The Asian Cultural Council Philippines Art Auction 2016

Elmer Borlongan Vulcanizing Shop

Edwin Wilwayco

The Spiral Stairway

Auction

Saturday | February 20, 2016 2:00 PM

Preview

February 13 - 19, 2016 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Venue

G/F Eurovilla 1 Rufino corner Legazpi Streets Legazpi Village, Makati City Philippines

Contact

www.leon-gallery.com info@leon-gallery.com +632 856-27-81

Fernando Amorsolo Igorot from the Hills, Baguio

Contents

8-9 Foreword 10 - 215 Lots 1 - 206 216 Index 217 Terms and Conditions 222 Registration Form

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Jon Jaylo

Moonlight JonSerenade Jaylo Moonlight Serenade

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Foreword Dear Friends and Lovers of Philippine Art:

Lucky indeed is the start of the year when Leon Gallery is asked once again to partner with the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) in the noble task of raising funds to afford international opportunities for our artists, scholars and cultural organizations. For decades, the ACC has been responsible for sending worthy recipients to the art centers of the world, in Asia, America, and Europe, on their journey not only to a self-discovery but also a discovery of the varied cultures and world masterpieces, and thus, upon returning to our country, contributing to the enrichment of our arts. From the first ACC grantee in 1967, the late, Natonal Artist Jose Joya, to the young and talented Dex Fernandez in 2016, each has been, and will be, transformed into a better equipped citizen of the arts.

And as the year commences, what more glorious visual “fireworks” are in the offing, than starting with a large, color-lively abstraction by Lee Aguinaldo, titled “Linear Explosion #2, done in 1959, surely an unexpected progenitor of his later classic series of serenity and contemplation. Also a delightful surprise is the 1943 Mother and Child by Anita Magsaysay-Ho, executed in a classic conservative manner, reflecting the times and influence of her mentor Fernando Amorsolo, and prior to her more characteristic, more familiar, sharply angular style. In his instantly recognizable delineation using ink and acrylic, “The Apartment” by Onib Olmedo is the first work by a Filipino to be awarded a prize at the prestigious “International Exposition de Paintres” at the Chateau Musee de Cagnes-sur-Mer in France. Another award winning work (AAP Third Prize) from a member of Victorio Edades’ list of “Thirteen Moderns” is Ricarte Puruganan’s “Adobe Stone” which shows an output worthy of a pillar of Philippine Modern Art.

Manila’s prominent families, with their unquestioned pedigree, social stature and financial standing, were subjects of commissioned portraits. Such were the Aranetas, whose matriarch was the grand doyenne of the arrabal of Quiapo, Doña Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas vda. de Araneta, and who was painted by Vicente Manansala, later proclaimed National Artist. Of course, unquestionably the “go-to” portraitist of the time was Fernando Amorsolo, who did the portraits of the matriarch’s progeny, the illustrious legal luminary J. Antonio Araneta, and his sister Doña Pilar Araneta.

Moreover, we’ll take you back to an earlier history with an appreciation of manuscripts, autographs, and ephemera, each with the power to summon the memories of the distant past. Here are mystery, intrigue, and passion. Marvel at our National Hero Jose Rizal’s identification card during his student days at the Escuela Superior Pintura y Grabado.

Such, in fact, attests to Rizal’s commendable and surprising talent as an artist and sculptor.

Ever wondered how human are our heroes? Here is General Antonio Luna’s incriminating evidence of a payment for some service. And, more intriguingly, a never before published (and for good reason!) letter written to Paciano Rizal has surfaced, remarkable for a “suggestive” remark made about his brother, Jose. The mysterious letter writer signs her name as Leonor Lansing. Fittingly, she was fated to be the third “Leonor” in Rizal’s amorous life…after Leonor Valenzuela and Leonor Rivera.

Together with the ACC, we have a date with history and the arts on Saturday, February 20, 2016, at 2pm. Till then!

Jaime Ponce de Leon Director

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From fruitful endeavors that marked a prolific 15th anniversary milestone, we welcome 2016 with renewed aspirations, immense positivity and fervor.

Through the years, it has been a steadfast mission for the Asian Cultural Council Philippines Foundation, Inc. to advance the cause of Filipino artists.

By establishing the ACC Philippine Fellowship Program in 2000, it has become a conduit of creative growth for artists and scholars across art fields. To date, there are over three hundred Filipino recipients of the ACC grants undertaken in the United States and Asia.

Certainly a modest realization of ACC Philippines’ objectives in partnership with the Asian Cultural Council New York, we also acknowledge with deep gratitude all the artists, ACC alumni, art galleries, art collectors and patrons of ACC Philippines.

We would not have been able to surge forth with our goals without their generous contributions and encouragement.

ACC Philippines distinguishes a most sincere thanks to Leon Art Gallery.

As fundraising partner for the second straight year, no words would suffice to express our huge appreciation. Indeed, ACC Philippines’ affiliation with Leon Gallery dynamically reinforces our unified commitment towards championing the Filipino artists.

Ernest E. Escaler Chairman Asian Cultural Council Philippines Foundation Inc.

Asian Cultural Council Philippines Board: Ernest L. Escaler, Dedes Zobel, Lisa Marcos, Rajo Laurel, Alan Reyes, Maribel Ongpin, Ching Cruz, Deanna Ongpin-Recto, Isabel Caro-Wilson, Tess Rances, Malu Gamboa (not in photo: Louie Locsin, Dr. Joven Cuanang, and Josie Natori)

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

1 Roberto Chabet (1937-2013) U nti tl ed sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 6 7 (lo w er rig h t) p en a n d in k o n p a p er 8 1 /2 ” x 8 1 /2 ” (2 2 c m x 2 2 c m )

P 30,000 *ACC Grantee 1968 The works of Roberto Chabet have always possessed an ‘outside the box’ type of ideology. Having formally studied architecture, Chabet has come to be known as the pioneer of ‘conceptual art’ in the Philippines.

Playing on the concept of ‘art as idea,’ Chabet’s works are products of the process of unraveling the fixed notions of art and meaning. His drawings, collages, sculptures, and installations are highly allegorical, and serve as his criticism to concepts of modernity.

2 Maya Muñoz (b.1972) Jo hn Ba r on si gned (l ow er r i g h t ) date d 2 0 1 6 oil on c a nva s 70” x 4 8 ” (1 7 8 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 60,000 Maya Munoz is a Neo Expressionist. Munoz creates work that affirms the redemptive power of painting, what with how she depicts her subjects in an almost raw and brutish manner, manifesting in her frequently large-scale works austere, yet highly textural and expressive brushwork using contemplative colors. Her subjects range from agitated faceless portraits to singular figures with indistinct features to expressions of her moorings — Maya herself is an artist who works and commutes between two places she calls home: Manila and Bicol.

Her first time to exhibit in Manila was in the Lopez Museum no less, and the 2011 show featured a massive quadriptych, Coming and Going, that dealt with exile and home. She started this piece after she had done a series of drawings that depicted either Ninoy Aquino on the tarmac or a triumphant Manny Pacquiao, two hometown heroes who have had to leave home to achieve glory. Munoz’ paintings reflect how she situates herself within a particular scenario. Just like Munoz’ Manila or Bicol, the subject in the painting, John Baron, comes close to the artist’s moorings. It’s a portrait of her brother.

“John Baron” contrasts sharply to Maya Munoz' haunting, agitated faceless portraits. There is an off kilter quality to Maya Munoz’ work, which ranges from enigmatic faceless paintings that are as eerie as they are compelling to turbulent, atmospheric compositions whose quirky themes imbue the everyday with a hauntingly agitated presence.

Maya Muñoz studied in San Jose State University in California. Her works have been displayed in diverse spaces in the US, China, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Europe and in Manila since 2000, particularly in art fairs such as ART Singapore, Dubai Art Fair, SCOPE Miami and Bridge Art Fair New York.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

3 Oscar Zalameda (1930-2010) Un ti tl e d si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) oil on p a per 24” x 1 8 ” (6 1 c m x 4 6 cm )

P 100,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Spain Oscar Zalameda’s works all possess a unique, abstracted, cubistic quality. Evocative of notions of the idyllic, these compositions, more often than not, bear a bucolic undertone.

This very work in oil on paper is reminiscent of flora.

Resplendently done in warm tones and bright hues, blended in with light, subdued accents, this work flaunts its humble charm, boasting of the beauty of the tropical.

4 Antonio Austria (b.1936) M other and Chi l d sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 9 6 (lo w er rig h t) o il o n w o o d 2 3 ” x 1 7 1 /4 ” (5 8 c m x 4 4 c m )

P 100,000 The stocky human figures featured in Antonio Austria’s works, with their tubular limbs and stubby hands, are simply and definitively distinguished.

Austria’s take on the Mother and Child theme possesses a quaint, yet welcoming appeal. The compositional simplicity of the piece elaborates the intimacy of the scene; the cozy backdrop, nostalgic palette selection, and affectionate subjects come together to complete the homey setting, bearing with it a unique and modest elegance.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

5 Ferdie Montemayor (b.1965) Po p si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) da te d 2 0 1 5 ( v e rs o ) acryl i c o n c a n va s 45 1/2” x 5 7 ” (1 1 6 c m x 1 4 5 cm )

P 120,000 Ferdinand Montemayor studied Fine Arts Major in Painting at the University of the Philippines. His recent solo exhibitions include: Move (2015), Boston Gallery, Quezon City; Fireflies (2014), Boston Gallery, Quezon City; Game (2014), Pinto Art Museum, Antipolo City; Race (2013), Boston Gallery, Quezon City; (2012), Tin-aw Art Gallery, Makati City.

Abroad, Montemayor has participated in various group exhibitions in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan including: Maelstrom (2012), Valentine Willie Fine Art, Singapore; Art Expo Malaysia (2011), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 14th Asian International Art Exhibition (1999), Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan.

Montemayor has also received numerous awards that attest to a solid artistic practice. He received the Metrobank Foundation Award for Continuing Excellence and Service (ACES) in 2004. In 1992, Montemayor was the grand prize winner in the 9th Metrobank National Painting Competition. He was the recipient of Thirteen Artists Award by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines in 1994 and in the following year, he was named the Most Outstanding Visual Artist of Antipolo.

6 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) Hi bi s cus si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 5 9 ( lo w e r le f t) waterco l o r o n p a per 14” x 1 1 ” (3 6 c m x 2 8 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: Mr. Manansala represented the Philippines in the 1960 New York World’s Fair. He lived and painted with my mother, Phyllis Schufeldt, in 1959 at our house in Huntington, L.I., New York. I was the Linda this was dedicated to.

National Artist Vicente Manansala, sometime in the early 1950’s, was privileged enough to accept a study grant to the renowned Ecole de Beaux Arts, University of Paris. Here, his work evolved stylistically.

His further studies in Paris most definitely had an impact on his career, as his stylistic development was further supplemented by his experiences in the city. The inevitable influence on his works had garnered him acclaim, and at this point in his career won him the moniker “key synthesizer of neo-realism.”

This very work is from 1959, the very same period of this adulation.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

7 Nena Saguil (1924 - 1994) Pari s si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) i nk on p a per 15 1/2” x 2 2 3 /4 ” (3 9 cm x 5 8 cm )

P 100,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City The pioneering modernist painter Nena Saguil has experimented with various styles and media. Constantly present in the mature works of the iconic artist are spheres, intricately plotted into a cloudy, enigmatic expanse of space. This series of works has garnered great acclaim both locally and internationally.

It was sometime around the mid-50s that the stylistic change in Saguil’s art took a turn towards heavy complex abstraction — as she was formerly known to work with figurative abstraction, which ever so often featured surrealist undertones. As she progressed further, works similar to this 1964 piece became her trademark.

Redolent of a cosmic perspective where she has forgone the physicality and aesthetic of the material world, this powerful work comes together with all its elements in their vast, astounding splendor as if to exalt the spiritual.

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Collecting Manuscripts, Autographs and Ephemera

I

n the days before texts were mechanically printed or reproduced in some automated way, all documents were manuscripts, or written by hand. Archiving, or the systematic keeping of records —particularly decrees; marriage, birth and death records; deeds of sale; tax records, etc—was how the collection of manuscripts began in the Philippines. Religious orders kept meticulous books of accounts and annals and the government amassed administrative records, because having everything in quintuplicate was one of the reasons for the longevity of the Spanish Empire.

Later, with the invention of moveable type, the process of printing began with manuscripts, which were then corrected, before being typeset. Manuscripts are therefore considered the original version and primary source of texts. The contents are deemed incontrovertible when recorded in the recognizeable penmanship of the purported writer, which is why signed, holographic wills would carry more weight than a typed or transcribed version of it, although they may have the same contents.

Not only in the matters of literature and law do manuscripts carry weight, but also in the writing of history. Handwritten letters are personal and sincere expressions from the heart, and unguarded and honest reflections of the writer’s state of mind, and help cast light on events and personalities.

Also, the moderndiscipline of graphology, aside from offering a means of verifying handwriting and autographs, also provides an insight into the personality and psychology of the writer.

The Filipino cognoscenti of the late 19th century were conscious of the importance of keeping correspondence. Jose Rizal himself knew the importance of his handwritten drafts for everything from his childhood scribbles to the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Even as they were running for their lives, Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto kept safe their missives to each other.

The first systematic collector of such materials were the intelligence gatherers of the Spanish and later the American military. There are secret reports and tons of confiscated material which have yet to be studied.

The second group were the personalities themselves, or their families or aggrupations which attempted to gather what was left of their records. Many of the personalities of the Revolution kept diaries, or wrote accounts and memoirs during or shortly after the events. The Veteranos de la Revolucion tried to assemble what they could.

The third group were historians such as Epifanio de los Santos, Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Teodoro and Maximo Kalaw, Gregorio Zaide, E. Arsenio Manuel, Carlos Quirino et al. particularly from the 25th anniversary of 1896, to the birth centennials of Rizal, Bonifacio, etc. There were also private collectors like Felipe Hidalgo, Jose Bantug, Luis Araneta, and Eugenio Lopez who traced people who may have original manuscripts, which they obtained, or got copies of.

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From the 2nd quarter of the 20th century, there was a growing awareness of the foreseeable scarcity of ephemera, which refer to any transitory written or printed matter not meant to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. In library and information science, the term ephemera describes the class of published single-sheet or single page documents which are meant to be thrown away after one or short-time use. This includes bills (such as Rizal’s gas bill) visiting or calling cards, short notes, or even bank drafts. While these are not of earthshaking importance, they help in the reconstruction of everyday life of an era.

The fourth and most recent wave were private collectors in the decade of the 1990s, during the centenaries of the founding of the La Liga Filipina, the Katipunan, the 1896 Revolution, and the Malolos Republic. This group of private collectors included Mariano Cacho, Feliciano Belmonte, Felipe Liao, Willie Villareal, Emmanuel Encarnacion, Jorge and Edward de los Santos, Ambeth Ocampo, Ramon Villegas, among others. Some of them simply collected autographs, some of them collected the documents for stamps or markings.

All of them acknowledged the thrill of having something touched the lives or came from the very hands of great Filipinos who shaped our history.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

(front)

(back)

8 José Rizal (1861-1896) 1883 Student Ident i fi c a t i o n C ard 2 3/4” x 3 3 /4 ” (7 c m x 1 0 cm )

P 70,000 Provenance: Atty. Jorge Delos Santos Rizal Family Estate, 1988 Literature: Bayanihan newsletter, Bayanihan Collectors Club, “A Rizaliana Tale” No. 6 issue, December, 2001; Bayanihan newsletter, Bayanihan Collectors Club,“Our Heroes Time” No. 16 issue, December, 2013 Jose Rizal y Alonso was enrolled at the Escuela Especial de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado for the academic year 1883-1884, where he took up several courses: Perspective, Antiques and Clothing, Elementary landscape, Drawing and antique modeling. Rizal enrolled in the Madrid Art School upon arrival in Spain. This Identification Card is the only known extant ID of Jose Rizal.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

9 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Un der t he Ma ngo Tre e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 12” x 1 6 ” (3 0 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 300,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by J. Antonio Araneta Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot In the 1930s, American residents and visitors purchased Amorsolo’s paintings off the countryside and took them home to the United States. Three decades after the Commonwealth era, in the mid-sixties, landscape themes continued to be popular with Filipinos.

In the 1960s, Amorsolo consistently responded to the outdoor milieu by letting loose his brush work and emboldening his palette. Amorsolo quietly, yet defiantly, stood his ground against the waves of modernism in art.

The unpolluted landscape of the countryside — the drama of the land and the simple pursuits of the people — evokes a vast array of personal associations for the viewer. Amorsolo’s strokes are highly deft, especially in rendering the various gradations of color from the blues and greens of the distant hill to the light blues in the plein air sky. To quote the master’s daughter Sylvia Amorsolo Lazo: “This scene could be in... Marilao, or Sta Maria or Bocaue in Bulacan province, as these are the places he frequented, spending time working on the spot...”

Four and a half decades after Amorsolo’s death, his paintings continue to be exalted.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

10 Mario Parial (1944-2013) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 8 ( lo w e r le f t) waterco l o r o n p a per 14 1/4” x 2 1 1 /2 ” (3 6 cm x 5 5 cm )

P 70,000 Multi award-winning artist, Mario Parial is truly one of the most versatile, having won awards in various fields, including sculpture, printmaking, painting, and even stained glass design.

Having drawn inspiration from folk themes, the artist has developed a strong folk quality in his works distinguished by the robust design and vivid hues bedecking his canvasses.

The rhythmic shapes give life to his works, as the bursting colors embellish them further.

11 Lindslee (b.1979) A ni mal Son sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 0 7 (lo w er rig h t) m ix ed m ed ia 6 0 ” x 6 0 ” (1 5 2 c m x 1 5 2 c m )

P 80,000 Provenance: with The Drawing Room With a Fine Arts degree (Major in Painting) from the University of Santo Tomas, advanced training in mixed media, drawing, painting, color and composition from The Art Students League of New York, USA, as well as experience from his forays into taxidermy, Lindsey James Alvarez Lee, better known by the mononym ‘Lindslee,’ often finds himself challenging the established traditions of art.

Confronting the various concepts and foundations of art, Lindslee creates these acerbic mixed media works, as if to scrutinize the prevailing standards.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

PROPERTY FROM THE E. AGUILAR CRUZ COLLECTION

12 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932-2011) a.) M a dr id 1 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l o r o n p a per 13" x 1 6 ” (3 3 c m x 4 1 cm )

(a)

b.) Ma dr id 2 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l o r o n p a per 13" x 1 6 ” (3 3 c m x 4 1 cm ) c.) Ma dr id 3 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l o r o n p a per 13" x 1 6 ” (3 3 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 100,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mr. Christian Aguilar for confirming the authenticity of this lot

A renaissance man of sorts, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz was most noted for his success in the Visual Arts. Having resided in Barcelona, Alcuaz’ abstract works have gained a European flair — a complex use of planar space, mixed with an intellectual use of subjects.

(b)

It was this compositional prowess that garnered Alcuaz acclaim from earlier on in his career, as his exhibits were very well received — of note also is the fact that he has exhibited extensively, which makes this feat an even more impressive one.

The internationally renowned Alcuaz has won multiple awards from as early as the 50s and 60s, and in 2009, added the title National Artist for Visual Arts to his wide collection of accolades.

(c)

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Le贸n Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED COUPLE

13 Ricarte Puruganan (1912 - 1998) Ad obe S t one C a. 194 9 si gned (u p p er r i g h t ) oil on c a n va s 29 1/4” x 2 4 ” (7 4 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 600,000 Awarded: 3rd Prize, Boys Town Carnival - Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), Manila, 1949 The faces of the three peasant males are almost Daumieresque sans neither the social commentary nor the very subjective point of view.

Ricarte Puruganan’s works are noted for their bold strokes and heavy application of paint. The powerful directness of his brushwork in this work is a sharp contrast to the more delicate brushstrokes which he employs in his more numerous depictions of traditional dancers. One of the Thirteen Moderns, the artist group that broke away from the Conservatives led by Fernando Amorsolo, Puruganan since the 1960s has developed a style which seeks to synthesize indigenous Filipino designs with contemporary dreams, but this work is an exception.

Ricarte Puruganan received a diploma in painting at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. He later helped found the University of Sto. Tomas fine arts school together with Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Severino Fabie and Galo Ocampo.

He was honored by the Philippine government when four of his works "Kakawate," "Village Crier," "Two Leaders" and "Black Nazarene at Quiapo" were chosen to hang at the Hall of Filipino Masters at the National Museum.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

14 Ang Kiukok (1931 - 2005) a.) Fi gur e # 1 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) etching 5 /2 0 12” x 1 1 ” (3 0 c m x 2 8 cm ) b.) Fi g ur e # 2 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) etching 5 /2 0 12” x 1 1 ” (3 0 c m x 2 8 cm ) c.) Fi g ur e # 3 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) etching 5 /2 0 12” x 1 1 ” (3 0 c m x 2 8 cm )

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d.) Fi g ur e # 4 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) etching 5 /2 0 12” x 1 1 ” (3 0 c m x 2 8 cm ) e.) Fi gur e # 5 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) etching 5 /2 0 12” x 1 1 ” (3 0 c m x 2 8 cm ) f.) Fi gur e # 6 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) etching 5 /2 0 12” x 1 1 ” (3 0 c m x 2 8 cm )

P 80,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila Powerful and evocative is Ang Kiukok’s use of the human form as a visual tool, translating pain and anguish into these highly intricate figures. It is Kiukok’s meticulous craftsmanship, heightened by his understanding of the human anatomy, which has allowed the modern master to conjure such an elegant austerity in his works.

Be it pen and ink or oil, tempera or print, the powerful vision and rendition of Kiukok’s art is truly a remarkable spectacle.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

15 Augusto Albor (b.1940) R Over R si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 1 ( lo w e r le f t) acryl i c o n c a n va s 48"x 60 " (1 2 2 c m x 1 5 2 cm )

P 120,000 Internationally acclaimed sculptor and painter Gus Albor has made evident in his body of work his inclination to abstract minimalism. The Thirteen Artist Awardee has been known to construct tranquil works which do not overwhelm his audience with impetuous lines and brash colors; rather, he makes use of raw visual elements, incorporating the same school of thought as that of Mondrain and Malevich — both of which, major influences on Albor’s craft due to his fondness for their styles and ideologies.

