in the highest respect,” Pardo said.
Proud owners
Sen. Cynthia Villar and her husband Manuel are also proud owners of a painting by Aquino. Villar recalled how she once cajoled Aquino to give her a printed reproduction of her painting.
“She said that my husband Manny already had a wide collection of well-known artists, and that he didn’t need one from her. I told her that we would only be so happy to own one of her pieces so she gave one to us that is now displayed in our library.”
Aside from painting on canvases, Aquino also painted on wood platters, fabric bags and throw-pillow covers. Maria Montelibano, a niece of her husband Ninoy and an Edsa People Power Commissioner, owns two painted pillow covers.
“Cory gave them to me one Christmas and I felt they were too precious to be used for their original purpose so I had them specially framed,” Montelibano said.
To the trained eye, Aquino’s pieces might be considered naïf and amateurish but to people she gave them to, they are priceless.
“There are two reasons one hangs a painting on a wall,” Montelibano said. “First is because the piece is by a renowned artist. Second is because the person who made the piece and gave it to you is someone you look up to. Cory falls in the second group.”
“A Gift of Self” is sponsored by Smart, PLDT, Meralco, Philex Mining Corp., Metro Pacific Tollways, Metro Pacific Investments and Wine Museum.