Filipino art patrons and collectors whose prized possessions take the spotlight at the Spectacular Mid-Year Auction of León Gallery

Tambunting-Ongsiako met Manansala in the 1970s, along with her amigas and fellow art connoisseurs: Judy Araneta-Roxas, Bessie Bautista-Legarda, and Aurora Silayan-Go. The quartet gathered monthly at Manansala’s house-cum-studio on the outskirts of Angono, Rizal. They dined out with the maestro and his wife, Hilda, and even hosted dinner parties in their respective houses for him. The ladies started collecting his paintings from then on. She became one of the first founders of the “Friends of Manansala.”

Manansala also advised her to collect other works by equally renowned modernists, such as Ang Kiukok, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, HR Ocampo, and Cesar Legaspi. Many of the pieces in her collection have been published in numerous monographs.

To continue Tambunting-Ongsiako’s noblesse oblige, part of the proceeds of the sale of the painting will benefit the society doyenne’s beloved charitable institutions: Leaven of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Oblate Apostles of the Two Hearts, and Alliance of the Holy Family International.

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Fresh from the record-breaking achievement of her Fruit Market painting in the Leon Gallery’s recently concluded Asian Cultural Council Auction 2023, Magsaysay-Ho returns with Women with Flowers, a 1993 piece from her prolific 17-year Hong Kong period, which the artist considered her “most productive years”. The work was commissioned by a dear friend of the artist, Zita Feliciano, who said it was a “birthday gift” to herself.

Feliciano’s son, Ito, has this lighthearted story behind the piece. “I recall part of this story involved mum chasing Anita around the house, insisting that she pay, even some token amount for the painting and that Anita ran away from Mom, going from room to room so she could escape having to accept mum’s payment.”

Ito says that Women with Flowers was his “mom’s piece de resistance” in the living room of their lovely Dasmariñas Village abode, “which had an Amorsolo, a Sanso, Manansala, and Ocampo, all surrounding visitors to the heart of our home.”

“Princes of the art world across eras are also in the spotlight, each with their painstakingly curated collections,” remarks Ponce de Leon. 

At the forefront of this band of esteemed gentlemen is statesman Carlos P Romulo, dubbed “Mr United Nations” for his unprecedented achievement of serving as president of the United Nations Security Council four times, in 1980, in 1981, and twice in 1957. Having served eight Philippine presidents and endowed with the privilege of more than five decades of public service, Romulo held the post of Secretary of Foreign Affairs for seventeen non-consecutive years and Philippine Ambassador to the United States for ten non-consecutive years.

Romulo was named National Artist for Literature in 1982, having authored sixteen books, two plays, and various works of poetry. He was a recipient of the first Bayani ng Republika Award and was honoured with the rank of “Raja” of the Order of Sikatuna, a merit usually conferred to heads of state but made Romulo an exception due to his “outstanding service to the Filipino nation.”

In Romulo’s treasured collection is Fernando Amorsolo’s Dalagang Bukid (Woman with Banga) (1929), made by the maestro at the dawn of his “Golden Period” and features one of the earliest depictions of his favourite and now-iconic muse. 

Also represented in this sale is the legal luminary and discerning collector J Antonio Araneta, who social historian Augusto Marcelino Gonzales III described as already having “good taste” since his childhood years, “considering that their family lived in the most beautiful residence in the pre-war period along aristocratic Calle R Hidalgo.” Gonzales III continues, “His mother, Doña Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas de Araneta, although known for her Roman Catholic piety and simplicity, was also a woman of high style who was concerned about her dresses and her beautiful home.”

Exquisite paintings graced Araneta’s regal Forbes Park residence, who have counted among its numerous guests of honour US President Richard Nixon.

Araneta’s collection shows his eclectic taste in art that knows no limits: from the traditional academic style of the conservatives to the bolder flair of the modernists. Going under the hammer at the Leon mid-year auction are works by Filipino modernists from their most sought-after periods: Jose Joya’s Talim Island II (1966) from his “Golden Years” of the Venice Biennale; Juvenal Sanso’s Window Shopping (1956), from the artist's rare and coveted Parisian “Black Period” of 1953 to 1957; and a 1964 opus from Federico Aguilar Alcuaz’s avant-garde Barcelona Series. 

The memory and legacy of pioneering Filipino neurosurgeon Dr Victor A. Reyes, MD, who conducted the Philippines’ first successful transsphenoidal surgery for a pituitary tumour in 1971, is encapsulated in Manansala’s Barong-Barong (1966). Dr Reyes, who was also a painter and sculptor, commissioned from HR Ocampo the magnificent 1971 triptych I Am, I Love, and I Was—collectively titled Passage and from the artist’s most beloved and coveted “Visual Melody Period”—which was among the highlights in the seminal Two Navels: Leon Curated Auction, mounted by Leon Gallery in 2016. Through Ocampo, Dr Reyes would become friends with leading modernists, including Manansala. 

Not to be missed are other impressive pieces from the treasures of these cultivated collectors: a rare moonlit Amorsolo from the collection of Dr Wenceslao Pascual, Governor of Rizal Province from 1951 to 1955 who spearheaded the post-war rehabilitation over his jurisdiction; an Oscar Zalameda from his early artistic period from the trove of the “Father of Philippine Healthcare,” Dr Roberto Macasaet and his wife Teresita Montinola; and a rare painting and early work by renowned sculptor Guillermo Tolentino from the art repertoire of revolutionary hero General Benito Natividad.

Ponce de Leon earnestly invites everyone to partake in this momentous celebration in our country’s history. 

“We invite you once again to revel in the imagination of the Philippines’ greatest artists, tirelessly gathered by some of the country’s most seasoned collectors. We assure you of a wonderful journey through our country’s art, and on behalf of Team León Gallery, I wish you all the best on this 125th year of the formation of our identity as a people,” he says.

The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction is happening this June 17, 2023, at 2pm, in Eurovilla 1, Rufino Corner Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City. Preview week is from June 10 to 16, 2023, from 9am to 7pm. For further inquiries, email info@leon-gallery.com or contact 8856-27-81. To browse the catalogue, visit www.leon-gallery.com. Follow León Gallery on their social media pages for timely updates: Facebook (/leongallerymakati) and Instagram (@leongallerymakati). 

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