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16 Sto Niño 1 8th C e nt ur y I vory, Wood a nd Si l ver with ba se: H: 1 7 ” x L: 9 ” x W: 4 1 / 2 ” ( 4 3 cm x 2 3 cm x 1 1 c m ) wi thout b a se: H: 1 2 ” x L : 5 ” x W: 3 1 / 2 ” ( 3 0 cm x 1 3 cm x 9 c m )

P 200,000 Provenance: Property of a distinguished Manila gentleman Purchased in Vigan, Ilocos Sur

A charming and highly sophisticated image of the Sto. Niño or Holy Child categorized as a Salvador del Mundo or Savior of the World. The earliest prototypes of these images came from Flanders (the Netherlands); and the earliest extant example of this type in the Philippines is that of the Sto. Niño of Cebu believed to have been brought to the islands by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.

The figure of the child Jesus stands with his weight on his right leg and his right foot thrust slightly forward. The left leg is relaxed and the left foot thrust back for balance. The body leans to the right with exceptionally naturalistic pose. The image exhibits much movement as can be detected by the gesticulating hands, and the undulating feet with the right foot slightly elevated to suggest arrested motion.

The Salvador wears a Tabard giving the whole a slightly medieval air. A tabard is a sleeveless jerkin consisting only of front and back pieces with a hole for the head. The tabard is made of silver worked in repoussé of interlocking, rhomboid shapes. The round collar is particularly noteworthy as it is beautifully chased in foliate shapes. Underneath, the child wears unbleached cotton undergarments consisting of pantaloons and a shirt with long sleeves that covers his arms. The tabard is seamed and closed at the back. The Christ child is shod in boots.

The head is exceptionally well carved with the face beautifully rendered. The face is slightly elongated. The forehead is broad and the eyebrows are arched and painted brown almost the color of coffee. Inset glass eyes. The nose is long and straight.

The lips are thin and slightly pursed with the edges tilting upward in a slight intimation of a smile. Dimples appear on his cheeks. The lips are outlined in an orange-red tinge typical of most ivory images made in the Philippines. Navarro de Pintado (1986, p. 107) describes the color as “crimson,” but a closer analysis reveals that Gatbonton’s assessment of the “orange-ish” hue is more on point (1983, p. 27).

The Christ child wears a wig of fiber hair. On top of his head, he wears an imperial crown (Corona Imperial) made of repoussé silver fire-gilded in gold in the technique which has come to be known as dorado de fuego (or dorado al fuego). The orb is similarly gilded.

Dorado de fuego or fire gilding is a time honored process by which an amalgam of gold is applied to metallic surfaces. The technique is highly dangerous and volatile because it involves the use of Mercury which, when melted, gives off toxic fumes.

If absorbed (which is easily done by inhalation), the fumes can cause neurological and other bodily disorders and even death.

The dorado de fuego technique have subsequently been supplanted by electroplating gold over nickel which is more economical and less dangerous.

The Salvador is mounted on an elaborate, rococo inspired base or peana. The base is original to the image which helps to date the piece to the 18th century. The Rococo is an artistic style that blossomed in the middle part of the 18th century as a reaction against the excessive regulation and symmetry of the baroque. The style derives its name from a combination of the French words rocaille (stone) and coquilles (shell). And the style manifested in curvilineal and asymmetrical shapes, light colors and a fondness for gold and gilding. The shape and form of this base, in fact, recalls the fanciful limestone grottos so popular during the period.

The image of the Sto. Niño or the Holy Child has been popular since the earliest days of the Spanish colonial period. This is evident in the writings of Manila’s first Archbishop, Domingo de Salazar, writing of Filipino craftsmen who “… are so skillful and clever that, as soon as they see any object made by a Spanish workman, they reproduce it with exactness.... they have produced marvelous work with both the brush and the chisel, and I think that nothing more perfect could be produced than some of their statues of the Child Jesus which I have seen.” 1 -Murvyn Rodriguez Callo

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1 Text taken from the Gutenberg Project. The Gutenberg text says “Marble images of the Christ child” but I heavily suspect that Salazar probably was referring to ivory images.

List of Works Consulted: Blair, E. H. and J. A. Robertson. The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898. Https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13701/13701-h/13701-h.htm. October 11, 2004. Accessed January 15, 2016. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13701/13701-h/13701-h.htm.

Finishing Techniques in Metalwork. 2016. Accessed January 14, 2016. http://www.philamuseum.org/booklets/7_42_77_1.html.

Jose, R. T. 1990. Images of Faith: Religious ivory carvings from the Philippines. Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum.

Gatbonton, E. B. 1979. A Heritage of saints: Colonial santos in the Philippines. Hong Kong: Editorial Associates.

Gatbonton, E. B. 1983. Philippine religious carvings in ivory. Illus. by R. Figueroa. Manila: Intramurous Administration.

Navarro de Pintado, B. 1985. Marfiles cristianos del Oriente en Mexico [Christian oriental ivories in Mexico]. Mexico City: Fomento Cultural Banamex.

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

17 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Lan dsc a pe si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 2 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) penci l o n p a per 8 1/4” x 1 0 1 /2 ” (2 1 c m x 2 7 cm )

P 100,000 Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot Drawing is the writing of the spirit. It is truly in drawing that the artist’s personality dwells.

Though Amorsolo painted great pictures, especially during his Golden Era, pencil on paper works also thrived and his career witnessed moments of superlative drawings, such as this rustic landscape depicting grasslands that strike the viewer with its earthy immediacy.

Amorsolo was a prolific illustrator, and his illustrations filled the pages of public school textbooks.

Between 1909 and 1914, Amorsolo enrolled at the Art School of the Liceo de Manila, where he earned honors for his paintings and drawings.

To make money during school, Amorsolo joined competitions and did illustrations for various Philippine publications, including Severino Reyes’ first novel in the Tagalog language, Parusa ng Diyos ("Punishment of God"), Iñigo Ed. Regalado's Madaling Araw ("Dawn"), as well as illustrations for editions of the Pasion.

18 John Frank Sabado (b.1969) Mt. Pula g si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) acryl i c o n c a n va s 43” x 3 0 1 /2 ” (1 0 9 c m x 7 7 cm )

P 40,000 John Frank Sabado’s works are higly relegated as genuine evidence of native influences. His works in the early 90’s were imagery of ecological and traditional sensitivity, such as his work “Mt. Pulag”. His younger days were filled with trips to the forests of the highlands, caves and basic commune with the earth empowering his artistic mission today in saving Mother Earth throught his work.

His participation to The 3rd Asia-Pacific Contemporary Art, Trennial, Brisbane, Australia, 1999, contributed to the history of Global contemporary arts in the 90’s.

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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED COUPLE

19 Danilo Dalena (b.1942) Tu l o g- Ta lo ( J a i- A li S e ri e s )d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 1 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 16” x 1 6 ” (4 1 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 180,000 According to Alice Guillermo, Danilo Dalena’s paintings “convey an immensely sensuous, indeed sensual, uninhibited fluidity….

Likewise, their sensuousness exudes a complex aroma of human effusions simmering in the long summer heat…”

Dalena honed his art in hundreds of character studies, figure drawings of down and out betting hall and beer house types.

The superb fluency of drawing captures an entire vocabulary of intimate and physical body language, so highly nuanced and yet so transitory.

Guillermo concludes: “Yet Dalena’s satire, while caustic and cutting, is not all dark and heavy. It always bears a note of humor, like a left handed compliment. And this is where he is part of what he satirizes; this is where he is soul brother to the shadowy night denizens and to the down and out habitués of betting halls and beer joints.”

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20 Antonio Luna y Novicio (1866-1899) 1897 M a y 1 2 Autogra ph M a nu sc r i p t o n le tte r at C a rce l M o d e lo in Ma d rid , Sp a in 8” x 5 1 /4 ” (2 0 c m x 1 3 cm )

P 30,000 Provenance: Grace Luna de San Pedro estate, 1989 Earliest known manuscript letter with the original signature of Antonio Luna dated Wednesday, May 12, 1897, Carcel Modelo in Madrid, Spain. The letter was written during the time he was exiled and imprisoned in Madrid after being implicated as a rebel.

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21 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932-2011) Tres Ma r ia s si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 25” x 3 1 ” (6 4 c m x 7 9 cm )

P 200,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mr. Christian Aguilar confirming the authenticity of this lot Alcuaz carried on the realist tradition for everyday subjects; however, this painting of a contemplative female reader in the company of two other languorous women in a well-lit interior creates a near abstract composition of tonal values, especially on the glass topped surface of the table.

The art of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz covers a wide range of genres and styles, from the simplest of portraits to the most complex of abstraction.

Much celebrated is his “Tres Marias” theme with their nineteenth century air of women in gowns, beribboned and beruffled – adding contemporary young women while retaining a setting of quiet gentility, like flowers in the honey-colored light.

This version of Alcuaz’ “Tres Marias” reflects his ability to perceive the world through a complex prism of cultures and time frames resulting in an oeuvre that speaks to a broad range of sensibilities. His intense use of colors, such as the vivid yellows which appear in his abstractions, are also manifest in the dresses of the contemporary women.

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22 Episcopal Chair 1890s Wood a nd Vel vet H: 40” x L: 2 8 1 /2 ” x W: 3 1 1 / 2 ” ( 1 0 2 cm x 7 2 cm x 8 0 c m )

P 100,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City

Episcopal chairs were used in churches during High Mass. They always came in a set of three, with the central one for the officiating priest sometimes bigger or more elaborate. In the 20th century, as the fashion for elaborate Masses and the Te Deum went out of favor, these chairs were used only when a high ecclesiastical official, usually a Bishop, presided. Hence, the chair became known as a Bishop’s Chair.

This particular episcopal chair is most unusual because its design and decorative motifs show a Mudejar influence that pervaded fashion and architecture in the 1890s as a result of the wars in Morocco and Algiers. The chair still has most of its original light blue paint on the flat surfaces and the gilding on the carved leaves and flowers.

The chair is unusually low as episcopal chairs go and stand on four turned tapering legs resembling an inverted bud carved with acanthus leaves and attached to a spool, the bottom part of which is carved with lotus petals. The legs end in a ring and ball feet.

The front and sides of the wide, blue-painted seat frame is edged with gilded molding and carved with a row of seven gilded stylized crosses on each side. At first glance, the cross looks like a fleur-de-lis, but is actually composed of four tri-lobed leaves joined together at their stems. The seat is upholstered with new velvet material.

The slightly inclined chair back consists of a single slab of wood, its upper part cut out to form a wide, lancet-shaped Arab merlon flanked by small and narrow ones surmounted by turned and gilded finials. An ovate, velvet-padded backrest at the center of the wooden panel has a pair of acanthus scrolls with a fleur-de-lis at the center carved beneath it. Palm fronds emanating from it frame the lower half of backrest. A large flower with many petals carved above the backrest is flanked on either side by a symmetrical C-scroll joined by a fleur-de-lis to form a crest. Flowing downward on either side are laurel branches and acanthus scrolls. Beneath each finial on either side of the merlon is carved a tri-lobed flower from which emanate a garland of laurel leaves that reach the top of the arms attached to the back.

The wide upholstered arms undulate in a curve to form the armrest then gradually rise over the arm support to curl downward into a scroll in front. The outer and inner edges of the arms are carved with a row of overlapping leaves that curl in front to form a scroll.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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23 19th Century Philippine School Un ti tl e d si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) waterco l o r o n p a per 6” x 8 1 /4 ” (1 5 c m x 2 1 cm )

P 40,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid The Filipino watercolorist depicts a pivotal moment in some unidentified locale during the Philippine Revolution (called the Tagalog War by the Spanish) which was fought between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities.

The grand tableau has all the elements of a painting about the war. While the Philippine Revolution was raging, Spain also had to come to terms with the Spanish-American war on the other side of the globe, when on April 21, 1898, the United States launched a naval blockade of Cuba. On May 1, 1898, the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron, under Commodore George Dewey decisively defeated the Spanish navy in the Battle of Manila Bay, effectively seizing control of Manila. In certain American paintings depicting the Battle of Manila Bay, the Spanish flags are also hoisted from the Spanish warships, along with the American flag on the American warships. Wartime flags are a frequent occurrence in the pages of ‘Harper’s Weekly’ during that era. In a similar vein, in this watercolor done by a Spanish artist, the Spanish flag is hoisted from the turret of the church.

On May 19, Emilio Aguinaldo, unofficially allied with the United States, returned to the Philippines and resumed attacks against the Spaniards.

The Spanish rule of the Philippines officially ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1898, which also ended the Spanish–American War. In the treaty, Spain ceded control of the Philippines and other territories to the United States. The battle scene is one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, as rulers have always been keen to celebrate their victories and intimidate potential opponents. Here, the Filipino artist depicts the valiant standoff of his countrymen, storming the forefront of the fortress-like church, a windswept Spanish flag and all.

The defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche, and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic revaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of ’98. A decade and a half later — with the advent of the twentieth century — World War I very largely confirmed the end of the glorification of war in art, which had been in decline since the end of the previous century.

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24 Romulo Olazo (1934-2015) Un ti tl e d # 56 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 4 ( lo w e r le f t) mi xed med i a 24” x 3 6 ” (6 1 c m x 9 1 cm )

P 220,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City The sense of festive exuberance, created by the polychrome layers, creates a visual experience quite different from the minimalist ethos of Olazo’s monochromatic diaphanous series. “Untitled # 56” comes as a pleasant diversion as there is none of the beckoning stillness that is made manifest in most of Olazo’s works.

With its reds and pinks over the blues and aquas with whites, this mixed media work is one of the select instances wherein Romulo Olazo creates a polychrome diaphanous composition while still featuring his signature layers that create overlapping patterns of relative transparency and density.

The filmy layers notwithstanding, the overall effect is the tension between light and dark, thereby producing ethereal optical tensions.

Even in this polychrome mixed media composition, Olazo strives to maintain a floating quality, a hovering series of effects, like whispery fusion of matter and illusion.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

PROPERTY FROM THE BEN CHAN COLLECTION

25 David Medalla (b.1942) a.) B ac c hus A sle e p si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 1 ( lo w e r rig h t) i nk on p a per 10 1/2” x 1 6 1 /2 ” (2 7 cm x 4 2 cm ) b.) Da v id Me da lla a n d Ori ol d e Qua dr a s si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 8 ( b o tto m ) print 7 /1 0 31 1/4” x 2 2 1 /2 ” (7 9 cm x 5 7 cm ) c.) So ut h of E de n si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) print 1 6 /3 0 35” x 2 5 ” (8 9 c m x 6 4 cm )

P 100,000

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Internationally known Filipino artist David Medalla’s body of work contains a wide assortment of mediums – from sculpture and kinetic art to painting, installation and performance art. The versatile Medalla’s works have been featured in various exhibitions, including some curated

by Harald Szeemann, one of the most prolific curators of their time.

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26 Oscar Zalameda (1930-2010) Fl ower Ve ndor s signed (l ow er l eft ) oi l on c a n va s 29” x 3 4 1 /4 ” (7 4 c m x 8 7 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by Ms. Menchu Katigbak The well-travelled, jet set, Oscar Zalameda has concocted a distinctive brand of cubism. Featuring the rural and the idyllic, his canvasses usually host countryside montages, fishermen, and barrio lasses, among other things.

Having studied in the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts and the Sorbonne in Paris, Zalameda has managed to incorporate a European quality in his work, mixed with an international world-view.

Despite his international travels, residences, and influences, however, prevalent still in Zalameda’s work is the very Filipino context in his renditions — a display of his unwavering love for his motherland.

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27 José Rizal (1861-1896) 1892 Ju n e 3 0 HongKo n g Ga s R ec ei p t 8 1/2” x 3 3 /4 ” (2 2 c m x 1 0 cm )

P 30,000 Provenance: Ramon N. Villegas Rizal Family Estate, 1988 This utility gas bill is significant because it was in June, 1892 when Jose Rizal decided to return to the Philippines to negotiate with the Spanish Governor General.

As a turning point in life, the date divides the enjoyable life and travels abroad of our National Hero from his return to the Philippines that turned out to be an extraordinary event of which the consequence led to his punishment and death by the Spanish Colonial authorities

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28 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Po rtrait of a Gir l si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 2 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) an d in s crib e d I n n o c en c ia Felic ia n o (v erso ) oil on c a n va s 13” x 1 0 ” (3 3 c m x 2 5 cm )

P 220,000 Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot What fond memories childhood recalls. Suddenly, leaping back across years filled with innocence and grace, we are strolling into what seems like the world’s first morning. Our thoughts were magical then, and the world was enchanting when viewed from the rosy threshold of youth’s comforting embrace.

This blithe ingénue wears a dress in bright turquoise. As Amorsolo’s delicate brushwork is enveloped in jewel-like tones, so the blossoming of adolescence transforms the gleeful animation of childhood to pensive wonder.

The freshness of the painting and the impression it gives of the wonderful innocence of childhood make this an exceptional portrait by any standard.

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29 Dominic Rubio (b.1970) Un ti tl e d si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) oil on c a n va s 36” x 4 8 ” (9 1 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 120,000 Set in the early 19th century, Dominic Rubio’s reimagination of the lost, idyllic past has created some of the most intriguing pieces. Exceptional are the characters that grace his canvas as they go about their day, as if to seamlessly flaunt their peculiar nature.

Draped in the fashion of the time, these long-necked renditions of the populace bear with them a nostalgic air.

Captivatingly eccentric, this elegantly composed and masterfully crafted work captures the picturesque scene with a dreamy, beguiling wonder.

30 Ang Kiukok (1931 - 2005) Fi s h si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 12” x 1 2 ” (3 0 c m x 3 0 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: with Finale Art File This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued

by Finale Art File confirming the authenticity of this lot All throughout Ang Kiukok’s vast and impressive body of work, the recurring appearance of still lifes make their presence felt over the different periods of the artist’s career. From fruits and furniture to vegetables and tablescapes, Kiukok’s extensive exploration of still life has wrought some of the most sophisticated and evocative works in the genre.

This very piece is from 2003, 2 years after the modern master was conferred as a National Artist.

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31 Eduardo Castrillo (b.1942) Cruci fix ion signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 3 brass H : 38” x L: 1 8 3 /4 ” x W: 7 ” ( 9 7 cm x 4 8 cm x 1 8 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City Succeeding Napoleon Abueva by a generation, the number, scale, and impact of Eduardo Castrillo’s works in metal, both abstract and figurative, contributed to a greater sculpture consciousness, and to the renewed vitality of the art in the country.

In this religious subject, Castrillo interpreted a crucial tenet of Christian belief – the death of Jesus Christ – that pivotal event between the Messiah’s life and death and resurrection. The figure is stylistically reduced to minimalist proportions, the severe and spare abstraction of the traditionally figurative, a modernist reaction against the traditional style of centuries old mellifluous forms of altar objets d’ art.

Castrillo reduces the sculpted image into basic shapes and planes to bring out the most elemental forms and the overall somber mood, he nevertheless ably achieves realism within the context of a contemporary art idiom.

Castrillo brings, in the words of Alfredo Roces in his book “Breaking Out – An Eduardo Castrillo Sculptural Tour”: “(the) Christ figure and the instrument of his death, into one cohesive whole…”

The Crucifix successfully communicates the message of the Christ’s sacrifice in suffering. Pain and forbearance are successfully interpreted through means. The gravity of suffering weighs down the straightforwardly minimalist, symmetrical verticality of the body.

Roces adds: “…Now while Ed is definitely no religious devotee, his understanding and rapport with the spiritual, his inclination towards religious themes such as the ‘Pieta’ and the ‘Last Supper’ inform his functional liturgical works, giving these their unique character.”

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32 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) Landsc a pe signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 6 6 ( lo w e r le f t) waterco l o r o n p a per 28” x 2 0 1 /2 ” (7 1 c m x 5 2 cm )

P 140,000 Throughout his career, modernist master Vicente Manansala has exhibited his superb artistry through numerous works in various mediums. Although immensely talented in painting in general, noteworthy and outstanding are his works done in watercolor.

Having received various grants to study overseas — the first of which to Ecole de Beaux Arts, in Montreal Canada in 1949, followed by another to Ecole de Beaux Arts, University of Paris in 1950 — it was imperative that Manansala draw inspiration from his academic journey.

It was Manansala’s sojourns abroad that caused the stylistic change in his art, shifting from the academic to the abstract. His use of cubistic elements, topped with his palette choice and stubborn originality, has allowed him to conceive such a unique quality in his work.

This idyllic scene is truly a marvelous example of Manansala’s impeccable watercolor technique. From the vast, lush landscape, to the minute, detailed houses, Manansala captures the bucolic setting with an ever beguiling atmosphere.

This piece is from 1966, 6 years after his US grant to study stained glass technique in New York, and a year before his sojourn to the Otis Art Institute.

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33 Lee Aguinaldo (1933-2007) Pi nk Cir c ula t ion N o.4 si gned, t i t l ed , a nd d a t e d 1 9 7 5 ( in v e rs o ) acryl i c (a q u a - t ec ) 24” x 2 4 ” (6 1 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 300,000 Pink Circulation No.4 expresses the power of pure color — and does so in the manner of hard edged abstraction. The paint is even and non-textured, flat without illusion and banks on the interaction of side by side monochromes. To quote American Hard Edge abstractionist Frederick Hammersley, structure, “is of prime importance…Until this is right, nothing further can be done. After the picture works in line, the shapes ‘become’ colors.”

Notable at this stage in the evolution of Aguinaldo’s aesthetic is his total abandonment of the vigorous gestural brushwork of his Abstract Expressionist years.

In a 1972 interview, Cid Reyes comments: “Your most recent paintings had a very limited range of colors…”

Lee Aguinaldo answers: “It’s a good discipline. It’s like Zen exercise.”

In Pink Circulation No.4, Aguinaldo’s art has grown and matured and declared color as its source of sensation. He has reduced his art to the basic sensation of abstraction that provides dramatic impact via a singular vast area of pure color.

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34 Sheraton Sideboard Late 1 9t h C e nt ur y N arra, C a ra b a o B on e, K a m a g o n g & L a n ite H: 37 1/4 ” x L: 5 6 1 /4 ” x W: 2 2 ” ( 9 5 cm x 1 4 3 cm x 5 6 c m )

P 200,000 Provenance: Baliuag, Bulacan The Sheraton Style of furniture as interpreted by Duncan Phyfe was very popular in the Philippines and greatly influenced furniture made in Baliwag, Bulacan. This side table is a graceful example of a Sheraton Style side table and, even if it is not a large piece, is made with elegant proportions and inlaid with strips of kamagong and germetrically-shaped pieces of carabao bone.

This small narra sideboard in the Sheraton Style stands on four slim, ring-turned, tapering legs, the shaft of which is carved with reeds. The square upper part of the leg is inlaid with a serrated wheel enclosing a stellar flower. The wheel is composed of bone triangles joined at their bases, while eight elongated diamond-shaped lozenges radiating from a central bone disk form the flower. Joining the legs together are arced aprons inlaid with a lower border of diamond lozenges.

