León Gallery’s director talks to Philippine Tatler about how the gallery has grown and what we can expect for their upcoming March auction. Scroll through to find out more:
How has León Gallery and the Auction House grown since they first opened?
Leon Gallery has grown to be the premier auction house on art and antiques in Manila having handled top rated works from important collectors like Joe and Nene Guevara, Ramon Villegas, Luis and J. Antonio Araneta, Carlos Arguelles, Enrique Zobel, Tony and Ces Gutierrez, to name a few. From 2013 when Leon Gallery handled its first auction, Leon has been the leader in selling the best of Philippine Art.
Tell us about some of the pieces that are up for auction on March 3rd.
León Gallery is honored once more to partner with the prestigious Asian Cultural Council (ACC) to raise funds in support of giving grants to Filipino artists in the pursuit of excellence through study and exposure abroad.
This auction features the fruition of the difficult task to secure the hard-fought honor to handle what is inarguably the most famous and important work of the great National Artist and ACC grantee Jose T. Joya. Perhaps to date, no other work has been published, awarded, and exhibited more than this work that graces the cover of this catalog — the stunning 1959 ‘Space Transfiguration.’
The Golden Years of Philippine Modern Art are further represented by stellar works : A 1960 Anita Magsaysay-Ho from the collection of one of her closest friends; a 1960 Fernando Zóbel from an American Collection; and a 1957 Arturo Luz from a private European Collection. These works would be original counter-weights to round out — or begin — any collection.