Auctioning history
Parts of it, that is. Tangible fragments, now as bits of collectibles, to be seen and even held by hand — written documents that hark back over a century to a time of would-be heroes.
These little items used to be in the possession of what would become household names that evoke our history as a nation at its most fecund, themselves then on the cusp of putative greatness: Dr. Jose P. Rizal and Antonio Luna — both now so much larger than life that whatever mundane pieces may have been part of their destined lives are regarded and accounted for as treasures. Now, who wouldn’t want to point out a framed student identification card hanging on one’s library wall, dating back to 1893, when its 7cm by 10cm size was just getting ready to stand tall on a young man’s chest, or daily rested on his palm, the 22-year-old bearer named Jose Rizal?
This piece of historical memorabilia singly makes up Lot 8 of an art auction to be held this Saturday. The starting bid is pegged at P70,000. Yet history and its many parts can be priceless. Especially when they’ re offered for acquisition with the grace of unquestionableprovenance, in this case from At ty. Jorge De los Santos, sourced to the Rizal Family Estate, circa 1988.
Lot 8 will be one of well over 100 lots that will be up for bidding at the much-anticipated Asian Cultural Council Philippines Art Auction 2016 that starts at 2 p.m. on Feb. 20 at Leon Gallery on G/F Eurovilla 1, Rufino cor. Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village in Makati City. The first of two previews of the auction lots was held last Saturday, while the second will be conducted this Friday, the day before the auction.
It will be the second straight year that the Asian Cultural Council Philippines and Leon Gallery will partner in this fundraising affair. Last year, the successful auction led to the council’s sponsorship of six grantees as part of its efforts to support international dialogue, understanding and respect while advancing the development of Filipino artists. To date, there have been over 300 fellows across artistic fields who have become recipients of grants for cultural exchange programs in the United States and Asia. Among the first ACC grantees in visual arts were National Artist Jose Joya, Roberto Chabet and Manuel Rodriguez Jr.
The ACC Philippine Fellowship Program was instituted in 2000 by the ACC Philippines Foundation, Inc. in alliance with ACC New York. The ACC Philippines is led by its president, Ernest Escaler, who is supported by distinguished members, among these Ambassador Isabel Caro Wilson, Josie Natori, Maribel Ongpin, Deanna Ongpin-Recto, Rajo Laurel, Malu Gamboa, Dedes Zobel and Lisa Marcos.
The Asian Cultural Council strengthens trans format ive cultural exchange by awarding grants to artists, scholars, and arts and humanities professionals, as well as organizations and educational institutions from the United States and Asia for research, study, and creative work in the United States and Asia and within the countries of Asia. The ACC develops programs specifically tailored to the needs and interests of each of its grant recipients. The council pursues these efforts by gaining funding from individuals, foundations, and corporations with an interest in strengthening ties between the Unites States and the countries of Asia.
Also up for bidding are significant pieces by our most sought-after modern and contemporary artists and premier visual arts icons, such as National Artist BenCab, Roberto Chabet, Elmer Borlongan, Vicente Manansala, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, and the great master Fernando Amorsolo, among others.
Among Amorsolo’s masterpieces up for auction are: an 18” by 16” oil on canvas ,“Under the Man go Tree ,” signed and dated 1941, with a starting bid of P1.8 million; two 12” by 18” oil on canvas Nudes, signed and dated 1960 and 1961, with a starting bid of P1.4 million (acquired directly from the artist in the early 1960s by Richard Greve, thence by descent to his daughter, April Decker); a6”x 91/4” watercolor on paper ,“Burning of Idols ,” with a starting bid of P 200,000; a 12” by 16” oil on canvas ,“Under the Man go Tree,” acquired directly from the artist by J.Antonio Araneta, with a starting bid of P300,000; and what should generate the greatest in te rest—a19”x24”oi lon canvas ,“Lava nd era ,” signed and dated 1915, which has been part of the Brent International School collection. With a starting bid of P3 million, the artwork has an interesting provenance:
“A distinguished pastor, Rev. Vincent Gowen, received this beautiful painting as a gift from his wife in 1930. The family had come to Besao, Mountain Province in 1928 where Rev. Gowen would serve as resident priest of St. Benedict’s church and headmaster of St. James School until their interment by the Japanese at Camp Holmes during World War 2. When the beloved family was taken away, the people of Besao took responsibility for this painting and other valuables by burying them under the kitchen of a St. James schoolmaster. After the war, the items were recovered and shipped to the Gowens in the United States where they had returned after their release. In 2010, in loving appreciation of the time they spent there, the Gowen family returned “The Lady” to the Philippines to the care of Brent School Inc.”