The vertical carcass frame is bordered near the edges with line-inlays of lanite and kamagong.

Running through the middle between them is a strip of kamagong inlaid with a series of bone disks with black dots at their centers. Strips of the same kamagong and bone are also inlaid on the edges of the top and lower planks and the drawer supports.

Three drawers line the front, a wide one at the center flanked by a smaller, concave one on either side. The drawer faces are line-inlaid with kamagong and bone to form a rectangle with quadrant corners and a semi-circle beneath each keyhole, the latter inlaid with triangles joined at the bases to form a serrated border. Another border around the line inlay is composed of horizontal and vertical rows of diamond lozenges that form a four-pointed star at each corner joint. The middle drawer has a pair of turned kamagong drawer pulls, while the smaller ones have one each, all inlaid at the center with a bone disk incised with lines to form a stylized flower with eight petals. Inlaid at the face around each pull is a serrated circle of bone triangles joined at their bases. A line scroll with diamond-shaped leaves emanate from each side of the circle on the small drawers, while a large, yoke-shaped swag decorates the space beneath the keyhole and the two pulls on the large middle drawer.

The side panels are inlaid with a rectangular border of diamonds like the drawer faces and are decorated at the center with a sunburst formed by eight elongated diamonds tipped with tiny disks radiating from a larger central disk, each disk having a dot at its center.

The top of the sideboard consists of a single plank with a beautiful grain borderd by a line-inlay border of lanite and kamagong with quadrant corners. A stellar sunburst within a serrated circle like that on the upper legs decorates each quadrant. In the middle of the panel is another stellar inlay composed of a stellar snowflake-like design surrounded by joined arcs with a trio of diamonds joined together at each cusp. A wreath formed by a circle with evenly spaced pairs of diamond-shaped leaves surround the central design. The top has a burn mark on the left side, probably caused by an overturned candle.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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35 Mauro Malang Santos (b.1928) Three Women sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 0 5 (lo w er rig h t) gouache 2 3 ” x 1 6 1 /2 ” (5 8 c m x 4 2 c m )

P 140,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by West Gallery confirming the authenticity of this lot It can be noticed that Mauro “Malang” Santos’ canvasses feature varying themes and styles. The uncanny figures that grace his works are brilliantly constructed, bearing figurative cubist elements that shed a distinct perspective on Filipino subjects.

Later in his career, Malang put his focus on disparate Filipina women, and laid them around religious and floral settings.

Here, we see a more mature and experienced Malang, composing the clever, captivating compositions with a more jubilant palette — just as in this 2005 work.

36 Geraldine Javier (b.1970) Kan i l a si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) mi xed med i a 24” x 1 8 ” (6 1 c m x 4 6 cm )

P 120,000 An early work by Geraldine Javier, one of the Philippines’ (as well as Southeast Asia’s) most prominent mid-career artists, Kanila features a woman straight out of a comic book, complete with a speech balloon. Here, the figure is evoked not by lines but by stitches— prefiguring the later works of the artist that would feature extensive needlework—as if who she is and what she is about to say are all tentative and easily unraveled, against an indeterminate, abstract background.

Steeped with an alarming, breathless beauty, the work features the dark foreboding that has become Javier’s trademark: the ghostly, vacant eyes, the sinister smile, the face’s dissolution against a larger environment suggest a premonition humming beneath the surface of ordinary life, an impending breakdown of bedrock certainties. The compositional elements blending into one another expand our understanding of Javier’s meticulous technique and enduring, intractable style.

Kanila magnetically draws in the viewers’ attention.

Once it’s seen, it can never be forgotten.

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37 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Burn i n g of Idols si gned (l o w er l eft ) waterco l o r o n p a per 6” x 9 1 /4 ” (1 5 c m x 2 3 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot It has not been documented whether Amorsolo’s watercolours are also color studies or quick impressions of the moment in watercolour. So far all of his color studies are, according to Alfredo Roces in 1975: “…quick impressions of the moment in oil.…Out of such color studies Amorsolo would create his genre pieces and his paintings with historical subject or anecdotal paintings.” “…Most of these color studies are among his most appealing works because they contain the spontaneity of the moment” Alfredo Roces adds: “Art historian Castaneda also attributes the 'vision of the moment' technique of Velasquez “as an affinity of Amorsolo to the Spanish master whose works he saw in the Prado Museum. Roces adds: “The vision of the moment seeks a total unity of all the elements through a rendering of the relationship of all the various parts as perceived at a glance.”

The burning flame holds every element together in this vision of the moment watercolor by Amorsolo depicting an ancient Filipino ritual.

Amorsolo shows this mastery even with the difficult medium of watercolour which has the reputation of being quite demanding. Even with the transparent qualities of watercolor, which has the tendencies to diffuse, Amorsolo manifests his famous backlighting effects — where the light comes from behind — onto the arms of the woman, for example. Wet-on-wet painterly details of colors are added for their seductive worth.

Early cultures partook in festive looking rituals for many purposes, usually involving beliefs in the continuity of harvests, and the like.

The celebration of all manners of religious ritual are depicted in art for their own sakes, freeing artists like Amorsolo to create works commemorating public festivities.

Amorsolo’s explorations into the Filipino identity become contextualized in the larger background of indigenous Filipino culture.

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38 Benedicto Cabrera (b.1942) a.) Fem a le Tor so II si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) mi xed med i a 14” x 1 1 1 /2 ” (3 6 c m x 2 9 cm ) b.) Nu de II si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) penci l o n p a per 11 1/2” x 1 0 ” (2 9 c m x 2 5 cm )

(a)

c.) Fema le Tor so si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) penci l o n p a per 11 1/4” x 1 1 ” (2 9 c m x 2 8 cm )

P 140,000 Provenance: with Luz Gallery Private Collection, USA Prolific modernist and National Artist Benedicto Cabrera, fondly known by the moniker BenCab, has created a vast array of works.

From prints and sketches, to pastel and oil works, BenCab has captured his subjects with a distinct allure — vigorous with a coarse elegance.

Rendered with a reverent inclination to the power of the female physique rather than the blustering hyper-masculine Filipino virility, BenCab’s nudes possess the same charm, robustly flaunting the grace of the female form.

(b)

(c)

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39 Jerry Elizalde Navarro (1924-1999) The Da nc e of t he Mi s ts a n d B i rd s o n g s signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 2 ( le f t) oi l on c a nva s 35” x 5 3 ” (8 9 c m x 1 3 5 cm )

P 500,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA The physical presence of an elaborately costumed Balinese or Maranao dancer is not necessary to convey the dynamism of the moment. In this luminescent canvas, Jerry Elizalde Navarro endows fleeting moments with a grand presence. Navarro is always successful in his attempts to transform, rather than mirror, experience.

As a young artist, Navarro was passionate about finding new ways to create movement with color. He experimented with oils, acrylics, and watercolors. In his lifetime, Navarro also explored various styles and mediums, including sculpture and mixed media.

In 1954, he worked with “incision painting”— applying intricate designs on stone surfaces by carving out the artist's desired pattern on the stone material and layering paint or plaster on to the stone surface until the paint has set. The artist then scrapes off all paint from the stone surface except for what has set in the etched pattern.

Navarro went on to participate in international contests and exhibitions as an artist representing the Philippines. He traveled all over the world, visiting places in Brazil, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Indonesia, and the United States. His stay in Indonesia was crucial, and his gestural brushstrokes reenergized his already complex abstractions with forceful lines and slashes from macho brushstrokes.

What started Navarro on a roll with his most famous style was during his sojourn with his mentor, the late Carlos "Botong" Francisco, to an island they considered close to paradise on earth.

One of his inspirations, undoubtedly, is in the lush, dense tropical forests of Ubod, Bali, and the traditional art expressions of Indonesian ritual, theater, music and dance. The formalist tendencies of much modern art reflected in his earlier canvasses gave way to rhapsodic impressions in his abstract lyrics.

He was the first Filipino artist to be inducted into the Neka Art Museum in Bali, Indonesia, and deservingly so. His exposure to Bali was the catalyst for his palette and art in general to cross cultures.

Navarro was named National Artist for Visual Arts in 1999.

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40 The Scourging at the Pillar 19th C e nt ur y I v ory, Wood , Gol d a nd S ilv e r wi th ba se: H: 2 2 1 /2 ” x L : 9 ” x W: 7 ” ( 5 7 cm x 2 3 cm x 1 8 c m ) wi thou t ba se: H: 1 7 1 /2 ” x L : 4 3 / 4 ” x W: 4 3 / 4 ” ( 4 4 cm x 1 2 c m x 1 2 c m )

P 240,000 Provenance: Property of a distinguished Manila gentleman Purchased in Vigan, Ilocos Sur

An exceedingly rare image of the Scourging of Christ or Christ bound at the Pillar with ivory head, hands and feet. The ivory parts are mounted on original wooden, lightwood body. The whole stands on its original wooden base later outfitted with silver.

The silver post is a new replacement to the old, wooden pillar.

According to Navarro de Pintado (1985, p. 97), this representation is not customary in Hispano-Philippine carvings in ivory.

In fact, I would go on record as stating that Philippine Passion images with ivory parts are rare. Philippine Passion images made completely of ivory are rarer still. The exception being ivory image of the crucified Christ which proliferate throughout the Spanish colonial period even to this very day.

To date, only three solid ivory of examples of Christ bound to the Pillar have been identified as being carved in the Philippines.

One is in a private collection in Madrid (Estella, 1984, Fig. 206). The second is in a private collection in Mexico City (Navarro de Pintado, 1985, pl.71). And the third is a small ivory image carved as part of a Holy Week tableau now in the Que collection (Jose, 1990, p. 62; Jose & Villegas, 2004, pp. 180-181). Interestingly, both the first and the second examples look very similar and may have come from the same atelier if not the same hand. The Gapos in the Que collection is part of a multi-character Holy Week display that includes six (6) Passion figures and a complete Crucifixion tableau.

The iconography of Christ Bound at the Pillar is more common in the Indo-Portuguese ivory carving tradition. Three examples are illustrated in the book Ivories in the Portuguese Empire (Bailey, Massing & Silva, 2013, pp. 184-185). A similarly bound Christ in the exact same posture (but without the pillar) is illustrated by Estella. Called an Ecce Homo [Behold the Man], the first example found in the Manzo de Zuñiga collection wears a short cape (Estella, 1984, fig. 358). The second figure, found in the Miranda Lleó collection, is an ivory plaque that contains an image of Christ that looks very similar to this image including the raised foot but with the rope intact (Estella, 1984, fig. 359). Both are attributed to the Indo Portuguese school.

In this example, Christ is shown standing. He has already been whipped and brutalized as evident by the flecks of blood that splatters his forehead and neck. He is tied to a column but the metal chains that would have bound him to the pillar are now missing.

The body is made of light wood and may have had encarna applied to its surface at one time. All traces of the encarna now lost.

The body now presents a rough surface on which the ivory head, hands and feet are mounted. The groin area is covered with a small wrapped gauze tied the right side of the body. In ivory images of the Cristong Gapos, a fine rope or cord binds the head, falls in a line down the front, then descends to tie the hands of Christ to the column. That rope, or in this case probably a fine gold chain, is missing In ivory examples of the Cristong Gapos, Christ’s expression is one of submission and sadness. In this example, his eyes are wide open; his mouth agape. He bears an expression of surprise and puzzlement as to why the events are happening. His face is thoroughly occidental with wide eyes and a thin, straight nose. Incongruously, a curly, blonde fiber wig frames a face accented with a beard and mustache colored a dark brown. The Christ figure stands with the back of his right feet slightly elevated. This gives the figure a slight forward momentum. The feet are slightly apart and facing each other according to the inclined position of the figure. The base is originally wood but have been overlain with silver fittings made of coin silver.

As previously stated, Passion images with ivory parts are rare. In Power+Faith+Image (Jose & Villegas, 2004), a catalog in book form of arguably one of the most comprehensive inventory of Philippine ivories, there were only three table-top ivory images of Christ with ivory head and hands: an “Agony in the Garden" in the Salgado Collection; a “Nazareno” in the Que Collection; and a "Sto. Entierro" in the Gomez-Grande Collection" (all found on pp. 264-5). There is also an Entierro with an ivory head in the collection of the Intramuros Administration. And another Entierro encased in a grand calandra (funerary hearse) found in the Raffy Lopez collection.

There is an image of the Christ Carrying the Cross (also called the Nazareno) in a private collection in Chicago that has an ivory head, hands and feet. A similar Nazareno with ivory head, hands and feet is found in a private collection in San Diego. There is a stunning example of the Crowning of Thorns tableau with Christ and two Centurions (also called “hudyos”) found in a private collection in Tarlac. There may be other Passion figures with ivory parts out there but they are unknown to the writer at this time.

-Murvyn Rodriguez Callo

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List of Works Consulted: Bailey, G. A., J. M. Massing and N. V. E. Silva. 2013. Marfins no imperio Portugues [Ivories in the Portuguese empire]. Lisbon: Scribe.

Estella, M. M. 1984. La escultura barocca de marfil en Espana [Baroque ivory sculpture in Spain]. vol. II. Madrid: Instituto Diego Velazquez.

Jose, R. T. 1990. Images of faith: Religious ivory carvings from the Philippines. Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum.

Jose, R. T. and R. N. Villegas. Power+Faith+Image: Philippine art in ivory from the 16th to the 19th century. Makati: Ayala Museum.

Navarro de Pintado, B. 1985. Marfiles cristianos del Oriente en Mexico [Christian oriental ivories in Mexico]. Mexico City: Fomento Cultural Banamex.

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41 Don Salubayba (1979-2014) Yakap sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 1 1 (b o tto m ) o il o n c a n va s 5 0 ” x 3 2 ” (1 2 7 c m x 8 1 c m )

P 80,000 Don Salubayba was a prolific and highly skilled artist whose artistic career was fast on the rise. Despite his untimely passing at such a young age, Salubayba was able to gain critical acclaim here and abroad, having exhibited successfully in Asia and the United States.

His works "are anchored on allegory” (Pashcal Berry) with a leaning towards muted, monochromatic colors.

Highly political, (in this piece religion is tackled) his works are powerful statements on the human condition of his beloved homeland.

42 Napoleon Abueva (b.1930) Carab a o si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 5 brass H: 2 1/4 ” x L: 8 1 /2 ” x W: 2 3 / 4 ” ( 6 cm x 2 2 cm x 7 cm )

P 100,000 Sometime after the Philippines was liberated from Japan, various arts and crafts experts were sent to the Philippines by the UN — these artists and artisans were painters, sculptors, weavers, and such. It was the head of the U.N. delegation along with some of the artists that taught new styles and ideas to, in a way, upgrade the quality of design in the country.

It was John Resley, a sculptor, who taught the younger Abueva to experiment with wood –— as opposed to Guillermo Tolentino’s favoring of clay modeling and casting. After the experience, Abueva ventured into other mediums and techniques, and has since created numerous works. The talented and versatile Abueva has crafted masterfully with nearly every medium, rendering pieces in metal as elegantly as he would in marble or wood — such as can be seen in this brass Carabao sculpture.

It was because of occurrences like these that, now National Artist, Napoleon Abueva has been considered a pioneering modernist in Philippine Sculpture.

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43 Marina Cruz (b.1982) Geo me t r ic L a ndsc a p e s si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 45” x 6 0 ” (1 1 4 c m x 1 5 2 cm )

P 400,000 Geometric Landscapes is like a macro view of a cityscape with very graphic patterns appearing to the artist like houses and buildings. This dress motif is based on a clothing, a dress, made by the artist's grandmother for her aunt Sonia when she was in Grade 5 Elementary in 1965. During those times people still make their own dresses and don't wear school uniforms.

Interesting patterns looking like abstracted forms are actually a fabric from more than 50 years ago.

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44 Isidro Ancheta (1882-1946) I n tramur os si gned (l ow er l eft ) oil on w o od 8 1/2” x 1 3 ” (2 2 c m x 3 3 cm )

P 40,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA Isidro Ancheta’s use of the Philippine Sun’s radiance is truly a magnificent spectacle. Redolent of the Amorsolo backlighting technique, this work shows an extremely strong contrast of tones between the shade and the outdoor brilliance.

Ancheta immortalizes the very moment, as a kalesa, or carriage, is set in the middle of the scene waiting — basking in the shade from the scorching heat.

45 Juvenal Sanso (b.1929) U nti tl ed Ca .1 9 8 0 sig n ed (lo w er rig h t) wa terc o lo r o n p a p er 2 3 1 /4 ” x 3 3 1 /4 ” (5 9 c m x 8 4 c m)

P 120,000 The rhythmic, ambient, and tranquil nature of Juvenal Sanso’s later works have captivated his audience time and again.

The lush flora that persists through the artist’s oeuvre continually invigorates and enlivens spectators, putting together a symphonic interplay of elements.

These serene settings possessive of a dream-like air, as in this very work, are Sanso’s personal brew of wistfulness, whimsy and peace. Calming compositions which many have labelled ‘poetic surrealism.’

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46 Ang Kiukok (1931 - 2005) Ban an a s si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 6 ( u p p e r le f t) tempera 28” x 2 2 ” (7 2 c m x 5 6 cm )

P 800,000 Provenance: La Solidaridad Galleries This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Finale Art File confirming the authenticity of this lot The Filipino Chinese artist, Ang Kiukok explores the evanescence of the fragile beauty of nature’s bounty amid the startling power of violence that usually surrounds his visual universe.

Ang Kiukok simplifies shapes and reduces them to flat textural surfaces. Concerned with composition, his colors are intense, dramatic, and more evocative. His use of planar spaces developed a spontaneity, a bravura. Forceful and subtle colors interplay without prejudice to each other.

Despite the usual visual violence that pervades his works, Ang’s works are often infused with a fragile, resplendent beauty.

Ang Kiukok’s proficiency as an abstractionist can be gleaned in this rather complex composition. Ang Kiukok has always had a fondness for drawing, and while back at the Davao, Chinese Highschool, he caught the eye of a known Chinese painter Tan Kok King. His passions being fueled by this, he continued drawing and was later then known at school for his art. In 1947, he found a job that allowed him to practice his talent. Ang Kiukok went to Cotabato to work as an apprentice for 2 weeks making billboards for movies in theaters.

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47 Benedicto Cabrera (b.1942) Remem be r ing a nd F o rg e tti n g si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) digital pr i n t r epr o d u c t io n o n a rch ival p a p e r o f a n o rigin a l artwork b y B en C a b - (R e m e m b e rin g an d Fo rg e ttin g , 2 0 1 2 2014, a c r y l i c o n c a n vas, 1 5 2 . 5 x 9 1 . 5 cm ) , 2 3 / 2 5 28 1/4” x 1 7 1 /2 ” (7 2 cm x 4 4 cm )

P 70,000 To quote the book “BENCAB” by Krip Yuson and Cid Reyes: “In the 70s, with the onslaught of minimalism, the figure of Sabel resurfaced as a sleek, shape specific form, recast in space with the fluidity of the human body.

It seemed the Sabel image could not be transfixed on a permanent pictorial setting.”

Bencab’s infatuation with Minimalism, however, proved to be short lived. Instead of a simplicity of form, the artist chose to explore the more richly configuration of shapes inherent in the Sabel image….”

The way the fabrics fall on the body of this 2014 incarnation of Sabel (with her palms on her face) almost evokes the dresses of ancient Grecian women. In fact, the book “BENCAB” adds: “In the late 90s, the regeneration of figure and drapery was provoked by a museum postcard that Bencab had picked up in one of his travels. It was a photograph of Isadora Duncan (1878-1927), the American pioneer of modern dance whose source of inspiration was the dance of the ancient Greeks.”

Just like those ancient prototypes, the drama of drapery falling on the body is neither restrained nor modified by those unwieldy and uneasy fabrics. The lavish attention on the complex and intricate fall of drapery characterize the garment forms that showcase the figure of Sabel. Bencab juxtaposes the boldness of lines and contour against the grey and white severity of the ragged clothing that has been divested of unnecessary details. The contrivances of fashion that disguise real beauty was unknown to both Grecian dress aesthetics and Bencab’s rugged Sabel.

48 Cris Villanueva Jr. (b.1959) Sel ecte d P ha se s of L i g h t si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 5 ( u p p e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 48” x 6 4 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 6 3 cm )

P 90,000

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49 Felipe Roxas (1840-1899) Mi l an si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) oil on w ood 13” x 8 1 /4 ” (3 3 c m x 2 1 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: Private Collection There are many ways for paintings to tell us about architecture. They can show us the building, literally, as photographs do.

They can evoke buildings interpretatively, using the artist’s imagination to intensify the mood and place the building in a kind of ideal context. This Lombard Romanesque edifice may either be the medieval basilica of Agliate in Brianza, just north of Milan or the Basilica of San’t Ambrogio in the Milan city proper. The church in the Lombard Romanesque style provides posterity to the time when Felipe Roxas decided to stay in Europe, based in Paris, for good.

Felipe Roxas was a prominent member of the Roxas clan. His brother was Felix Roxas y Arroyo, the first "qualified" Filipino architect; his father was Antonio Roxas and his mother was Lucina Arroyo. An alumnus of the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura, he taught such subjects as linear drawing, drafting, and design at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. In 1884 up to the time he migrated to Paris, he taught at the University of Santo Tomas (UST). Among his students were Jose Ma. Asuncion, whom he advised to refine his studies in Europe.

Only a few paintings of Felipe Roxas have survived, namely, “Casa Indigena en Baliuag” (Native House in Baliuag) which shows a lower, middle class house of the period with a steep roof of nipa, bamboo stairs outside the main structure, and window shutters also of bamboo; “Puente de Paete” (Paete Bridge), “Iglesia de Antipolo” (Antipolo Church) 1899 and “Despues de la Merca” (After Market Hours) all in the Pagrel Collection.

In 1889, he left for Paris with his wife and children; his descendants still live there. Roxas is regarded as a painter of buildings because of the three extant paintings, and reproductions of numerous paintings now lost. This may have been the influence of his brother, the architect Felix Roxas, who built the Neo Gothic Santo Domingo church destroyed during World War II. Felix might have asked Felipe to draft the plans, facades and interiors of the building she constructed. Thus Felipe’s paintings of architecture are firmly drawn, solidly defined and enriched with a lot of architectural and ornamental details. Most of his works were exhibited at the Exposicion Regional de Filipinas in 1895.

