Two portraits of style icon Chona Kasten in Leon Gallery auction
Leon Gallery’ s “Spectacular Mid-Year Auction 2016” this June handpicks important works that highlight highly coveted art and artists, as well as significant pieces that have contributed in defining Filipino identity. A number of valued pieces by reknowned masters Fernando Amorsolo, Jose Joya, and Ang Kiukok, as well as contemporary pieces by Ronald Ventura and Andres Baras rioquinto, among others are also part of this grand affair. In the collection are two portraits of Chona Recto Ysmael Kasten, a woman synonymous with beauty and elegance.
Chona, the daughter of nationalist Senator Claro M. Recto, was a true member of Manila’s high society and was recognized during her time as a fashion legend and icon, earning her the title “La Divina” that was fondly bestowed on her by her closest friends and the leading couturiers of the era. So much so that she was in the Best-Dressed Hall of Fame, and was even listed in Town &
Country magazine’s prestigious “100 Most Beautiful Women in the World.” She modelled, worked at Philippine Air Lines as consulting director for passenger service, became a professional resource trainer, as well as a fashion designer for a number of outlets including Panache, her exclusive prêt-àporter line for Rustans.
Chona’s only daughter Techie describes her mom affectionately and in this manner: “Until this very day, my mother’s legend lives on, and to this day there are still so many reasons for it — her image and exquisite beauty, her refined smile, her vanity and perfumed scent, her poise and grace, her style on the catwalk, her gift for dance, curation of her wardrobe, natural flair, and eye and palette for good taste… She had a gentle disposition, a charming personality, and a sophistication and cosmopolitanism unrivaled by anyone in Manila at the time. She was inimitable. Nobody could imitate her.”
Attracted to Chona’s impeccable style and patrician origins, various artists vied for the honor to capture her allure. She was was immortalized by the celebrated Fernando Amorsolo. Glorfying her most glamorous persona in 1968, she was again the subject of a stupendous work this time by the international master Claudio Bravo.
These immortalization of “La Divina Chona” will be seen in the upcoming auction as a chronicle of a life well lived.
Leon Gallery is at G/F Eurovilla 1, Rufino Corner Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City. For information, call Leon Gallery at 856-2781 or email info@leon-gallery.com.