All of Am or solo’ s works up for auction have been confirmed as to their authenticity by his daughter, Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo. Anent whom, on an aside, this writer has had the privilege of having dinner meetings with her and her younger brother Delfin, who was my Bedan classmate for all of the 1950s. He stays in California, but visits here yearly, and at our last get-together, when I mentioned this upcoming auction and showed him photos from the catalogue, he remarked that he still recalls the time when his father was painting the circa-1960/61 nudes, at what was their residence which also had his studio, on Cordillera St. in Quezon City just off the Welcome Rotunda.
Delfin, whom we call by an unprintable nickname that refers naughtily to his prowess with the ladies, said that his memory of that time has remained vivid since he had a teener’s crush on the lady model. Well, this is something that his sister Sylvia need not confirm. As for BenCab, his galaxy of collectors will certainly rise in excitement when Saturday’s auction unfolds.Among his works up for bidding will be the following: Lot 38 consisting of “Female Torso II” mixed media, “Nude II” pencil on paper, and Female Torso pencil on paper, all signed and dated 1976, with a starting bid of P 140,000; a digital print reproduction on archival paper of an original artwork, “Remembering and Forgetting,” signed and dated 2014, at a starting bid of P70,000; and a 20” by 14.5” acrylic and oil on wood, “Espeleta,” signed and dated 1967, at a starting bid of P300,000. This last is particularly interesting since it depicts the “barong-barong” or shanties in the Bambang of his boyhood. Of which Quijano de Manila (Nick Joaquin) wrote in the Philippine Free Press, “… all the side streets with such Old Manila names as Sibakong, Ezpeleta, Misericordia, Trozo and dearest of all, for BenCab, the Bambang neighborhood, where he grew up, among gray of tenement, black of estero, brown of dirt.”
Also of note, I must add, would be Ronald Ventura’s “Lost Race,” at a starting bid of P1.4 million. This large work was first exhibited at the CCP 13 Artists Awards 2003 show. It has been written that “Any work by Ronald Ventura — widely considered as the best artist of his generation — that enters the market is always welcome, but his works from the early 2000s generate a whole different level of interest.”
Also among the legion of artworks up for grabs, and to my mind of particular interest for the great promise he exudes, would be the 6” by 36” mixed media “Atomic Flightman” by Kawayan De Guia, with a starting bid of P 80,000— a steal if that figure inexplicably fails to move upwards.
But what makes this auction particularly unique is the inclusion of prized historical manuscripts that bear association with our national hero, as well as revolutionary general Antonio Luna.
Among other Rizaliana memorabilia are a “lost love letter” addressed to Paciano Rizal y Mercado in Laguna for Jose Rizal when he was in Tokyo, dated Dec. 12, 1888, and a Hong Kong gas receipt dated June 30, 1892 (both have starting bids of P30,000 and claim collector Ramon N. Villegas and the Rizal Family Estate as provenance); and a Christmas greeting card from Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt to Rizal, dated Dec. 24, 1887, with a starting bid of P50,000.
Memorabilia pertaining toAntonio Luna include an original copy of the Nov. 16, 1898 issue of the revolutionary newspaper he published, La Independencia Periodico Filipino. This was acquired directly from Ambeth R. Ocampo in 1989, and has a starting bid of P30,000. Another is the first edition of Anotonio Luna’s book Impresiones de Taga-Ilog, published in Madrid by Imprenta de El Progreso Tipografico in 1891, with articles defending his people from the malicious attacks of anti-Filipino writers. The work was dedicated to the author’s brother, the celebrated painter Juan Luna y Novicio. Sourced to a private collection in Barcelona, it also has a starting bid of P30,000.
Great art and priceless memorabilia: that should sum up the exciting Asian Cultural Council Philippines Art Auction 2016 this Saturday.