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

50 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Po rtrait of J . A nt oni o A ra n e ta si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 5 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a nva s 38” x 2 8 ” (9 7 c m x 7 1 cm )

P 200,000 Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot The subject of this stately painting is the legal luminary Don J. Antonio Araneta, brother of the most legendary art collector of the last century, Don Luis Araneta. His relaxed, yet authoritative gaze, and well delineated facial features add to the vitality of the painting.

J. Antonio Araneta’s public persona was shaped by his distinguished career as a lawyer, having followed the footsteps of his father — lawyer, businessman, nationalist and patriot Gregorio Soriano Araneta — in establishing a notable career in law.

Amorsolo’s stately, yet non-provocative choice of colors are in step with J. Antonio Araneta’s sterling reputation of being uncompromising in his dealings as a lawyer; a firmness with which he always stood for what he believed in.

A pale red flower pinned on his lapel is enough visual flourish to break the stately sea of gray which defines the subject’s suit.

In a similar vein, even in his legal writings, J. Antonio Araneta had “a preference for lucidity and a disdain for literary flourish that oftentimes beclouds the thought that one intends to impart” in his legal writings, according to the book “1030 R. HIDALGO.” It comes as a pleasant surprise that, beyond this reputation of straightforwardness and uncompromising firmness in the legal practice, J. Antonio Araneta is a complete and diverse art connoisseur, second only to his brother Luis.

His enthusiasm for art has been nourished by his growing up years in the family’s prewar ancestral house at 1030 R. Hidalgo in prewar Quiapo (for which the book was named) where his parents, Don Gregorio Araneta and Doña Carmen Zaragoza lived.

Amorsolo was a master of sleekly rendered surfaces. His portraiture shows as much psychological depth, and his feel for flesh and fabric was superb, he understood how to stage a portrait dramatically, and this work encapsulates the aura of a more genteel era.

Whether it’s the cheeky smiles of peasants in his genre scenes, or the prestige of Manila’s ruling class in his portraits, Amorsolo’s primary subject is the human presence, and he certainly intended many of his canvases to be taken as exercises in portraiture.

Back in, say the sixties or seventies, Amorsolo’s portraits were perhaps too close to life to be properly appraised in their time, but fifteen years after the new millennium, today’s audiences are equipped with that all important aesthetic distance to recognize their aesthetic significance.

After abstraction, conceptualism, performance art, and installations, today’s audiences are rediscovering the primal power of the portrait — specially the period portraits done by Amorsolo.

Fernando Amorsolo, an immensely gifted draftsman and a bravura painter who had absorbed lessons of many periods, has emerged as the most celebrated portraitist of the 20th century.

Philippine art has not been immune to the currents of international modernism, but classically trained artists like Amorsolo have never submitted to them easily.

The dominant art movements of the twentieth century have not given much encouragement to the art of portraiture, but Amorsolo was obviously unfazed by these forces at work.

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51 Antonio Luna’s La Independencia 1898 Novem b er 1 6 Issu e o f L a I n d e p e n d e n cia Pe rio d ico Filip in o Rev o lu tio n a ry N ew sp a p er 30” x 2 1 1 /4 ” (7 6 c m x 5 4 cm )

P 30,000 Provena nc e: Acquired d i r ec t l y fr om D r. A m b e th R . O cam p o, 1 9 8 9 LA INDEPENDENCIA PERIODICO FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY NEWSPAPER, the entire November 16, 1898 Number 61 issue of its first year, the front page focused on the Manifesto by Sr. Villanueva about Spanish prisoners, and the back page is full of advertisements. Antonio Luna was the Director of the newspaper.

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52 Lao Lianben (b.1948) Secret s si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 4 ( b o tto m ) oil on boa r d 36” x 3 6 ” (9 1 c m x 9 1 cm )

P 200,000 Lao Lianben’s art speaks to his audiences. What they are saying may be debatable, but such may only be so if they are heard.

The irony is in the reticence of these works, which invites the viewers into the stillness, as if to speak in silence. The mum beckoning gives these works potency, as we, the spectators, are swayed into partaking in the elaborate interplay of the visible and invisible Secrets is a powerful display of Lao’s ability to mesmerize his audience. As this marvelous piece draws in its viewers, the captivating, yet humbling modesty of the work pervades the human psyche, inducing a meditative trance, filled with introspection and contemplation.

This truly remarkable piece is from 1984, a year after Lao Lianben’s win in the Mobil Art Awards.

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53 Two Chalices Earl y 1 9 t h C ent ur y Si l ver a. ) H : 9 1 /4 � (2 3 c m ) Di ameter : 5 1 /4 " (1 3 c m ) b. ) H: 9 1 /4 � (2 3 c m ) Di ameter : 5 1 /2 " (1 4 c m )

P 180,000 Provenance: Manila

The ancient Roman calix was a drinking vessel consisting of a bowl fixed atop a stand and was in common use at banquets.

A chalice (from the Latin calyx) is a standing cup used to hold sacramental wine during the Mass and was intended for drinking watered wine during the ceremony of the Eucharist (also called the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion).

Chalices have been used since the beginning of the Christian church. Because of Jesus' command to his disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me." the celebration of the Eucharist became central to Christian liturgy. Since the wine was supposed to be transformed into the blood of Christ, naturally, the vessels used in this important act of worship were treated with great respect.

Until Vatican II, it was even considered sacrilegious for laymen to even touch a chalice, what more with his bare hands!

In Western Christianity, chalices often have a pommel or node where the stem meets the cup to make the elevation easier and to prevent the cup from slipping. In Roman Catholicism, chalices tend to be tulip-shaped, and the cups are quite narrow. Catholic priests will often receive chalices from their families upon their ordination into the priesthood.

Often highly decorated, chalices in the colonial period were often made of precious metal and even enameled and jeweled.

If funds were short, religious tradition required that the inside of the cup at least be plated with gold.

These silver chalices, being almost identical in shape, must have been made by the same craftsman. Their circular bases, urn-shaped knopfs and gold-washed cups differ only in dimensions and decorative details. The surfaces of the chalices are delicately and finely engraved with swags of flowers and leaves tied together by ribbons, with a different design used in each.

All their joints are bordered with a circlet of tiny beads, called rosario de perlas in contemporary inventories. This decorative detail is painstakingly laborious, as each bead is formed and filed individually from a square silver wire welded into a ring. The fact that the beads are uniform in shape shows the great skill of the silversmith who created the pieces.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

54 Dominador Castañeda (1904 - 1967) Lan dsc a pe si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on b oa r d 11” x 1 5 1 /2 ” (2 8 c m x 3 9 cm )

P 80,000 During the last six to seven years of his life, Dominador Castañeda painted scores of small canvases on which casts a major part of his fame. These were done in the open countryside known as La Huerta near his home in Paranaque, south of Manila.

This idyllic work from 1960 recalls Dominador Castañeda’s earliest works, which were characterized by firm modeling and the use of dark hues. His landscapes are predominantly rendered in white and light blue tones, evoking a cool atmosphere in contrast to Amorsolo’s yellow and orange flecked scenery. This luminous landscape seems to anticipate his excitement for things to come.

Castañeda retired from teaching from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts where he became dean in 1961 – a year after finishing this work.

E. Aguilar Cruz wrote in 1975: “His retirement from teaching in 1961 was a release from virtual imprisonment in routine…

Once more on his own, he set to paint with almost feverish energy, producing more in the last few years of his life than he had in all his 30 years of connection with the Fine Arts faculty.

55 Allan Balisi (b.1982) W hen M anki nd Comes of A ge d a ted 2 0 1 4 o il o n g esso ed c a n va s 4 8 ” x 6 0 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 5 2 c m )

P 70,000 Provenance: with Silverlens Allan Balisi’s works have, more often than not, possessed a melancholic air of longing. These evocative compositions feature the familiar and the vaguely memorable, poetically coming together as if to remind its audience of a distant memory, or once felt emotions.

“When Mankind Comes of Age” is a fine example of the artist’s use of the audience’s sentimentality. The obscured figures in the distance, seemingly rustic setting, drab palette selection; all nostalgia-inducing elements incorporated superbly to invite us in.

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56 Ramon Orlina (b.1944) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 5 blue gla ss H: 11 3/4 ” x L: 9 1 /2 ” x W: 6 1 / 2 ” ( 3 0 cm x 2 4 cm x 1 7 c m )

P 200,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot Over the course of his career, Ramon Orlina has revolutionized the art of glass sculpture and established the use of glass —inherently a fragile, but also magical material—as a vehicle for high art Taking inspiration from simple things in his surroundings such as a scenic view, cloud formation, the break of dawn, nature, as well as his family and music, Orlina imagines visual representations of these ideas and turns them into magical masterpieces that capture his free spirit.

“With painting, the struggle is within yourself. But in sculpture, you fight with your material, and you have to win over the material—that’s one thing you can’t control,” Orlina once explained. The form is achieved through a cool and measured architectonic intellect, the impact is immediate, compelling and emotional.

“Architectonic,” yes. Though he did not study art in school — Orlina has a degree in architecture — he says he learned everything by experience, through trial and error, gaining an understanding of glass in different capacities — both as a functional material which he worked with as an architect and as a material with its own soul, resisting and yielding to Orlina, the artist.

His creativity springs from a guileless optimism in the untarnished charm and munificence of the world. In his glass art, Ramon Orlina revels in his chosen role of artist as external player of games, purveyor of magic and illusion, and creator of visions of utopian beauty.

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

57 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Po rtra it of D oña P a c i ta Ara n e ta y Z a ra g o za si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 4 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 16” x 1 2 ” (4 1 c m x 3 0 cm )

P 160,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot The subject of this quietly luminous portrait, a member of Manila’s elite, wears her marcel waved hairstyle, which was the vogue way into the war years, and a modern 1940s dress. The elegant subject conveys the sophisticated style of the country’s ruling class in a spontaneous portrayal free of formality and abundant detail. Yet in the same era, Amorsolo also painted portraits of women from other prominent families, dressed in the intricately detailed traditional ‘terno’ of the era.

In the book “Fernando Amorsolo: Seven Museum Exhibition”Purissima Benitez Johannot writes: “Certain paintings by Amorsolo invite analysis through the lens of dress and appropriation. We should be aware that pinning one’s hair in a bun and wearing a Filipina dress did not always hint at sentiments of nationalism… Mina Roces notes that there was inherent tension between Western and national attire especially during this period when the politics of dress constantly shifted.”

Browsing through Manila’s magazines from the 1930s to the 1940s, there’s, say, the marcel wave framed face of Joan Crawford on the cover of the Spanish language Manila magazine “Excelsior” in 1930, and pictures of Jean Harlow in a leopard print dress, what with her MGM movie serialized in Tagalog in the magazine “Taliba” in 1936. In fact, following American fashions became commonplace and, Benitez Johannot writes: “Whereas a Filipina wearing the national dress could be viewed as forward looking… “ But these matters of fashion are trite. Benitez Johannot writes: “(Amorsolo) portrayed women as elegant, polished and beautiful, turning his waiting list of such commissions into a veritable chronicle of the wealthy and the powerful…”

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

58 Romeo Tabuena (1921-2015) Tres Ma r ia s signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 5 1 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on w ood 24” x 1 2 ” (6 1 c m x 3 0 cm )

P 100,000 Intuition rather than intellect continued to dictate the kind of paintings Tabuena was to do from 1951 onwards. Darkly rendered figures are also manifest in his other works in 1951, such as “Man with Rooster,” done in encaustic. The idiom that Tabuena subsequently chose to paint in as the 1950s passed, cubism, is a highly analytical approach, but emotion rather than reason continued to shape his artistic vision.

Tabuena was quoted in 1975: “As an artist, I believe that the best way I can express myself in my work is to strive to paint universal things in a personal way. The things in art that are of universal value are those whose essence appeals to all mankind for all time. I aspire to communicate through my work the essence of life, the sentiment of people and the magnificent beauty of nature. These are the lasting truths I wish to exemplify in my art.”

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59 Juanito Torres (b.1977) Monum e nt s of L ov e si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 60” x 7 2 ” (1 5 2 c m x 1 8 3 cm )

P 120,000 Literature: ART+ magazine, Southeast Asian Heritage Publications, Inc., Issue No. 42, 2016, (illustrated in cover) Juanito Torres is a product of the Philippine High School of the Arts in Makiling, and the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines. A 2005 Metrobank Art and Design Excellence Award Finalist, the artist had his first one-man show at Galerie Joaquin in 2011. His works have since been included in many prominent museums and institutions around the country—including the Museum of the Katipunan in San Juan City, the Miguel Malvar Museum in Batangas, and the Luna Museum in Ilocos. He is known for his historical works that merge the surrealist tradition of Rene Magritte with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Philippine history to bring out new truths of contemporary Philippine society — among some of his favorite subjects has been National Hero, Jose Rizal.

Aside from his libertarian beliefs, Dr. Jose P. Rizal was known to be quite a ladies man, with almost a dozen women linked to him in his short life. Three women, in particular, stand out: Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Rivera, and his eventual wife, Josephine Bracken. This painting by contemporary artist Juanito Torres is a comment on Rizal’s relationships with these three iconic women. Rizal, as the primary subject of numerous monuments in the Philippines, is seen here in the throes of seeing his loves as monuments themselves, all of them sharing a light moment, as if they were on a playground swing-set. Beyond is the seascape of Dapitan, where an exiled Rizal first met the half-Irish Bracken, who came to Dapitan from Hong Kong with her adoptive father, George Tauffer, to seek medical advice from Rizal, who at the time was one of the leading ophthalmologists in Asia.

Bracken is the dominant figure, seemingly pushed forward by Rizal as if to emphasize her role as his most recognizable love —immortalized in a line of Rizal’s poem Mi Ultimo Adios: “Adiós, dulce extranjera, mi amiga, mi alegría” (“Farewell, sweet foreigner, my friend and my joy”). Also in the painting is Segunda Katigbak who was a childhood crush of Rizal from his home province of Laguna, as is Leonor Rivera who was supposed to have been engaged with Rizal when they were students in Manila, before he left for Spain. Both seem to have competed their turn on the swing and have settled as staid monuments in the hero’s mind. Balloons finalize the painting’s playful nature, deftly adding a witty flourish to what would otherwise be a conceptually somber painting.

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60 Juvenal Sanso (b.1929) Un ti tl e d C a. 197 0 si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) oil on c a n va s 64” x 3 5 ” (1 6 3 c m x 8 9 cm )

P 400,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City Sanso's “plants” and “rocks” almost border on non-representational surrealism, what with his primordial plantlike forms set against the vast mysterious ether of emptiness. His works conjure a sense of being in a dreamlike swamp: the horizon, the emptiness of the sky, the solitary “plant” and “rocks.”

Time magazine (no less) stated that Sanso “makes nature the actor in richly detailed, desolate dramas.” The rusty brown glow which suffuses this work makes for a magical if brooding atmosphere on the empty backdrop.

Eric Torres writes: “Whether he paints clustered botanical life such as his many versions of dense terrestrial or marine flora…he captures his subjects with a precise, unerring draftsmanship and a penchant for what is strange, mysterious and primordial.”

His collectors include Baron Edouard de Rothschild, Prince Michael of Greece, Nelson Rockefeller, actor Vincent Price, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, Jean Cocteau and many prominent, American, European and Filipino families.

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61 Jose Pereira (1901-1954) L ands c ape sig n ed (lo w er left) o il o n c a n va s 1 3 ” x 9 1 /4 ” (3 3 c m x 2 3 c m )

P 80,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA Redolent of the Amorsolo School’s ideology, Jose Pereira’s rustic tableaus recall the lost idylls of Philippine landscapes.

Bright and full of life, this oil on canvas work permeates of a nostalgic radiance, instantly taking us back to a simpler time.

The rich impastos vigorously enliven the piece, as the tree in the foreground is lit by the scorching sun and the figures in the background merely keep to themselves. Although incorporating a style akin to that of Amorsolo’s backlighting technique, Pereira’s palette tends to be, as one would say, sweeter, what with his penchant for orange hues mixed with pink.

62 Joy Mallari (b.1966) Li hi dated 2 0 0 6 chalk p a st el on p a per 24” x 1 8 ” (6 1 c m x 4 6 cm )

P 70,000 Joy Mallari puts her creativity on display once more, this time with a mother to be as the center of her piece.

A lady who is about to bear a child sits for Mallari, as she is set upon a background of mangoes — such, implying the mythical craving of the subject.

A witty and straightforward use of subject matter, Joy Mallari captures the Filipino myth that when women are pregnant, they will crave for green mangoes — hence the title, ‘Lihi’ (crave).

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63 Fernando Zobel (1924-1984) Sel ene III ( F a se s) si gned (l ow er l eft ) da t e d 1 9 6 2 ( v e rs o ) oil on c a nva s 39” x 3 9 ” (1 0 0 c m x 1 0 0 cm )

P 1,800,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Don Rafael Perez-Madero confirming the authenticity of this lot In 1978, Cid Reyes asked Fernando Zobel: “Who among the contemporary (Filipino) painters do you admire most?”

Fernando Zobel replied: “If I had to name a single person I’d say Arturo Luz. His clarity, the profound honesty of his work, the elegance of his restraint, have to do with everything that I admire.”

Those qualities of clarity and elegance of restraint makes for the visual power behind “Selene III (Fases).”

To literally look for the Fases (or probably lunar phases) is to miss the point because the painting is actually a composition of line, tone, shape and space made compositionally taut into one lucid order. Zobel uses external reality as a subject matter, but it is his inner experience which goes on record. Zobel did not adapt the characteristic descriptions of his subjects, but created abstract equivalents. His titles are simply used as markers, and out of that, there is born what Zobel calls “the reality of created things.”

The simplicity of Zobel’s motifs provide nothing else but a play of light that brings to mind idyllic landscapes. The result is harmony that takes on a grandeur for contemplation.

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64 Sillones (Set of 3) 3rd Qua r t e r of t he 1 9 th C e n tu r y N arra a n d R a t t a n H: 42 1/4 ” x L: 2 5 " x W: 3 5 1 / 2 ” ( 1 0 7 cm x 6 4 cm x 9 0 c m )

P 200,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila The rise of the plantation economy that resulted from the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 gave birth to a moneyed leisure class and a spate of housebuilding that saw bigger houses furnished with more comfortable furniture. Gracefully carved chairs copied from European models replaced the stiff wooden seats and benches of the previous century.

The most popular of the prevailing Victorian Revival Styles that reached the Philippines was the Luis Quince or Louis XV Style. It was characterized by its cabriole legs, caned seats and caned oval backs. The leisurely lifestyle prevalent in the islands, however, produced the sillon, a comfortable high-backed armchair with a contoured, caned seat and scrolled arms and legs.

Its shape made it ideal for lounging and relaxed conversation, so it often appeared in multiples of pairs in the salas of rich hacenderos or plantation owners. It was not unusual to find as many as six of them facing each other in opposite rows on either side of a large center table.

Each of this particular set of sillones stands on four cut-out scrolled feet that curl gracefully in front and at the back. The curved and contoured seat, which also curls into a scroll in front, is caned in one piece and continues on to form the backrest shaped like the body of a violin with a concave frame. A carved crest in the form of a flower with five petals surmounted by a ring of beads topped with a plume surmounts the back. Graceful fretted acanthus leaf scrolls with grapes are symmetrically carved on either side following the curve of the back. The arms of the sillon, like the legs, are cut-out in the form of a large scroll curling downward and inward towards the front.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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65 Buen Calubayan (b.1980) Eterna l L a ndsc a pe ( Va n i s h i n g P o i n t) dated 2 0 0 8 oil on c a n va s 48” x 4 8 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 100,000 Buen Calubayan’s artistic predilections have always leaned towards the abstract, however, his subjects and themes often vary. From his earlier works, we can see Calubayan’s take on certain social issues — like in his “Crawling Man” show in 2008, where we see the artist’s depiction of the ravages of mind damaging habits — and from his later works, we see a more tranquil aesthetic — like in “Bionote” in 2014, where we are treated to the somewhat autobiographical accounts of the artist over ambient and peaceful interiors and landscapes.

This 2008 work, however, does not exhibit the same angst as that of his other early works — where even his landscapes possess a shoddy ruggedness, with an otherworldly air, and dark undertone. This refreshing landscape work can be likened to a preview of what was to come from the artist’s canvas, a more tranquil, reserved Calubayan despite his outlook.

66 Jose Joya (1931-1995) M other and Chi l d sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 7 6 (lo w er rig h t) p a stel o n p a p er 2 3 ” x 1 6 1 /2 ” (5 8 c m x 4 2 c m )

P 100,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Josefa Joya-Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot As can be observed, National Artist Jose Joya refused to confine himself in one particular style. A testament to such would be the artist's use of varying media, as well as his ventures into both modernism (geometric shapes) and classicism (figurative subjects).

For Joya's classicism, the Mother and Child is one popular and much-recognized theme. Here, not only does his artistic prowess shine forth, but also, one can infer the Filipino trait of love of family.

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67 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Un der t he Ma ngo Tre e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 4 1 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 18” x 2 6 ” (4 6 c m x 6 6 cm )

P 1,800,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot The bright tones of the peasant’s clothes complement the cool tropical greens of the surroundings. The water in the paddy fields also reflects the sunlight, and the expansive sky, which is a usual element of Amorsolo’s, peeks behind the verdant branches of the mango tree which enlarges the overall space and enhances the greenness of the rural scene.

In “Under the Mango Tree,” the viewer enjoys the details of colors almost as if they had an existence independent of the subjects: the yellow browns on the ripe “palay,” the subtle orange green streaks of light on the brightly sunlit shrub behind the shady tree at the right of the painting, the tangerine color of the scarf on the woman’s head, and the brilliant flash of yellow flame under the charred pot. With “Under the Mango Tree,” Amorsolo happily romanticizes and immortalizes the Philippine countryside of his prewar genre years. In the words of Alfredo Roces: “The actual rural life pattern itself changed.

The countryside changed.”

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68 Jose Rizal’s unrecorded lover 1888 Dec em b er 1 2 Tokyo, Ja pa n Lost lov e l et t er a dd r es s e d to Pacian o R izal y M e rcad o in L a g u n a fo r J o se Riz a l 10 3/4” x 8 1 /4 ” (2 7 cm x 2 1 cm )

P 30,000 Provena nc e: Ramon N. Vi l l eg a s Rizal fa mi l y est a t e, 1 9 8 8 Literature: Bayanihan newsletter, Bayanihan Collectors Club, “A Rizaliana Tale” No. 6 issue, December, 2001; Bayanihan newsletter, Bayanihan Collectors Club,“Our Heroes Time” No. 16 issue, December, 2013.

A lady by the name of Leonor Lansing wrote this love letter with a stain of vulgarity, referring to Paciano’s younger brother Jose, saying: “When you write to your brother tell him from where comes my silence. He has left me the best memory and that I do not have friends, I tell this among the few I would like to have. I will leave for London; but I hope he will visit my house and rest.

Before and when you are sure, write your brother so that he will come and spend a month in Andalucia with me.”

With this letter, Jose Rizal had three Leonors in his lifetime.

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69 Onib Olmedo (1937 - 1996) Wo ma n P or t r a it e d si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 7 7 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a nva s 30” x 3 0 ” (7 6 c m x 7 6 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: with Finale Art File This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Gisella Olmedo - Araneta confirming the authenticity of this lot Anxiety in art wasn’t invented in the twentieth century, but anxiety worship in art was, and no sooner than the last three decades of the last century ended that Onib Olmedo was turning out pictures notable for their nightmarish countenances and melancholic colors — a kind of nervous breakdown in pigment.

Alice Guillermo asks about Olmedo’s tortured subjects: “Are they the Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes in us engaged in lively dialogue or in mortal conflict? Many are figures from lingering nightmares, their forms warping, melting, stretching, and folding upon themselves in endless transmutations.”

Olmedo employs vigorous brushstrokes and deep earthy colors to depict the woman’s turmoil. To the solitary face, the artist provides no social background, only a neutral, dense, and softly textured darkness.

The themes bordering on depression notwithstanding, Olmedo’s works command a wide popularity among collectors. Olmedo’s urban nightmares with figures confined into claustrophobic spaces — the woman seems to be in a hospital room or the like — inhabit an altogether different realm, which is all the artist’s own.

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70 Macario Vitalis (1898-1990) Un ti tl e d si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) date d 1 9 5 9 ( v e rs o ) oil on c a n va s 11” x 1 6 ” (2 7 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 100,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Paris, France The decade known as the 50s saw Macario Vitalis’ intense engagement within the Paris art context. It is also then that he employed to full use the rich visual vocabulary of modern art that resulted from the extraordinary ferment of modernism in Paris — at the same time, he was evolving his own personal style. He developed a new concept in figurative painting, in which the principal concern is giving visual plasticity to the human form by means of broad, painterly and supple brushwork. The brushwork creates numerous small movements, quick as thought, that capture the magical sleight of hand of three women suddenly materializing out of a sea of contrasting strokes of color. The warm oranges lend an air of the rare and precious, just as they concurrently hint at the alchemy of continual life.

This setting may be a French rural scene with all the colors in a harmony of air, land and water. The theme may be genre, but Vitalis’ concern is no longer in the bucolic countryside scene as such, but rather in expressing the visual potential of the scene into a richly textured orchestration of colors and tones in the painting.

The painting shows hints of impressionism, although subsequently, his work was to become prismatic with interpenetrating planes of contrasting colors, something which is already manifest in the three women.

In time, Vitalis met painters, like Pablo Picasso no less, thus his stay in France might as well be the capstone to his education; a leisurely initiation which provided an opportunity to broaden his horizons, to learn new cultures, and to hone his personal taste.

71 Jose Joya (1931-1995) Moth e r a nd C hild si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) ceramic Di ameter : 1 8 ” (4 6 c m )

P 120,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Josefa Joya-Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot In Philippine Art, the Mother and Child theme has been taken on by many modernists, giving new life to the subjects as they are recaptured time and again. In the countless renditions and re-imaginations of the iconic theme, very few have stood out — among those that did was Jose Joya.

Joya’s use of the Mother and Child theme has given us a glimpse into his inexhaustible repertoire of ideas and artistic elements. Be it in pastel, pencil, or even ceramic, the modern master’s use of elements puts on display his compositional prowess.

This work by Joya from 1983 shows us his insatiable passion in exploring artistic horizons and media, in this case the use of ceramic art.

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72 Solomon Saprid (1917-2003) M ag da le ne Ca. 196 8 wood H : 20” x L: 9 1 /2 ” x W: 1 2 ” ( 5 1 cm x 2 4 cm x 3 0 cm )

P 180,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner Foremost figure among Filipino sculptors, Solomon Saprid derives his inspirations from traditional to popular Filipino forms and themes. Having worked with various mediums, from drawings and prints, to wood and brass sculptures, Saprid’s understanding of form has evolved greatly; beyond that, his works have become more intricate stylistically, and compositionally.

In this work, entitled Magdalene, we see an anguished human figure in a semi-fetal position. According to the artist, the work is his interpretation of the sins of the flesh committed by the subject. These are, as he describes, literally feasting on her flesh as can be seen by the shoddy, carved out areas, especially around her chest. Moreover, the helplessness of Magdalene is portrayed by her curled posture, representative of the pain and remorse she felt for her past life.

Cleverly envisioned, and masterfully crafted, this work by the master sculptor Saprid is truly captivating, putting into focus the interplay of context and content, using the subject as a powerful visual tool.

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73 Marcel Antonio (b.1965) Ci rcus P e r f or m e r si gned (l o w er l eft ) acryl i c o n c a n va s 25” x 3 6 ” (6 4 c m x 9 1 cm )

P 120,000 From 1880 to 1930 the harlequin was one of the favored subjects of artists, including Georges Seurat, Cezanne, van Dongen, Rouault, Derain, Shahn, Hockney and Picasso. The Harlequin’s bumbling personality renders him both canny and unsophisticated, mysterious and ironically intriguing.

With a nod to Georges Seurat’s last, unfinished painting, “The Circus,” Marcel Antonio’s “Circus Performer” alludes to Charles Henry’s theories on the emotional and symbolic meaning of lines and colors, bringing emotional associational theory into the world of artistic sensation. The Harlequins’ checkered costume extends to the floor, adding to the mischievous, trickster atmosphere. Antonio employs in an almost Hitchcockian manner the presence of his harlequins in many of his works. As an artist, Antonio comes closest to being a pure aesthete with a deep knowledge of his artistic resources.

Many artists and critics are still almost always on the side of novelty and originality in art. They seem to remain adherent to the idea that much of today’s art is recycled, derivative, and restively self-aware. When most artists emphasize on the significance of originality, Marcel Antonio takes on a different direction.

According to Marcel Antonio, although his works’ themes vary from time to time, he derives most of his inspiration from peculiar contemporary mythologies.

74 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) Cav i te sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 5 9 (u p p er rig h t) wa terc o lo r o n p a p er 1 4 1 /2 ” x 1 9 1 /2 ” (3 7 c m x 5 0 c m )

P 100,000 Provenance: A gift from President Ferdinand Marcos to Dr. Francis Chamberlain who was his personal cardiologist Facing difficult times during the war, Vicente Manansala was constrained to farm and fish to provide for his family. Inevitably, the countryside vistas he retreated to in Pampanga inspired his works — his foray into genre scenes — which he executed largely in watercolor. Here, a pervading sense of calm and quiet fill his canvas.

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75 Romulo Galicano (b.1945) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 24” x 3 5 ” (6 1 c m x 8 9 cm )

P 400,000 Andrew Wyeth once said about his art: "My people, my objects breathe in a different way: there's another core—an excitement that's definitely abstract… when you really begin to peer into something, a simple object, and realize the profound meaning of that thing—if you have an emotion about it, there's no end."

Romulo Galicano could say the same about this painting which is not merely a study of the subject; there is a three-hanky story behind the windswept scene — a woman is waiting for her seaman husband, who has actually died outside of her knowledge, yet the dog, which has a sixth sense outside of human knowledge, is aware of the grim truth, which it senses as it scours its nose through the surface of the turbulent shore — but more an extensive study of her physical and emotional landscape, which is unique among Galicano’s customary landscapes.

Since 1976, Galicano has done tonal paintings, mostly atmospheric scenes of the seacoasts of Cebu and Pangasinan.

The woman is portrayed as passive; yet, within those deliberate limitations, Galicano manages to convey subtle qualities of character and mood.

This portrayal of a woman waiting in vain for her ill fated husband differs in subject and content in Galicano’s body of work.

Galicano develops an extraordinary intimacy with the sea and the universal human experience in this painting which strives for an almost existential understanding based on human feelings and unspoken emotion — existential in the sense that there are certain fundamental questions that every human being must come to terms with if they are to take their subjective existences seriously and with intrinsic value. Because the realist painting’s melodramatic theme is so stripped down, so elemental, it invites all kinds of interpretation outside of the story of the woman’s dilemma.

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76 Sofronio Y Mendoza (b.1936) a.) Un t it le d 1 signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 3 ( lo w e r le f t) oi l on w o od 8” x 6” (2 0 c m x 1 5 c m ) b .) Un t it le d 2 signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 1 ( lo w e r le f t) oi l on c a nva s 6 1/2” x 8 1 /4 ” (1 7 c m x 2 1 cm ) c.) Unt it le d 3 signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 7 ( u p p e r le f t) oi l on w o od 5 1/4” x 8 ” (1 3 c m x 2 0 cm ) d .) Un t it le d 4 signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 7 ( u p p e r rig h t) oi l on w o od 6” x 8” (1 5 c m x 2 0 c m ) e.) Un t it le d 5 signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 3 ( u p p e r rig h t) oi l on w o od 6” x 8 1 /2 ” (1 5 c m x 2 2 cm )

(a)

P 120,000

(b)

(d)

(c)

(e)

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77 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Po rtrait of a Gir l si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 3 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 16” x 1 3 ” (4 1 c m x 3 3 cm )

P 200,000 Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot Some of the best painters in history have dedicated themselves to capturing the look of the well-dressed man or woman.

In the Philippines, chief among them was Fernando Amorsolo.

The anonymous Caucasian subject casts a beguiling glance at the spectator from a dark yet subdued setting. The casualness of the portrait is subtly emphasized by the marcel waved hair which slowly dissolves into the dark backdrop at right, the pearl necklace notwithstanding. Amorsolo even painstakingly captures the delicate qualities of the richly detailed green lace fabric.

Fashion and painting, boon companions in the past, have continued their relationship in the first half of the twentieth century, even if the interchange between them is often deliberately provocative. Whether the clothes shown in works of art are charming or elegant, authoritative or casual, it is clear that fashion in painting, especially portrait painting is not just a matter of surface appearances but points to deeper complexities of the zeitgeist. This work encapsulates the aura of a lost and perhaps more civilized era.

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78 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) Nu de si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 2 ( u p p e r le f t) charcoa l o n p a per 40 1/2” x 2 7 1 /4 ” (1 0 3 cm x 6 9 cm )

P 220,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila For centuries, nudes have been embodiments of classical beauty and ideal form. These also serve as a challenge for artists, as there is always a degree of difficulty in portraying the eloquence and beauty of the human anatomy. In the world of Philippine art, Vicente Manansala’s technical prowess in capturing nudes stood out. This may, most probably, be due to his experience as a draughtsman earlier on in his career.

Manansala’s excellence in drawing is rooted back to early in his career. Manansala worked as an illustrator for the Philippine Herald and Liwayway, and as a layout artist for Photonews and Saturday Evening News Magazine in the 1930’s. Through the decades of his long career, Manansala has consistently exhorted on the importance of teaching drawing, more than teaching art.

It is probably in this that we can see the technicality of his work — strong contrast of shades, appreciation for the female contours, and exquisite play on light. According to the modernist master, “You can’t teach art. You can only teach drawing.”

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79 Romulo Olazo (1934-2015) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) acryl i c o n p a per 25” x 3 2 ” (6 4 c m x 8 1 cm )

P 120,000 Literature: Guillermo, Alice G. et al., Romulo Olazo, Paseo Gallery, Mandaluyong City, 2013, p.220 Romulo Olazo’s understanding of light and structural composition have allowed him to concoct a unique quality of abstraction.

Similar to the use of light in his diaphanous series, this acrylic work from 1985 exhibits a strong contrast of tones.

It is in Olazo’s definition of space that these abstract works gain a level of perceived depth. The use of black darkens the setting, as the intense application of white robustly radiates with the subdued blues and reds glistening in its brilliance.

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80 Bolo 1 4th -1 5t h C e nt ur y G old length: 2 4 1 /2 ” (6 2 c m )

P 600,000 Provenance: Found in Glan, Saranggani, Southeastern Mindanao, Circa 2000

Although the blade is in degraded condition, it is in the shape of the bangkon (orbangkun); a quick, light blade that is amazingly sharp. It is known as the “pregnant” blade: the design is weight-forward which makes it hit harder than you might assume for its size and weight.

This is a Mindanao sword, used in recent times by the Tausug, Yakan, and Samal peoples. It is similar to the style of traditional blades made in Klewang, Sumatra, that is, wider near the point than at the hilt.

The shape of the blade is also similar to the widely distributed gulok in the Philippines, and the Visayan blade called binangon.

The gold hilt is shaped to fit a hand and bent like a horse’s hoof. The grip is wrapped with rows of twisted wire to provide resistance even in the presence of slippery substances. At the back of the grip is an octagonal-shaped, carinated guard. The hilt terminates in a smaller column with an embossed blunt end with angled molding for bludgeoning.

The color of the precious metal suggests that it is about 60 to 70 per cent in purity, alloyed with metals that cause a “green gold” cast. The hilt, as is usual with pre-hispanic work, is constructed with a core of consolidated, sandy material.

This sword was found with local earthenware and a full-face mask of silver (now with another private collector) with a bronze backing with a close affinity to Indonesian design, suggesting a Majapahit connection and a dating of 14th-15th century. (RNV)

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81 Norlie Meimban (b.1966) Pedes t r ia n si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 6 ( lo w e r rig h t a n d le f t) mi xed med i a (d ou b l e acrylic g las s a n d a crylic on canva s) 36” x 4 8 ” (9 1 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

Norlie Meimban's work provides viewers with a unique look into his reflections on urban culture presented in his own distinctive manner. Documenting the everyday idiosyncrasies of life in the city, Pedestrian is a slice of life creative that demonstrates the artist's technical and aesthetic prowess. He use double acrylic glass to create a multiple images crossing from the street.

P 100,000

82 Gerry Leonardo (b.1965) Sp i ral C hr ist dated 2 0 1 1 brass a nd c o p p er w i r es, re s in H: 27 1 /2 ” x L: 1 5 1 /2 ” x W: 8 1 / 4 ” ( 7 0 cm x 3 9 cm x 2 1 c m ) in c lu d in g b a se w ith lig h t

P 60,000 *ACC Grantee 2010 This art piece was originally conceptualized and fabricated in our Mt. Makiling studio and continued in the Headlands Studio to enrich the experience of interweaving those things, images, elements, subject matter, materials that I am most passionate about – many thanks to the Asian Cultural Council grant. The work precedes and inspired a major sculpture I am currently doing for La Salle University (Archer). I believe this piece will eventually lead towards my trademark of creation (the concept of slicing the figure for articulation of space and light illumination to celebrate aspects of our Pinoy Culture.

The “Spiral Christ” is my way of articulating the concept of creating by discarding.

This wirework form was fabricated from a ready-made Christ partially sculpted by Paete artists. The process mimics a balete organism that comes to life by gradually intertwining (and suffocating) its host. Strands of wires are carefully woven around the body of the ready made Christ figure, a process of puncturing, burning and twisting until a dense set of wires comes to life while the original wood figure disintegrates into a “discard” to eventually reveal a resurrected Christ figure with a new set of skin and form.

-Gerry Leonardo

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83 Cesar Legaspi (1917-1994) Sti l l Li f e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 25” x 2 0 ” (6 4 c m x 5 1 cm )

P 400,000 Cesar Legaspi espoused the cause of modern art from its fledgling years and nurtured it to full maturity.

Alice Guillermo writes: “Fervid discussions and debates marked the early years of modernism to which Legaspi was a witness and active participant.”

Guillermo adds: “Art, Legaspi once said, starts as abstraction, for one cannot visualize a composition well if one immediately begins with figures. He himself has done only a few abstracts….”

Cesar Legaspi creates an elegant compromise between reality and the abstract in this still life. Still life is probably the quietest, if not the stodgiest of genres, yet artists like Legaspi return to it, testing themselves to see what they can bring from it, grappling with a classic theme.

This work from 1984 exhibits a great simplification of geometric structure, a blurring of the distinction between objects and setting, between subject matter and background. There is an oblique overlapping in the planar constructions.

The clear-cut underlying geometric framework of this composition seemingly controls the finer elements of the compositions; the constituent components, including the small planes of the details of the guitar, the art exhibit poster (featuring the gallery name Finale), the glassware and eggs become part of the unified whole — all in all a complex still life.

Though Legaspi shows the representation of his chosen subject matter, the abstract armature serves as the starting point.

The overlapping elemental planar structure of the composition serves as a foundation to flatten the individual elements onto a unifying surface, and the entire composition is like a nod of respect to the likes of Juan Gris.

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84 Antonio Luna’s Impresiones Antonio Lun a M adrid , E l P r o g r eso Ti p o g raf ico F i rst Ed i t i o n , 1 8 9 1 6 3/4” x 5 ” (1 7 c m x 1 3 cm )

P 30,000 Provena nc e: Private c ol l ec t i on , B a r ce lo n a , S p a in .

The first edition book IMPRESIONES DE TAGA-ILOG, published in Madrid by Imprenta de El Progreso Tipografico in 1891, containing articles defending his oppressed people from the malicious attacks of anti-Filipino writers. There are fewer extant Impresiones than the first edition of Noli me Tangere. This work was dedicated to the author's brother, the celebrated painter Juan Luna y Novicio.

Gregorio F. Zaide in Great Filipinos in History (1970), said: "Shortly after the publication of his Impresiones, a biased Spanish journalist who had resided in the Philippines named Celso Mir Deas lambasted Luna’s book in El Pueblo Soberano, a newspaper in Barcelona, and, not contented with ridiculing Luna, he continued to write articles calumniating the Filipino people."

Luna, who was noted for his volcanic temper, exploded in anger. The Filipinos in Madrid, including Jose Alejandrino and Galicano Apacible, tried to pacify him, but in vain. Luna insisted on going to Barcelona to have a confrontation with Mir Deas.

Aleandrino accompanied him, hoping that Luna’s determination to kill the Spanish journalist in a duel might be averted by an amicable settlement, but his hope for a peaceful arrangement was dashed to pieces.

For several days, Luna searched the cafes of Barcelona looking for Mir Deas. Finally, on November 26, 1889, he saw the journalist drinking coffee at the Café de los Cristales. Raging like an angry lion, he approached the table of the culprit, publicly spat on his face, called him a rascal, and challenged him to a duel. Mir Deas was shocked by the public insult, but refused to accept the challenge for a duel hurled by Luna. By this incident Luna proved to the Spanish people, particularly those who witnessed the incident, that a brown Indio was ready to fight for his personal honor as well as for the honor of his people, unlike the Mir Deas who was quick to slander the colored race, but was afraid to fight to vindicate his own honor.

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85 Benedicto Cabrera (b.1942) Es pel e t a si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 6 7 ( lo w e r rig h t) acryl i c or o i l on w ood 20” x 1 4 1 /2 ” (5 1 c m x 3 7 cm )

P 300,000 Provenance: Gallery Indigo Bencab’s art traces our age-old fascination with finding the picturesque in decay and dilapidation.

The shanties in the Bambang of his childhood gave rise to this barung barong. Bencab transforms the eyesore banality of the slums into a powerful visual interpretation.

'Espeleta' takes us back to the different artistic phases and learning curves BenCab went through over the course of his lengthy and productive career.

“Bencab is the slum side of downtown” wrote Quijano de Manila (Nick Joaquin) 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.”

“Sabel,” in turn wrote Iskho Lopez for New Day magazine nearly two decades later, “now a mythical figure in Philippine art, also comes from these dreary surroundings.”

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86 Olan Ventura (b.1976) I nhal e, Ex hal e sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 0 3 (lo w er rig h t) m ix ed m ed ia 4 8 ” x 3 6 ” (1 2 2 c m x 9 1 c m )

P 120,000

87 Luis Lorenzana (b.1979) El Rom a nt ic o si gned resin H: 22” x L: 1 7 ” x W: 1 1 1 / 2 ” ( 5 6 cm x 4 3 cm x 2 9 cm )

P 70,000 Luis Lorenzana’s body of work is teeming with characters, from the magical and intriguing, to the peculiar and bizarre. Among the cast of off beat individuals born from the noteworthy contemporary’s imagination is El Romantico.

Swathed in what appears to be spandex, with a cape and glass helmet, El Romantico comes alive in a three-dimensional form.

Bearing the same odd allure as that of characters featured in Lorenzana’s canvasses, this sculpture gives us a sense of the actual physique of the inhabitants of the magical world that the artist has conjured.

Superbly detailed, this sculpture augments Lorenzana’s canvas into the real world — our world — as if to invite the very characters out of the framed scenic backdrops they have been accustomed to.

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

88 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Bul l ock C a r t si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 6 7 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on m a son i t e boa r d 10” x 1 4 ” (2 5 c m x 3 6 cm )

P 400,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by J. Antonio Araneta Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot With a career starting from the 1920s to the late 1960s, Amorsolo and his school may have found opposition in the many modernists from the 1930s onwards, but his pastoral works were never on the wrong side of popular (the patrons’) opinion.

In this 1967 work, Amorsolo used natural light in his paintings and developed the backlighting technique which can be hinted in this bucolic scene. In typical Amorsolo fashion, the figure of a man alongside the carabao is outlined against a characteristic glow, and the subdued silhouette of the mountain backdrop holds the composition while helping to highlight details in the foreground. This work is a fine exception to the adage that Philippine sunlight was a constant feature of Amorsolo's pastoral works.

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89 Tam Austria (b.1943) a.) M ot he r a nd C hild si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 1 ( u p p e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 15” x 1 5 ” (3 8 c m x 3 8 cm ) b.) Still L if e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 1 ( u p p e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 13 1/4” x 2 2 1 /4 ” (3 4 cm x 5 7 cm )

P 80,000 Tam Austria’s predilection for certain subjects and themes has been made evident in his body of work. From the mythical and legendary, to the palpable and straightforward, the artist’s rendition of characters and things possesses a powerful living trait, as if to capture the personality (essence) of his subject beyond its mere aesthetic.

Throughout Austria’s oeuvre, the Mother and Child theme has made countless returns to the artist’s canvas, each time with unique characters bearing their own distinctive personalities and temperament. An admirer of the National Artist Carlos Botong Francisco, it is not difficult to see Botong’s influence in Austria’s composition — be it still lifes, folk or genre themes, Tam Austria’s ability to fluently orchestrate the elements of his piece onto his canvas truly stands out.

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90 Jerry Elizalde Navarro (1924-1999) Th e B lue S ilv e r Ma c h i n e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 5 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) mi xed med i a 31” x 2 4 ” (7 9 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 500,000 Literature: Cid Reyes, J. Elizalde Navarro, The National Museum of the Philippines, 2008, (Illustrated p. 105) In the book “J. ELIZALDE NAVARRO” author Cid Reyes writes: “Without question, where Navarro contributed greatest to Philippine modern art is in the genre of nude painting… it was Navarro who introduced a differentiating element absent in the works of others: a fresh and outright eroticism.”

Navarro also explored the nude in the area of sculpture, and Navarro’s recognition of the sculpted form of female pulchritude is exceptional.

“The earliest extant works on the nude date from the late sixties, about the time that Navarro and Emma started to live together.

But the nascent stage manifested itself from the machine aesthetics of the late fifties. These were aluminium reliefs where the convex sheets swelled into breast like mounds, like Metallic Forms (1954), the “Blue and Silver Machine,” and “It’s About Time.”

Studded with rivets that keep them attached to the background woodboard, the pieces summoned a sensuality not readily associated with cold impersonal aluminium sheets. These works continued to evolve into more overt breast configurations dotted with nipples, some by wire strings. Navarro called the series “Love Instrument for E.” Navarro’s sculptural works reflect his protean talents, virtuosic panache and sardonic wit. Navarro’s sculpted aluminium breasts were in step with the ferment of the 1960s Fluxus movement and in Pop Art, deriving their identity as art from the designation placed upon them by the artist and from the social history that comes with the object.

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

91 Pablo Amorsolo (1898-1945) Man i l a Ba y si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 4 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 14” x 2 0 ” (3 6 c m x 5 1 cm )

P 300,000 Literature: 1030 R. HIDALGO Volume 2: LEGACY IN ART, Edited by Antonio S. Araneta, MARA Inc., Metro Manila, 1986, p. 89 (illustrated) Giving form to the sea perpetually hurling itself against the tropical shore was a mesmerizing pursuit for so many early twentieth century Filipino artists and Pablo Amorsolo exalts that tradition in this romantically elegiac of melancholy work. Pablo Amorsolo preferred to paint early in the morning or late afternoon, utilizing local color and the extreme time of the day can be gleaned in the tell-tale shadows in this bucolic seascape. This seashore scene seems to be a metaphor to a creative life which culminated in a tragic end.

Pablo Amorsolo completed elementary and secondary schooling at the Liceo de Manila, and graduated from the UP School of Fine Arts in 1924. Two years later, he was appointed assistant instructor in the school, where he taught until World War 2 broke out.

An admirer of classical art, Pablo Amorsolo was also a strong advocate of modern art. In the 1930s, he was one of the most prolific editorial illustrators in pen and ink for such publications as the Graphic, Tribune, La Vanguardia, Herald, and others.

His illustrations which portrayed a wide variety of domestic and social situations contributed to the rise of genre art in the country.

His skilled brushwork could breathe life into his subjects, which he painted truthfully and without idealization. He painted subjects from all social classes and age levels. Historical subjects also interested him, as in his painting Magellan and the Natives and his large scale masterpiece, The Discovery of the Philippines, painted in 1944.

When he shifted to landscape and genre paintings, Pablo consciously ignored his brother, Fernando’s palette. Instead, he fell under the spell of Fabian de la Rosa. His rendition of scenes was honest and direct, somber in color and almost always rendered in monochromatic tones.

Few of Pablo Amorsolo’s paintings are extant because a large number of his works were destroyed in a fire in 1945.

Pablo Amorsolo sincerely advocated the Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere and served as a colonel in the Kempeitai.

When the Americans returned, he was captured by Philippine troops and was killed by a guerrilla firing squad in Antipolo.

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92 Jose Rizal’s other fiancée Two D i ffer en t C a l l i ng C ard s o f L e o n o r C. Va le n zu e la 2 3/4” x 3 3 /4 ” (7 c m x 1 0 cm )

P 20,000 Provena nc e: Ramon N. Vi l l eg a s Rizal Fa mi l y E st a t e, 1 9 8 8 LEONOR C. VALENZUELA, nicknamed “the winsome Orang” was the second Leonor among the many loves of Jose Rizal.

According to Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo’s Rizal without the Overcoat (Pasig: 1990, pp. 115-116), both Leonor Rivera and Leonor Valenzuela were engaged to Jose Rizal when he left for Europe. One of Rizal’s classmates named Ceferino de Leon was tasked as Rizal’s proxy when visiting the two Leonors.

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93 Arturo Luz (b.1926) Tri o Pe r f or m ing si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) da te d 1 9 9 1 acryl i c o n h a nd ma d e pa p e r 56” x 4 0 ” (1 4 2 c m x 1 0 2 cm )

P 500,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner Luz has produced art pieces through a disciplined economy of means. His best masterpieces are minimalist, and spare, alluding to the modernist "virtues" of competence, order and elegance; and were further described as evoking universal reality and mirrors an aspiration for an acme of true Asian modernity. His paintings are marked by meticulous simplicity and restraint, with subdued colors and understated form. Luz himself described them as "semi-representational, semiabstract."

It has been written that Luz is “a painter’s painter, his craft is craft in the fullest sense of the word: controlled, astringent, deliberate and completely devoid of pyrotechnics or glamour.” (Mobilways Vol IV No.1 July 1958).

In 1987, Luz was given the Order of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, by the French government (title was promoted to “Officiel” later in the same year)

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94 Jose Tence Ruiz (b.1956) M onum e nt o sa D a la g a n g B u k i d signed (l ow er r i g h t ) date d 2 0 0 9 oi l on l i n en 80” x 6 2 ” (2 0 3 c m x 1 5 7 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: with Galleria Duemila “Iconic” is a much abused word in the art world so it’s best that its meaning is clearly understood. The Urban Dictionary defines the word as: “generally restricted to more recent, highly original, influential, or unique, work of art, artists, or performers.” It is distinguished from the word “classic”. Like an artwork that has been judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.

Thus: Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is a classic, while Andy Warhol’s “Marilyn Monroe” is iconic.

In Philippine art, the women of National Artist Fernando Amorsolo, known generically as “Dalagang Bukid” (Maidens in the Field) may be deemed classic, but Jose Tence “Bogie” Ruiz‘ women in a series billed as “Kotilyon” are steadily ascending to iconic status. The title is the Pilipino version of the word cotillion, a formal ball, especially one at which debutantes are presented. Typical of Manila high society’s fervid adaptation of Western customs, the cotillion is de rigueur in these balls where Manila’s privileged set display their wealth through their gleaming jewelry and stupendous gowns. (Cotillion comes from the French word cotillon, meaning “border, layer, edge, and also winning or profit, as in a chance to win a mate by meeting someone at a cotillion dance.” De rigueuris also French, meaning, of rigor or strictness.)

With his avid and razor-sharp eyes for the foibles and pretensions of our society, Ruiz, a stalwart of Social Realism, mocked and denounced this extravagant and conspicuous exhibition of wealth in a country where the greater population is mired in poverty. He presented the belles of the ball in gowns on which he has heaped an accumulation of objects suggestive of waste, devastation, and corruption. She is christened by the artist with such pompous titles as Madame, Dona, and Granducchessa.

However, in a wondrous deviation from this lacerating series, is a rare work that pays, not venom, but homage, to an unlikely belle. She is the shy provincial beauty of Amorsolo, the “Dalagang Bukid” or maiden in the field; indeed, the work is titled “Monumento sa Dalagang Bukid.” In an affectionate channeling of Amorsolo, she is given a contemporary Pop treatment.

Though she is attired in native dress, the baro’t saya, with its transparent “butterfly” sleeves and skirt wrapped modestly with a tapis, she undergoes a “make-over,” as in a Reality TV show. Instead of Amorsolo’s graciously cascading tresses, she now sports a lacquered perm. Instead of cradling sheaves of palayor a bilao of native fruits, she is holding an oversized teddy bear whose rounded eyes echo the two orbs on her face, like those Ben Day dots associated with comics illustration. Instead of dainty chinelas, she now towers on stiletto heels. Indeed, she is presented, as though on a dais, atop the ruins of a building.

And instead of Amorsolo’s glowing sundrenched landscape, she is enveloped by an atmospheric haze of somber green, reflective of the verdant pastoral scene of her past. She is truly Amorsolo’s maiden, but bagong salta, or promdi, in the sarcastic slang of the Manileño. Newly arrived from the province, she scans the strange vista with wide, innocent eyes. What bright or dismal future awaits her in the concrete metropolis? In the farthest distance loom the white twin spires of a cathedral. Unwittingly, they will remind the art connoisseur of Bogie’s rising kariton-katedral, the artist’s symbol of our impoverished people’s unremitting embrace of their faith. Another iconic image in the making?

Jose Tence “Bogie” Ruiz, together with Mariano Montelibano III, represented the Philippines in the 2015 Venice Biennale.

-Cid Reyes

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED COUPLE

95 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932-2011) Sti l l Li f e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 5 ( u p p e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 30 x 40 ” (7 6 c m x 1 0 2 cm )

P 500,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mr. Christian Aguilar confirming the authenticity of this lot Renaissance man, Bon Vivant, and peripatetic artist of the highest order — just some of the accolades bestowed upon the well-travelled visual artist, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz.

Alcuaz resided in Barcelona during his developing years in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Here, his artistic sensibilities took a very European quality, giving his works a distinctive identity.

It is said that Alcuaz’ abstract works drew inspiration from Piacsso and Matisse — still, the artist has managed to infuse his own views, sensibilities, and personality into his works, giving them an inimitable character all his own.

In this still life work, we see the artist’s ability to perceive the world through a complex prism of cultures. Brilliant is his oeuvre, as every piece speaks to an expansive range of aesthetic sensibilities.

Alcuaz’ art has truly been well received, having been exhibited widely, and garnering numerous awards here and abroad.

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96 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Po rtrait of a L a dy in Te rn o si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 5 5 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a nva s 12” x 9 ” (3 0 c m x 2 3 c m )

P 140,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot It was the decade when Ramon Valera’s models paraded the butterfly sleeved terno in New York, as featured in the fashion pages of two issues of Manila’s This Week magazine (a late 1951 issue and the September 8 1956 issues).

But no, it wasn’t Ramon Valera who invented it, says the son of the equally legendary Salvacion Lim Higgins.

This is proven by an unpublished thesis by a certain Paz Meliton y de Mingo, who wrote it for her master’s degree at the University of Santo Tomas in 1949 (found at Lopez Museum), and four volumes of “The Terno” magazine (found at the Ateneo).

Meliton’s thesis, “A History of Philippine Costumes, was also the basis of National Artist Salvador Bernal’s ‘Patterns for the Filipino Dress: From the Traje de Mestiza to the Terno, 1890s-1960s.”

“We’re the only country in Southeast Asia whose national dress evolved directly from the couture houses of Paris. It’s a plus, not a minus,” adds Higgins.

“We made it our own. The sleeve is our own, it’s a hybrid sleeve.”

Fernando Amorsolo doggedly eschewed the ugly and sought the beautiful. In the 1950s and 1960s, he chose to portray women – and men – to meet the demands of his clients, all of whom is a social registry in itself.

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97 Ang Kiukok (1931 - 2005) Cruci fix ion signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) tempera 30” x 2 0 ” (7 6 c m x 5 1 cm )

P 500,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Finale Art File confirming the authenticity of this lot Ang Kiukok’s paintings possess a simultaneous inclination towards the opposite extremes of elegance and repulsiveness.

In Ang’s Crucifixion paintings, the brush becomes a scalpel with a sharp, cutting edge that dissects quivering muscle and tender tissue. The edge of this “Crucifixion” is the horror by the manner in which the shreds of flesh and skin partly clothe the bones.

He painted multiple depictions of the crucified Christ that did not shirk from portraying the agonies normally associated with the crucifixion, and this version of the Crucifixion displays what art critic Patrick Flores calls as “the bare bones of the artist’s corpus.”

In his art, Ang wants to convey what it is to be a suffering human being, and the Crucifixions are among his most powerful and complete statements. In them, the artist denies the viewer easy comfort as the familiar gentle pathos of the Christ figure is rejected; projected instead are the nocturnal terrors of the broken carcass still clinging to the wooden frame of the cross — holes gaping in the skull and ribs arching vainly in an empty cage. It did not escape attention that many of Ang's most violent or gruesome imagery was painted during the martial law years, though he did not build a reputation for himself as a prominent critic of the Marcos regime. While Ang Kiukok’s works are not overt commentaries, they are exemplifications of Christ, crumpled, folded, reduced and made grotesque by suffering.

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98 Sto. Cristo Expirante 19th C e nt ur y I v ory, Wood , Si l ver, Gold & G las s wi th v i r i na : H: 2 9 1 /2 ” x L : 1 6 ” ( 7 5 cm x 4 1 cm ) i vory: H: 1 2 1 /4 ” x L: 8 1 / 4 ” ( 3 1 cm x 2 1 cm )

P 500,000 Provenance: Property of a distinguished Manila gentleman.

Purchased from Camiguin

According to Jose (1990), practically all church inventories of the Spanish colonial period refer to images of the crucified Christ as the Sto. Cristo. The great ivory scholar Margarita Marcos Estella (1972, p. 7) categorizes images of the crucified Christ under two typologies: Sto. Cristo Expirante (The Expiring Christ) and the Sto. Cristo Moribundo (the Moribund or Dead Christ). The Expirante posture shows the Christ with his head up; eyes open and with tension apparent in the arms and legs. In the Moribundo posture, the Christ is shown dead or nearly dead. His head is held down and inclined to the right; the eyes closed; and his arms and legs have lost all vitality and vigor.

In this example, the Christ figure is shown in decline. His head is held down in resignation. The arms are slack and the legs have lost all tension. However, the eyes are still wide open. Christ is still conscious and barely hanging on. This is an interesting late 19th century development of images of the Sto. Cristo showing Christ at the point of death. Near dead but not quite. A similar example of a near dead Christ but with eyes wide open can be found in the Sada de Gonzalez collection in Monterrey, Mexico (Estella, 1997, p. 59). And another example of a late 19th century dying Christ with half-open eyes can be found in the collection of the Intramuros Administration (Gatbonton, 1983, p. 43; Jose, 1990, p. 61).

This image of the crucified Christ is rendered in ivory with gilding and polychrome. The corpus is exceptionally well carved and the ribcage rendered almost sinously. The carving of the perizonium or tapis (also called the paño de pureza in Spanish), however, departs from previous renderings in that it seems to decorously cover the entire groin area. Moreover, the tapiz is tied with crossed drapes rather than knotted at the side as in earlier examples. Again, this draping is consistent with and similar to the example found in the Sada de Gonzales collection noted previously as well as two 19th century examples found in the Intramuros Administration collection observed by Gatbonton as having similar fastidiously tied loincloths (1983, pp. 40-41).

Gold gilding is applied to the edges of the tapis consistent with Philippine artistic practice of the late 19th century. On the left side of Christ is shown the wound pierced by lance of Longinus.

The hands and feet of Christ are nailed to the cross with period gems made of rock crystal. He wears a wig of fiber hair topped with a crown of thorns made of 18K gold. And from the top of his head emanates three rays of light called the “tres potencias” also of 18K gold. According to Jose (1991, p. 207), "Potencias" derive from Latin word potentia meaning "power". In catholic iconography, the "potencias" are nine rays of light usually grouped in threes. And as noted by Gatbonton (1983, p. 33), the potencias are used to symbolize the three faculties of the soul: memory, understanding and will.

The cross is decorated profusely in the manner of the 19th century. The ivory corpus is mounted on a Kamagong [Ebony] wood cross surrounded by rays of light called “remajes”. Silver endcaps called “cantoneros” decorate the edges of the wood cross. The cantoneros are topped with round objects called “granadas” or “pomegranates” with the fruit’s calyx delicately and beautifully delineated.

A silver plaque called the “rotullo” or ‘ynnre” (INRI) is nailed above Christ’s head. The whole is topped by a sunburst in 18K gold alluding to the famous “Sun/Son” pun which refers to Christ as the Son of God and the light bringer Sun. Of course, this could also have some Nationalistic references as the sun was a favorite symbol for the nascent independence movement of the late 19th century Philippines. At the foot of the cross is the original "calavera" or "skull" and "canillos" or "bones" alluding to Golgotha, the place of skulls, also of silver.

The base is hardwood, carved to simulate a rocky outcrop which, to the carver’s mind, may resemble the barren condition of Calvary. However, the Filipino’s penchant for decoration trumps the carver’s imagination. In this tableau of the crucifixion, the base is decorated with trees made of blown glass. The arid landscape is made fertile by the addition of rivulets of water emanating from the Cross alluding to Christ as the source of life. And the base is studded with decorative elements made from the wings of the Salaginto beetle which, according to literature, is a decorative specialty of the inmates of Bilibid Prison.

The whole is encased in a glass dome colloquially referred to as a viriña. According to Sta. Maria (1983, p. 96), the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 brought in French and English imports, including hand-blown glass domes that protected porcelain vases with bouquets of cloth or beaded flowers. These domes or viriñas were eventually used to house ivory santos such as this example.

The carving of the ivory Corpus is very fine coupled with the exceptional workmanship of the metalwork. All these point to a sophisticated Manila workshop able to employ fine sculptors and metalsmiths.

-Murvyn Rodriguez Callo

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List of Works Consulted: Estella, M. M. 1972. Marfiles Hispano Filipinos en las colecciones particular [Hispano Philippine ivories in private collections]. Instituto de Cultura Hispanica.

Madrid: Ciudad de Universitaria.

Estella, M. M. 1997. Marfiles de las provincias ultramarinas orientales de Espa帽a y Portugal [Ivories in the Far Easter provinces of Spain and Portugal]. Mexico: Espejo de Obsidiana.

Gatbonton, E. B. 1983. Philippine religious carvings in ivory. Illus. by R. Figueroa. Manila: Intramurous Administration.

Jose, R. T. 1990. Images of faith: Religious ivory carvings from the Philippines. Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum.

Sta. Maria, F. P. 1983. Household antiques and heirlooms. Quezon City: GFC Books.

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99 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) Femal e N ude si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 5 ( u p p e r rig h t) waterco l o r o n p a per 24 1/2” x 2 0 ” (6 2 c m x 5 1 cm )

P 160,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila Oil paint historically has been the ideal medium for depicting the nude. By blending and layering paint, the surface can become more like skin. "Its slow drying time and various degrees of viscosity enable the artist to achieve rich and subtle blends of color and texture, which can suggest transformations from one human substance to another.

In this nude from 1966, Manansala challenges himself with the softer, more tentative medium of watercolor, which is usually a medium for studies. Delicate strokes of black express the sensuality of Manansala’s nude.

The difficult characteristics of watercolor makes terms such as elusive and delicate particularly appropriate.

The study of the human figure has traditionally been considered the best way to learning how to draw, beginning in the late Renaissance and continuing to the present. This may be a study or the final work itself.

The basis of Manansala’s technical proficiency was his ability to draw. Draftsmanship was a discipline to which the artist subjected himself.

Unlike the style of anatomical cubism for which he is famous, he does not fragment and dissect the human figure, leaving generous clues of its identity. Instead, he stays close to the actual figure.

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100 Romulo Olazo (1934-2015) Di ap ha nous si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 48” x 3 0 ” (1 2 2 c m x 7 6 cm )

P 500,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila Romulo Olazo creates translucent, gem-like manifestations of chromatic brilliance in this work, with translucent colors and flat shapes, both achieved by the inherent qualities of the medium. In the Diaphanous series, form and color are fused as one in a faint but interlocked relationship, and from their union emanates a disembodied, spectral look. Intriguingly, the rich, dense and complex layers of light — even in works that disport a flourish and flamboyance of forms — never lose their austere quality.

Olazo began his career as an artist when the foundations of a modernist tradition were being laid, by key figures such as Vicente Manansala, Victorio Edades, H.R Ocampo and Fernando Zobel. Olazo first came to the fore as a printmaker who made striking innovations in this field. This fed into the development of his Diaphanous series, a unique body of abstract paintings that “are veritable visions of light. They have been likened to dragonfly wings, sheets of gossamer veil or gauze, and even a symphony.”

Olazo always had an impulse toward pristine compositions.

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101 Norma Belleza (b.1939) A G ood D a y ' s C a t c h si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 8 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 36” x 5 0 ” (9 1 c m x 1 2 7 cm )

P 100,000 “As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race, I make my proper prostrations to the gods of the Market Place.” The gods may refer to the humble vendors, and Rudyard Kipling’s words convey the abiding allure of Norma Belleza’s marketplaces that color the countryside as they enticingly spill the wealth of their goods.

At first Belleza’s paintings were dark and somber representations of religious subjects, but she progressed into colorful and detailed work on folk genre subjects, including women vendors, potters, and peasants in various rural activities. The most sought after of her works are her vendor paintings, which showcase her forte in the composition of spaces between produce and figure, and the combination of bright colors without the unpleasant clashing. Belleza paintings are known for their precise coloration: so brilliantly composed and carefully distanced from each other that their overall effect soothes the mind.

Color has remained of prime importance in her work; for instance, blue for outlining figures has created the effects of both volume and movement while white intensifies the play of colors. The rich details of dress, such as floral designs and stripes, accessories and the vast array of wares and produce including fish have been used to bring out the entire spectrum of color.

She emphasizes the physical strength and native appearance of her subjects — to a certain degree empowering them.

102 Sam Penaso (b.1971) U nl i mi tex t d a ted 2 0 1 6 m ix ed m ed ia 4 8 ” x 6 0 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 5 2 c m )

P 70,000 *ACC Grantee 2013 As a visual and performance artist, Sam Penaso’s new artworks represent the matrix — the jumble of letters and numbers — as an expression of how communication and technology when combined creates art. The meaning of these symbols, often underestimated in its powers to connect people, are given a new definition by converging the abstract to the logical. The works aim to portray the artist’s vision, and that is to create perfection in the absolute abstraction of symbols towards a logical pattern — the unification of language, science and mathematics through art.

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103 Joven Mansit (b.1984) Scene f r om t he Re v o l u ti o n si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) da te d 2 0 0 7 mi xed med i a 30” x 6 0 ” (7 6 c m x 1 5 2 cm )

P 300,000 Brazen colored humor notwithstanding, there is a strong element of the theatrical in this parody of the historical painting, both in the whimsical brain-heads of the subjects and the people in period costumes surrounding the subjects. The origin of the historical painting genre is rooted in the political and social movements of the 19th century, and it continued to remain sensitive to public events. The 19th century was the time of the emergence of nation states such as the Philippines from their colonizers.

Joven Mansit has made his name in the Philippine art circuit with his stunningly realistic recreations of old photographs on canvas, on to which he layers humorous manipulations. Mansit culls his images from history books and archival materials such as newspaper clippings from the American colonial period, which he then injects with wry observations with a nationalistic bent.

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104 Lot of 10 Benedicto Cabrera

(b.1942)

a.) Del ia si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm ) b.) Boy Ta nod si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm )

Santiago Bose

(1949-2002)

c.) Tu ly a a n si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm ) d.) Tu la y a n si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm )

Juvenal Sanso

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(b.1929)

e.) Unt it le d si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm ) f.) Unt it le d si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm )

Mauro Malang Santos

(b.1928)

g.) Un t it le d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm ) h.) Un t it le d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm )

Cesar Legaspi

(1917-1994)

i .) Unt it le d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm ) j .) Un t it le d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) print 21 /3 5 15” x 2 1 ” (3 8 c m x 5 3 cm )

P 120,000

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(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

(i)

(j)

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105 Yasmin Sison (b.1973) Hu sh si gned (bot t om) da t ed 2 0 0 7 oil on c a nva s 60” x 4 8 ” (1 5 2 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: with Finale Art File Yasmin Sison has explored the expansive, infinite potentials that childhood and interacting with children bring. She was once quoted: “Dealing with and being with (children) is like being under a great big sky, where the possibilities are endless.

As a mother raising and being with children, there is a continual push at my boundaries, out of my known circle into the great beyond.”

A CCP 13 Artists awardee in 2006, many of Yasmin Sison’s other works are “in the figurative, photo-based realm.” As for foreign influences, she cites “photographers like Diane Arbus, Kathy Grannan, Alessandra Sanguinetti and installation artists like Phoebe Washburn, Jessica Stockholder and Ann Hamilton.”

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106 Lyd Arguilla (1914-1969) Dal aga si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 5 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l o r o n p a per 12 1/2” x 9 1 /2 ” (3 2 cm x 2 4 cm )

P 100,000 Provenance: Morton J. Netzorg, USA Exhibited: Carnegie Endowment International Center, Philippine Cultural Exhibition, 46th Street, New York City, September 1- October 1, 1953; American International Underwriters Building, Philippine Cultural Exhibition, 102 Maiden Lane, New York City, November 16 – December 15, 1953; Chancery of the Embassy of the Philippines, Philippine Cultural Exhibition, Washington, D.C., February 24 – March 9, 1954 Literature: Philippine Cultural Exhibition 1953-1954, An Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by 21 Philippine Artists arranged by the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG) with foreword by Salvador P. Lopez, New York, (illustrated) In this rendition of a girl’s head, the viewer can see the spirit behind why the book “ART PHILIPPINES” says: “Hardly any new “ism” featured in the pages (Cubism, Surrealism, Fauvism) passed unnoticed in the one gallery in town to which progressive artists, writers, and their friends converged in, the Philippine Art Gallery, founded in 1950 by Lyd Arguilla.”

She started painting also in 1950. She experimented in a lot of media, but her major output consisted mostly of oils. She also created outstanding watercolors. In her works in both media, she was concerned with capturing a Filipino essence in abstract and or stylized forms.

In capturing the modernist likeness of the little girl, the strokes are slapdash, and the artist allows the pale colors to come as they would, prompted by subconscious instantaneousness. The strokes make their mark effortlessly with as little conscious control on the artist’s part.

Arguilla used earthy colors, particularly in the complexion of human figures. Working in the ferment of the neorealist movement, she also adopted the use of a narrow space that enhanced the filled up effect of the composition desired by artists then.

Lyd Arguilla was associated with the Veronicans, an organization of writers, who also had the painter journalist H.R. Ocampo and writers NVM Gonzales and Estrella Alfon as members. She took postgraduate studies at Columbia University through several study grants.

Her pioneering efforts to gain public recognition and acceptance for Philippine modern art is common knowledge, and much credit goes to her for what official and private appreciation is, now enjoyed by local avant-garde artists.

She helped found the Philippine Art Gallery, which was instrumental in encouraging the development of modern art. Arguilla’s art was presented on the PAG’s “Feature Wall,” which also featured other artists such as Romeo Tabuena, H.R. Ocampo and Arturo Luz. When Arguilla died in December 1969, the PAG died with her. Yet as a legacy, she has seen a great deal of ground covered and a lot of opportunities seen and realized for the “moderns” to nurture their styles. Also, until her demise, she served as vice consul in Geneva, after being promoted from the position of cultural attaché.

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107 Set of Liturgical Vestments 19th C e nt ur y G ol d an d Text i l e a. ) heigh t : 3 6 1 /2 " (9 3 cm ) le n g th : 2 6 " ( 6 6 cm ) b. ) hei g h t : 3 3 " (8 4 c m ) le n g th : 4 2 1 / 2 " ( 1 0 8 cm ) c. ) hei gh t : 3 3 " (8 4 c m ) le n g th : 4 3 " ( 1 0 9 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: From the Private Chapel of an Important 19th Century Quiapo Mansion

From the beginning of the Christian era liturgical vestments were used by the officiating priest in the celebration of the Mass, just as Jewish priests did before his time. He wore a chasuble (from the Latin chalus or cover), a long, sleeveless tunic, while the deacons, and sometimes the Pope, wore a dalmatic, a tunic with wide sleeves.

By the 4th century it became a common practice to differentiate liturgical seasons by the use of colors. At first, usages varied considerably but by the 12th century Pope Innocent III systematized the use of five colors: violet, white, black, red and green.

The Ecumenical Liturgical Movement of the 20th century addedblue and gold, colors that were used in some Western rites before the 12th century.

The colors express emotions and ideas associated with each season of the liturgical year. Violet, the ancient royal color, is a symbol of the sovereignty of Christ and is also associated with repentance from sin. White and Gold symbolize the brightness of day. Black is the traditional color of mourning in some cultures. Red evokes the color of blood, and is the color of martyrs and of Christ's death on the Cross. Red also symbolizes fire and is the color of the Holy Spirit. Green is the color of growth, while blue is the color of the sky and in some rites honors Mary. Colors can be used in altar and pulpit decorations, vestments, banners and tapestries.

The vestments used by the priest for the celebration of the Mass were strictly regulated. The color of the material was dictated by the liturgical season.

This set of chasuble and dalmatics, being of white satin, indicates that it was used for the liturgical seasons of Easter and Christmas. The lavish gold embroidery shows that it was made expressly for use on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day and other important feast days of the Lord, sincethe High Mass usually celebrated during these Holy Days required the presence of a priest assisted by two deacons. The former wore a chasuble, while the latter wore dalmatics.

The decoration on the chasuble consists of a scapular on the front and at the back, which is defined by a border embroidered with a leafy meandering vine. The same border also runs around the edges of the vestments. The front of the vestment is embroidered with a papal tiara on the breast, while a bunch of symmetrical leafy scrolls tied with a ribbon at the bottom meander in and out of the scapular. The scrolls terminate in large flowers executed three-dimensionally in typical Philippine gold embroidery, called ‘estilo Filipino’ in Spain.

The dalmatics also have scapulars embroidered with a large flower at the chest and back. It has a border of a running vine with leaves and flowers that also decorate the edges of the entire vestment. The front and back of the dalmatic, identical in design, is divided into three registers with the lower two forming squares. Like the chasuble a bunch of symmetrical leafy scrolls tied with a ribbon at the bottom meander in and out of the scapular. The wide sleeve panels are divided into two registers and bordered like the front and back. A bunch of symmetrical leafy scrolls terminating in large flowers ate tied together by a ribbon at the bottom.

Due to frequent use, the material of the chasuble is frayed although the gold embroidery is still in good condition. Its red satin lining has faded. On the other hand, the dalmatics, since they were used only to celebrate High Mass, are in excellent condition, including their unfaded yellow satin lining.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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(a)

(b)

(front)

(front)

(c) (front)

(back)

(back)

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

108 Diosdado M. Lorenzo (1906 - 1984) Rural Lif e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 7 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on b oa r d 16 1/2” x 2 4 ” (4 2 c m x 6 2 cm )

P 100,000 Literature: 1030 R. HIDALGO Volume 2: LEGACY IN ART, Edited

by Antonio S. Araneta, MARA Inc., Metro Manila, 1986, p. 99 (illustrated) Diosdado Lorenzo’s works bear a strong impressionistic tone. His renditions of rustic scenes, common-folk, vendors and what not carry a peculiar vibrance. Alluring and engaging, Lorenzo’s art has endured the test of time, serving as relics to remind us of the idyllic ‘then.’

Borne of heavy applications of paint, robust brush strokes, and strong tinges of ochre and earthy shades, this pastoral scene carries an idiosyncratic charm that is Diosdado Lorenzo.

A pioneering modernist, Lorenzo was among the Thirteen Moderns - a group of artists who reacted to the academic style of Luna and Hidalgo, and even to the radiant, sweet style of Amorsolo.

109 Renato Habulan (b.1953) M ari a Cl ara o il o n c a n va s 3 0 ” x 2 4 ” (7 6 c m x 6 1 c m )

P 70,000

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110 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) I g oro t f r om t he H ill s , B a g u i o si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 2 8 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on w ood 13 1/4” x 1 6 ” (3 4 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 1,200,000 Provenance: Private Colletion, USA Christies, Nineteen to Now, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 12 March 2013, lot 98 Private Collection, Singapore This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot Romanticism generally placed emphasis on such emotions as awe — especially that experienced in confronting the sublimity and beauty of nature as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, and “Igorot from the Hills, Baguio” unleashes the free spirited Romantic in Fernando Amorsolo, who was less concerned with conveying the impression of light as it acted upon the eye than with its effects upon form and color. Compared to the more saccharine colors of his genre paintings of farmers and damsels beside running streams, Amorsolo’s use of more subdued colors in depicting the skies and the rough Cordillera mountain path seems to confirm that the bright light of the Philippine lowlands which are a frequent theme of his works is completely different from the muted light of Luzon’s highlands. Amid the dramatic backdrops Amorsolo emphasizes the hard physicality of a nomadic life.

As early as 1928, Amorsolo’s romanticist style has captivated the Americans who were in step with the classical tradition of the Academies of art. Amorsolo’s grasp of the classical tradition can be seen in his illustration of ethereal figures which appeared in the World War 1 era magazine Philippine Craftsman (Manila, Bureau of Printing).

Amorsolo is best known for his illuminated landscapes, and his romanticism of Philippine scenes, which often portrayed traditional Filipino culture.

Amorsolo used natural light in his paintings and developed the backlighting technique, which became his artistic trademark and his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. In a typical Amorsolo painting, figures are outlined against a characteristic glow, and intense light on one part of the canvas highlights nearby details.

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111 Benedicto Cabrera (b.1942) Tropi ca l Ra in si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l or o n p a per 15 1/2” x 1 2 1 /4 ” (3 9 cm x 3 1 cm )

P 300,000 Provenance: with Luz Gallery Benedicto Cabrera’s skills in illustration can be gleaned in this painting of a voluptuous woman shielding herself against the rain. Bencab, who is known as a painter of renown, has more strings to his bow. He is in fact, a remarkably versatile artist, as can be seen by how this otherwise banal rainy-day themed work borders on caricature. Bencab restrains going towards gross caricature, which, properly defined, is the art of exaggerating for comic and expressive effect. Bencab’s signature dance of the draperies becomes the dance of the coat, which shields the woman.

Bencab has had a considerable career as an illustrator for a number of important publications. During his college days, one of his professors at U.P was Jose Joya. In college, Bencab was also commissioned to illustrate two books, and for a brief time was an instant portraitist.

Bencab eventually joined the then new staff of Liwayway magazine as illustrator along with Ang Kiukok and Alfredo Roces for three months. At the time, the magazine was being modernized by Morita Roces Guerrero.

Bencab’s first full-time job was with the United States Information Service as lay-out artist, work which led to his development of myopia.

In 1965, he took on several illustration jobs. He designed Mirror magazine’s Milestone magazine special. For the next three years, he worked as an illustrator for the Sunday Times Magazine. Meanwhile, he was still developing his art, going on more sketching expeditions with fellow artists.

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112 Buen Calubayan (b.1980) Th e Ar c hiv e oil on c a n va s 60” x 7 2 ” (1 5 2 c m x 1 8 3 cm )

P 300,000 Exhibited: Blanc Gallery, Bionote, Quezon City, Philippines, September 20, 2014 - October 11, 2014 Buen Calubayan’s ‘blasphemous phase’ has offered viewers a peep into the inner workings of the artist’s mind — putting on display Calubayan’s faith continuum.

In this series, Calubayan’s style — reminiscent of the late works of the English Romantic landscape artist J.M.W. Turner — comes with what appear to be captions; autobiographical accounts and entries as if to journalize his experiences, memories, and thoughts.

The texts, superimposed on each painting, serve as leitmotif to the works individually, as well as collectively as a series.

The concurrence of the artist’s experiencing self, mixed with his remembering self, has produced this interior scene. The text, which reads ‘The Archive,’ followed by a listing of subjects, topics, and book titles — presumably accounting for material in the archive — could very well be speaking of the influencing literature and ideologies behind Calubayan’s oeuvre.

This 2014 work sheds light on the artist’s influences and interests, as we are given a glimpse of the things that peek Calubayan’s curiosity. Notable is his selection of themes and literature, as novels like “The Promise of The Foreign,” “Brave New World,” “Pasyon and Revolution,” among others, take on ideas and concepts of society, history, and morality — while themes like science, philosophy, and etc. inform us of the broader concepts that concern the artist concurrently.

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113 Ambie Abaño (b.1967) Trans F I G U RATI O N ru b b erc u t p rin t o n stretc h a b le tex tile m o u nt e d o n b o a rd w ith fo a m stu ffin g 5 5 ” x 5 5 ” (1 4 0 c m x 1 4 0 c m )

P 120,000 *ACC Grantee 2011 TransFIGURATION is a configuration of five portraits that relate to the viewer by the different gazes they project towards the viewer as reflected by the “eye” and its look. The “eyes” are central to the face. They are the dominant feature in any portrait as its gaze and the direction of its gaze is a powerful element that directly or indirectly connects to the viewer.

114 Juvenal Sanso (b.1929) Un ti tl e d C a. 197 8 si gned (l ow er r i g h t ) oil on boa r d 12” x 8 ” (3 0 c m x 2 0 c m )

P 80,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City In the long-spanning career of Juvenal Sanso, we have been welcomed time and again into the placid realm of the artist’s imagination. From the artist’s mind come these vivid landscapes — tranquil, yet powerful rock formations by bodies of water or flora, with a refreshing air of calmness despite a slight hint of wistfulness.

This very piece by Sanso, what with its craggy stonescape, shrubby vegetation, subdued palette, and amicable atmosphere, is no exception from the artist’s superb quality of work.

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115 Romulo Olazo (1934-2015) Un ti tl e d #153 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 7 ( lo w e r rig h t) acryl i c o n b oa r d 25” x 3 2 ” (6 4 c m x 8 1 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City With tell-tale strokes of red holding everything together, Olazo arrayed in full range and panoply all the verities of color layers in their splendid articulation, rich with the ambiguity of layering effacing the distinction of application.

The forms and planes seem predestined to be cohesive in the building up of multitudes of spatial complexity, creating a tenuously delicate, yet elegant effect.

Olazo’s art reconciles opposing qualities and modes, while concurrently combining delicate physical impact with evocation and suggestiveness. While positively affirming the presence of light in his work, it leaves a wide margin for the elusive, the implicit and the peripheral.

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PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN

116 Angel Cacnio (b.1931) Hamak a si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 5 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 55” x 1 3 0 ” (1 4 0 c m x 3 3 0 cm )

P 700,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

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A contemporary of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, and formerly a colleague of names such as Vicente Manansala, Cesar Legaspi, and Ang Kiukok (R. Roces Publications), Angel Cacnio started off as an illustrator for Liwayway Magazine, a job he kept for about 10 years. It is here, presumably, that his daughtsmanship and compositional prowess were honed.

Cacnio’s works depict scenes redolent of rustic heritage and customs. Nostalgia inducing is his oeuvre, as he paints people and scenes from the countryside. The idyllic past that is immortalized by the artist’s brush on his canvas is truly captivating; elegant and bold in its splendor.

The vigorous strokes, beautifully contrasted palette, and superbly-detailed subjects all come together to complete this picturesque bucolic setting — a truly remarkable reminder of the era long gone.

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(front)

(back)

117 A postal card from Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt to José Rizal 1887 Dec em b er 2 4 C hristm a s Gr eet i ng C a rd 3 1/2” x 5 3 /4 ” (9 c m x 1 5 cm )

P 50,000 Provenance: Atty. Jorge Delos Santos Rizal Family Estate, 1988 Literature: Bayanihan newsletter, Bayanihan Collectors Club, “A Rizaliana Tale” No. 6 issue, December, 2001; Bayanihan newsletter, Bayanihan Collectors Club,“Our Heroes Time” No. 16 issue, December, 2013.

Awarded: Grand Prize, OLDEST POSTCARD MAILED TO, FROM OR WITHIN THE PHILIPPINES, GMA Channel 7, "Unang Hirit" Bring me Contest, 2009 A postal card from Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt in Austria, bearing the earliest recorded Christmas greetings addressed to a Filipino, especially to our National Hero, Jose Rizal.

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118 Annie Cabigting (b.1971) Pai n ti ng of a P hot og ra p h o f a P h o to g ra p h o f a Pai nti ng acryl i c o n c a n va s 36” x 3 6 ” (9 1 c m x 9 1 cm )

P 300,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Singapore Deep and intriguing is the relationship between artworks and their audiences. Internationally renowned artist Annie Cabigting has been known to take the dichotomy between the two, and incorporate such into her art, as if to criticize the phenomenon of interaction between them.

In this acrylic on canvas work, we see the artist’s attempt in scrutinizing the featured artwork within the piece using the supposed viewer in her composition as a visual tool.

Cabigting gives importance to the engagement of the viewer within the artwork, as she subliminally elaborates on the occurrence with her construed spectator’s gaze, posture, and body language — a complex interplay of semiotics.

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119 Carlo Saavedra (b.1981) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 48” x 6 0 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 5 2 cm )

P 100,000

120 Jose Joya (1931-1995) M other and Chi l d sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 9 2 (lo w er rig h t) p a stel o n p a p er 1 9 3 /4 ” x 1 2 3 /4 ” (5 0 c m x 3 2 c m )

P 160,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Josefa Joya-Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot For most of the last half of the last century, the logic of the zeitgeist favored abstract painting. Yet Jose Joya is the established Filipino modernist (what with his Abstract Expressionist works representing the country in the 1964 Venice Biennale) who time and again made figurative drawing and painting pertinent. Done at a late stage of the famed abstractionist’s career, this 1992 work is a nod to Joya’s early years at the UP, where he was exposed to the paintings of Fernando Amorsolo who would eventually be recognized as a National Artist. Among Joya's other early influences were Vicente Manansala, yet another National Artist, and Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Joya was initially academically trained, like his contemporary Manuel Rodriguez Sr. Joya's first works were mostly representational. During the late 1950s, he gradually shifted to abstract painting and became one of the leading painters in this genre. A paper lantern adds a holiday touch to the universal mother and child theme.

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121 Solomon Saprid (1917-2003) Fami l y si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 9 brass H: 34 1/2 ” x L: 1 3 1 /2 ” x W: 1 2 ” ( 8 8 cm x 3 4 cm x 3 0 c m )

P 400,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila Artistic depictions of motherhood reflect the forces that have textured the centuries as they convey the fulfilling subtleties of the tie that binds the mother and child.

Saprid’s handling of the masses with the consequent creation of visible interior volumes give a dimension of monumentality given the actual modest height of the mother and child themed sculpture.

As English sculptor Henry Moore once said, a sculpture “might be several times over life size and yet be petty and small in feeling — and a small carving only a few inches in height can give the feeling of huge size and monumental grandeur because the vision behind it is big.”

The textural qualities of Saprid’s sculptures always suggest the importance of the process by which they were made. The textured contours create apparent volumes more extensive than the actual dimensions of the metal.

In Saprid’s sculptures, the figures are the exact opposite of the classical ideals of cool elegance and serenity, of smoothness and purity of form. Instead, they convey untrammelled freedom from conventional restraints in the quest for full expression.

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PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

122 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) Po rtrait of D oña C a r me n Z a ra g o z a y R o x a s vd a . de A raneta si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 5 6 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 44” x 3 4 ” (1 1 1 c m x 8 6 cm )

P 400,000 Vicente Manansala, who is otherwise known for his modernist legacy, excels in making his female subject, Doña Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas (1876-1943), matriarch of the storied Araneta-Zaragoza clan, being the wife of Don Gregorio Araneta; and an exceptional patroness of the arts and an artist herself, look very stately, and her outfit which is more fin de siècle than mid-century plays a role in the success of this portrait.

It is hard to disconnect the radical change in fashion that has characterized the twentieth century from the equally radical change in art that accompanied it.

But this 1956 portrait may be an outstanding exception. The ruffles are deep slate gray, a color for understated elegance, and its rich surface sets off the neck. Indeed, part of the appeal of this early portrait by Manansala lies in the aura of nostalgia.

Fashionable attire in painting has not merely functioned to delight the eye of the beholder; more often it has served to emphasize the grandeur, the authority and the power of the subject.

A strikingly similar looking but uncredited portrait of Doña Carmen Zaragoza in a different attire is on page VI of “1030 R. Hidalgo — Vol. 2: Legacy in Art”; and the facing page contains a tribute poem—“Estrella de Caridad” by a relative, Premio Zobel awardee, Francisco Zaragoza.

The fifteenth (the last) stanza says: En esta intima oblacion, que la gratitud abona, quiero darte mi cancion, que es rubi del coronacion, para formar tu corona.

It should be noted that “1030 R. Hidalgo – Vol. 2: Legacy in Art” was a tribute to Doña Carmen Zaragoza, because as the Introduction of the book says: “… it is from the Zaragoza line that the Araneta–Zaragoza heirs can trace their close association with the arts.”

In fact, the cover of the book features an award winning sketch from 1892, “Dos Inteligencias,” attributed to Doña Carmen Zaragoza. She took formal painting lessons, and she also helped in putting out the late 19th century magazine La Ilustracion Filipina del Oriente, which was founded, published and edited by her father, Don Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna. The magazine served as a literary venue for the sketches of Vicente Rivera y Mir, Felix Martinez and Teodoro Buenaventura.

Even without the portrait, the stately oval shaped architectural frame recalls the old money splendour of the revered prewar ancestral house at 1030 R Hidalgo in prewar Quiapo where Doña Carmen Zaragoza (and her husband, Don Gregorio Araneta, and their children, most famous of whom was Don Luis Araneta) lived: its walls and ceilings decorated with murals and frescoes

by Toribio Antillon, Modesto Reyes, and the architect painter Juan Arellano. A frequent visitor of the house was Amorsolo.

It is to the Zaragoza ancestral tradition, and to Doña Carmen Zaragoza’s credit that art was very much a part of life at 1030 Hidalgo. With such distinctive bloodlines, the Araneta-Zaragoza children, most famously Don Luis, grew up carrying on the Zaragoza tradition of involvement in the arts.

The Araneta children formed a rondalla with Teresa playing the laud, Consuelo the guitar, Pacita and Salvador, the piano, Ramon the marimba and J. Antonio, the violin. Rosita and her cousin Paz Zaragoza sang operatic songs during many family celebrations.

The storied house was burned down during World War 2, but the artistic legacy lives on.

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123 Riel Hilario (b.1976) a.) Cu r iosit y si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 2 carv ed w ood a nd p ol y ch ro m e d f ru itw o o d H: 29” x L: 2 8 ” x W: 9 ” ( 7 4 cm x 7 1 cm x 2 3 cm ) b.) For be a r a nc e si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 2 carv ed w ood a nd p ol y ch ro m e d f ru itw o o d H: 30 1/2 ” x L: 2 7 1 /2 ” x W: 8 ” ( 7 7 cm x 7 0 cm x 2 0 cm) c.) For t it ude si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 2 carv ed w ood a nd p ol y ch ro m e d f ru itw o o d H: 30” x L: 2 8 ” x W: 8 ” ( 7 6 cm x 7 1 cm x 2 0 cm )

P 160,000 Exhibited: The Drawing Room, Event Horizon, Makati City Philippines, July 28, 2012 - August 14, 2012 The works of Ilocos born Riel Hilario are rooted in a long-spanning tradition of wood carving — ironically, it is from this very heritage, too, that his art veers from.

Hilario was born in Vigan, and at the age of 18 trained in santo-making under the tutelage of Jose Lazo in San Vicente (Ilocos).

In a place notable for a premiere, exclusive circle of wood carvers, it is to no surprise that Hilario’s works are able to possess an antiquated aesthetic, while concurrently flaunting a highly detailed stylization of form.

There is great curiosity in the peculiar creatures that Hilario spawns – polychromed figures conjured from a mythology all his own. Despite their (often) lack of expression, these figures are ever bearing of a sullen temperament; expressive also of eagerness and naivety, though not so as to seem oblivious.

This very set of works is from the artist’s 2012 exhibit, entitled ‘Event Horizon.’ The show featured elements of mobility, and representations of ascension, travel and ideas of the like. The imagery portrayed by Hilario seems suggestive of a journey to be taken on — most probably inspired by his own, as he, at the time, was set to embark on a set of international residences.

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124 Jose Joya (1931-1995) G reen E c ho signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) acryli c - c o l l a ge 22” x 1 5 ” (5 6 c m x 3 8 cm )

P 240,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Josefa Joya-Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot Jose Joya has been working with acrylic, mostly on plywood, since 1977 and developed a sponge technique. His paintings of this stage suggest the precious and the elusive. Two decades after his death, Joya’s radiant abstractions look as fresh and innovative as ever, perhaps even more so given the cynicism and irony that pervade much present day painting, which often relies with an assumption that art must come equipped with an explanatory text or lend itself easily to verbal discussion. By contrast, the work of Joya posits a whole hearted belief that art can address the entire being, emotions and intellect alike, through the eye, without emotions and intellect alike, through the eye, without words, just as music does through the ear.

With its rhythmic transparent planes, Green Echo “enters into the realm of illusion and the tonal ambiguities of complex mental states.” Joya’s 1984 work Green Echo, just like all of his other works, depends for its impact on direct experience. Its meaning is released not by photographic reproduction or verbal explanation but by face to face encounter with actual surface, actual size, actual color and actual texture. These paintings continue to speak powerfully to us, yet the passage of time has altered some of our perceptions. From a perspective of about half a century, the works of Joya, such as Green Echo, seem both to embody what was most exciting about Filipino abstract painting of the 1960s and helped define the achievement of Filipino painting as a whole.

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PROPERTY FROM THE BRENT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL COLLECTION

125 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Lavande r a si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 1 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 19” x 2 4 ” (4 8 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 3,000,000 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 of 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. Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for confirming the authenticity of this lot At first glance, this painting looks like how Eric Torres describes a nude by Fabian de la Rosa in 1974: “A version of Maria Makiling, a sensuous nude brooding by a brook with her back to the viewer, is no ethereal stuff of myth or fantasy, but an earthbound woman declaring the vulnerability of her sex.” Yet the painting is done by Fabian de la Rosa’s most famous student, Fernando Amorsolo in 1915.

Throughout his career, Amorsolo hired models to photograph, paint and sketch. This nude in a bucolic river setting from 1915 is earlier than the nudes that were done in Spain and, after, his return to Manila in 1919.

The details, the circular waves of water on the river in particular, reveal unmistakable influences of Don Fabian de la Rosa, who was the uncle and mentor to brothers, Fernando and Pablo Amorsolo.

Alfredo R. Roces wrote in 1975: “From a chronological viewpoint, the art of Amorsolo followed the expected patterns of early influences that culminated in a personal style which ultimately became such a trademark… His earliest influence was no doubt Fabian de la Rosa, who served as the direct link to traditional Philippine painting. Unlike Luna and Hidalgo before him, de la Rosa was the transition between the end of the Spanish period and the beginning of the American occupation…Amorsolo apprenticed in Fabian de la Rosa’s studio.”

In 1974, Emmanuel S. Torres wrote about Fabian de la Rosa’s style of realism: “…though ‘soft’, had a stripped down, unvarnished look that captured the vulnerability of life expressed in somber colors, firm yet readily bent forms and vigorous brushstrokes…”

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126 Le Dondiin et les Philippines G umma , Al fr ed 1896 Barcelon a : “ L Avenc ” 5 1/2” x 5 3 /4 ” (1 4 c m x 1 5 cm )

P 30,000 Provenance: Private collection, Barcelona, Spain.

Lettres à M. le Président de la Société Geographique de Paris. Includes the 1692 MAP OF SOUTHEAST ASIA PRINTED IN VENICE that shows the Philippines consisted of 7,448 islands, pre-dating any specific reference of how much land the Spanish Colonial Government owned in the Philippine Islands. This map was reprinted in another book whose text in French consists of the letters of a monk addressed to the President of Société Geographique de Paris about the geography of the Philippine Islands.

The 1734 Murillo Velarde Map of the Philippines, was sold recently at a foreign auction and met the attention of media and the Philippine Government because it included Bajo de Masinloc across the Zambales Coast as part of the Philippine Archipelago.

There is a more pressing issue to consider for boosting the value of our national heritage. Even before this time, there is an earlier printed map that actually dictates the basic answer to the question of our country’s land title.

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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED COUPLE

127 Nena Saguil (1924 - 1994) Unti tl e d signed, d a t ed a nd i nsc rib e d R o m a 1 9 6 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a nva s 30” x 2 0 ” (7 6 c m x 5 1 cm )

P 600,000 The complex microcosms prevailing in Nena Saguil’s canvasses, comprised of intricately laid spheres and vortices, have come to be pieces of great acclaim. Her transcendental vision, along with her undoubtedly refined execution, are mainly what led her to such great adulation.

Having studied non-figurative art in the Palais de Fontainbleau School (Ecoles des Arts Americans) on a Walter Damrasch Scholarship, Saguil’s predilections evolved. It was in her trip to France that she had veered her craft toward heavy abstraction.

Here, she devised these convoluted compositions, which at first seem like cellular organisms in microscopic view.

These clouds, dots, swirls and orbs, as can be seen in this work, constitute what would seem to be suggestive of a galactic concerto, floating around the colorful abyss, harmonizing with the void expanse as if to create a symphony — her own rendition of the cosmos, if you will.

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128 Romulo Olazo (1934-2015) Di ap ha nous B- L X X V (D i p ty c h ) si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 8 2 oil on c a n va s 48” x 1 9 2 ” (1 2 2 c m x 4 8 8 cm )

P 1,600,000 Provenance: with Galleria Duemila Private Collection, USA

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The perfection of illusion is an age old impulse in art. Olazo’s intention was to evoke, through a visually satisfying organization of pictorial elements, the magic of light and shadow, space and silence.

For Diaphanous B-LXXV Olazo expands the size of this pair of canvases to the point that they approach the dimensions of a wall itself.

For most of his works, Olazo’s colors are relatively high keyed, but for Diaphanous B-LXXV, he strips his colors to white, gray, brown and black.

The works fill the viewers' field of vision, block out the distractions of the everyday world and become the viewers' environment, as the eye traverses the mottled surfaces of transparent and opaque layers, and passes into the various depths of light.

With his particular technique, he is able to achieve light ethereal effects or luminous passages in the thin films that filter light from the surface to increasing depths.

Works such as Diaphanous B-LXXV, with a vast field of black as backdrop, are plunged into a crepuscular darkness, from which slivers of light glimmer like wavelengths struggling to emerge from the void. In 1972, he was awarded the coveted Thirteen Artists Award by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP). In the 1970s he developed his renowned Diaphanous series of paintings. He has held regular solo exhibitions at pioneering galleries such as the Luz Gallery, and Finale Art File and major institutions such as the CCP since 1974. He was recently included in the book 13 Painters for the 21st Century.

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129 Jigger Cruz (b.1984) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 4 ( b o tto m ) mi xed med i a 32” x 2 4 ” (8 1 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 120,000

130 Elmer Borlongan (b.1967) M an wi th tel es c ope sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 1 6 (lo w er left) c o n te o n p a p er 2 3 ” x 1 6 ” (5 8 c m x 4 1 c m )

P 50,000 Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mr. Elmer Borlongan for confirming the authenticity of this lot

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131 Edwin Wilwayco (b.1952) Th e Spir a l S t a ir w a y si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 3 ( lo w e r b o tto m ) mi xed med i a H: 86” x L: 2 8 ” x W: 3 7 ” ( 2 1 8 cm x 7 1 cm x 9 4 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City "Blue gives other colors their vibration," declared Cezanne.

The master of Aix-en-Provence used more blues than his contemporaries.

Against the looming formidable historicity and significance of the color blue, Wilwayco chose to challenge his art. His decision to concentrate his pictorial powers on a single color should not be construed as an act of arrogance, but rather as one of self-effacement. For it is in mortifying his art of the hedonistic pleasures of color that Wilwayco needed to relate to the most intimist aspect of his being as an artist.

But why blue? The reasons are both celebratory and aesthetic.

A growing awareness of spirituality, as a force that directs the artist's sensibility, and the need for his art to reflect his own psychological state, emboldened Wilwayco to explore the emotive power of the color blue.

In Wilwayco's case, it is intriguing to discover that his main color, blue, never overwhelms the eye, as it would in, say, heroically-sized minimalist paintings. The effect of blue is not intrusive, at least not arrogantly so. True to the color's connotation of spirituality, not to mention its explicit allusion to the vast open skies, blue animates the canvases of Wilwayco to the extent of whipping up a whirlpool of emotions.

Pictorially, the paintings suggest a spiritual maelstrom.

With the viewer caught between a tension of force: turmoil and stillness.

-Cid Reyes

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132 Ang Kiukok (1931-2005) Parks a nd W ildlif e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 24” x 1 2 ” (6 1 c m x 3 0 cm )

P 500,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Finale Art File confirming the authenticity of this lot Some 20th century Filipino artists demonstrated a precise understanding of Cubism’s tenets and implications, and they would parse its substructures with aplomb. Other painters were more gingerly in their approach, borrowing the surface aspects of cubism yet never leaving the naturalistic basis of their art. This work by Ang Kiukok is an example of both instances.

The verdant scene seems to take on the tree of life motif, connecting all forms of creation, even in the context of a park like setting. Ang displays delicacy of technique, an angularity of drawing, and pleasantly sharply contrasting colours, but sans the violence that usually pervades his works.

Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to abundance in life. The sky around the tree reflects the peaceful nature of the countryside and the verdant growth of the tree that holds everything together alludes to rebirth and growth.

This greeting-card pretty work by Ang Kiukok shows a step in his development from an expressionist painter into a master of formal abstracted composition.

In his explorations of geometric simplification, Ang Kiukok was interested in the simplification of naturally occurring forms to their essentials and eventually to the fracturing of form. Objects are shown as a series of flat, angular planes.

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133 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932-2011) Dos Ma r ia s ( Tr e s Ma ri a s S e ri e s ) signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 7 2 ( to p ) oi l on c a n va s 25” x 3 2 ” (6 4 c m x 8 1 cm )

P 240,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mr. Christian Aguilar confirming the authenticity of this lot Conversations want leisure and apparently these two sitters are enjoying a moment’s pause from the convivial verbal exchange.

A master of nuance and mood, Alcuaz captures a scene of quiet attention and gentle posturing in a mellow toned interior.

Alcuaz is known for his Tres Marias genre of beautiful, long gowned women with a 19th century air engaged in a variety of domestic activities — although the number of women has varied through the years. Two genteel ladies are portrayed here, and like his nudes, his color scheme must have come from the influence of Velasquez and Goya, and in these he also shares kinship with Juan Luna.

Federico Agular Alcuaz painted either abstract subjects or figurative subjects, depending on his artistic whim of the moment.

Among his more popular figurative themes is the “Tres Marias” series.

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134 Victorio Edades (1895-1985) a.) Un t it le d 1 signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a n va s 9” x 15 ” (2 3 c m x 3 8 cm ) b .) Un t it le d 2 signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a n va s 9” x 15 ” (2 3 c m x 3 8 cm ) c.) Unt it le d 3 signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a n va s 9” x 15 ” (2 3 c m x 3 8 cm )

(a)

P 500,000 This piece is accompanied by a letter from Joan Edades, daughter of the artist, confirming the authenticity of the lot.

Edades comes full circle five years before his death with these three works done in Davao, his home during his twilight years, in 1980, all of which recall and celebrate his seminal 1928 “The Builders” (exhibited in his first one man show at Manila’s Columbia Club in 1928) that powerfully depicted the robustness of the working men in bold and rough masses of deep brown, ocher and black.

“The Builders” emphasized linear and structural composition above other pictorial elements, conveying the essence of men engaged in labor through the contortion of their bodies.Cid Reyes asked Edades in 1973:

(b)

“Would it be right to call “The Builders” Cezannesque?”

Edades replied: “Well, from Cezanne, I learned solidity and grandeur, and these qualities I tried to achieve in this painting.”

Cid Reyes asks: “And the colors?”

Edades answered: “That’s a different matter.

Cezanne, as you know, used a lot of purple for his shadows, but in the Philippines, due to the intensity of the heat, the purple turns into dark violet—black, almost. In “The Builders” the shadows are almost black.”

In another occasion Edades was once quoted: “In THE BUILDERS… the arms and legs of the workers were not in proportion. But I painted them that way for the sake of composition. And lastly, there were the colors i used. They were not pretty colors.”

(c)

These three works from the 1980s revive the same solidity and grandeur which Edades learned from the French master, yet the colors are far more subdued, very different from the heavy-handedness of the 1928 archetype.

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135 Lee Aguinaldo (1933-2007) Th e R e d D ow nf low si gned, t i t l ed , a nd d a t e d 1 9 6 3 ( in v e rs o ) oil on fi b er b oa r d 21 1/2” x 2 4 ” (5 5 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 400,000 Provenance: with Luz Gallery Private Collection, USA The year 1956 saw an upsurge in avant garde activity. The PAG held a series of one man shows, and Lee Aguinaldo put up an array of abstracts that drew sources from Jackson Pollock’s “Drip” paintings.

Enter the sixties and Aguinaldo left his free swinging gushes and rivulets and shifted to formats built around a central motif charged by a welter of strokes and heavy impasto, which moved on to the finer “flicks” such as in 1963’s “The Red Downflow.”

Aguinaldo’s unorthodox, leave it to chance approach, is a refreshing visual antidote to the perfection and ubiquity of the school of traditional realism.

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136 Larry Leviste (b.1956) I nto th e Woods signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a nva s 20” x 1 6 ” (5 1 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 88,000 Larry Leviste’s works bear a refreshing air of whimsy.

Radiant of charm and flamboyance, the bright colors and myth-like compositions give his pieces a rejuvenated vitality.

Into the Woods is an alluring impressionist landscape of the Tagaytay Forest near the home of the artist. Distinctively effulgent, what with his palette selection, this very piece captures the magical charm of the setting, giving a bewitching character to the otherwise banal forest. The scene captures the mystical landscape, featuring the morning sunrise on an enchanted trail.

137 Olan Ventura (b.1976) U nti tl ed sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 0 8 (lo w er rig h t) o il o n c a n va s 3 6 ” x 2 4 ” (9 1 c m x 6 1 c m )

P 100,000

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138 Makamisa by Jose Rizal Jose Ri z a l M anil a, I la g an -S añ g a Pr ess F i rst Ed i t i o n , 1 9 4 3 8 1/4” x 5 3 /4 ” (2 1 c m x 1 5 cm )

P 60,000 Provena nc e: Al i p Co l l ec t i on Private c ol l ec t i on , M a n ila The unfinished third novel by Jose Rizal, MAKAMISA, was written in Tagalog, and first published in 1943 by F. Laksamana (Manila: Ilagan-Sañga Press). Out of only 229 printed, this original first edition is marked number 22 with authenticating signature by Jaime C. de Veyra, significantly a very low number. The book was never sold and was a gift of Lupon sa Kagawarang Pagsilang ni Rizal, 1943. Few copies survived as a result of the Liberation of Manila in 1945. This first edition by our National Hero is in very fine condition, and its facsimile is permanently displayed at all the National Historical Commission of the Philippines’ Museum of Philippine Political History, previously housed in Manila, now transferred to Malolos, Bulacan, and another one in Cebu City.

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139 Jose John Santos III (b.1970) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 1 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 36” x 5 8 1 /2 ” (9 1 c m x 1 4 9 cm )

P 3,000,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City Just the sight of the closed door at the center evokes mysteries still kept shut — unwilling to be revealed in this silent world of Jose John Santos III. In Santos’ painting, it is the fantastic hallucinatory creations of the mind, stretching to some faraway post-reality that sets the stage for encounters of the real and the imagined. His female figures are the last vestige of the normal world, of the rational and mundane, in the helter-skelter disorder of Jose John Santos’ vision.

All sense of the everyday is gone, and instead, two figures stand motionless, the bicycle notwithstanding; the contemplating viewer becomes absorbed by the thoughts which these juxtapositions arouse. Santos has eliminated all movement, and juxtaposed the arrangement of the visual elements for a nearly formal disposition.

The figures themselves seem derived from archetypal classical poses — postmodern meets ancient Minoan, what with the jars.

The backdrop colors are calm and without the contrasts which give it its particular eerie character. In fact, where other post surreal painters explore the spontaneous, lively, and shocking, Jose John Santos’ oeuvre is calculated yet contemplative, calm yet haunting.

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140 Marcel Antonio (b.1965) Bl u e P ond si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 30” x 2 4 ” (7 6 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 100,000 Provenance: with Liongoren Gallery

141 Joven Mansit (b.1984) H ul a-hoop sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 1 5 (lo w er rig h t) p a stel o n tea sta in p a p er 2 5 1 /4 ” x 1 6 1 /4 ” (6 4 c m x 4 1 c m )

P 80,000

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142 Danilo Dalena (b.1942) Nu dee d si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a nva s 24” x 2 4 ” (6 1 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 180,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA This nude by Danilo Dalena seems almost in step with his popular themes of skid row strippers and dancers, almost a caustic social commentary as much as a sensuous presentation of the female form. It should be noted that Dalena made his mark in the early 1970s with his acerbic political cartoons and illustrations for the Free Press and Asia-Philippines Leader as it raised the standards of editorial art in the country.

He also filled his sketch pads with hundreds of character studies and figure drawings of the down and out prowling the streets, even urban sleaze.

While he was completing the Jai Alai Series, he started working on another set of oil paintings of strippers and dancers in a beerhouse on one of Manila's major thoroughfares.

The Alibangbang Series, named after the beerhouse, was exhibited at the Alegria Gallery in l981 and was once again well received.

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143 Niño Juan Dormido in a Virina 18th a nd L a st Qua r te r o f th e 1 9 th C e n tu r y I v ory (h ea d a nd l i mbs o f n iñ o ) , S atin , G o ld Th re a d , C oc o n u t Hu sk, Sh ells, Sa la g u in to Win g s a n d G la ss w ith v irin a H: 27 1/2 ” x L: 1 7 ” (6 9 cm x 4 3 cm ) N iño: H: 8 ” x L: 3 1 /2 ” ( 2 0 cm x 9 cm )

P 700,000 Provenance: Vigan, Ilocos Sur

The sleeping Infant Jesus or Nino Dormido was a favorite icon in rich households from the 17th Century onwards. It was always prominently displayed during the Christmas Season on a bed of fragrant moras or vetiver that simulated straw or lying on a bed of carved wood, ivory or silver, the richness of the material depended on the wealth of the owner.

After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, blown glass bell jars, locally called virinas were imported from France and England.

This product of the Victorian Era were used to hermetically seal vases with cloth or bead flowers or arrangements of stuffed birds that were used as centerpieces for consolas and center tables.

Eventually santeros decided that the bell jars could also be used to contain santos, especially statues with ivory heads and hands clad in gold-embroidered robes. The virinas prevented air and dust from entering and kept the ivory porcelain white and the clothes and gilding in pristine condition. This started a fad for collecting elaborate tableaux that eventually became a status symbol: the bigger and more elaborate, the higher the status it conferred.

This particular piece is an uncommon one, since it depicts, not the Infant Jesus, but St. John the Baptist as a sleeping child, aka Nino Juan. The 18th century ivory figure of the child was originally a Nino Dormido, but was transformed into a Nino Juan Dormido during the last quarter of the 19th century. It was clothed in a gold-embroidered vestment in the shape of a sheepskin and placed on a hillock formed of coconut husks overlaid with shells, ground glass or bubog and the carapaces of the salaguinto beetle. Trees, flowering bushes, sheep and even human figures of colored glass decorate the whole ensemble. The glass flora and fauna were made by the inmates of Bilibid Prison.

The tableau is encased in a large virina on a beautifully carved base consisting of two registers. The upper one is carved with a meandering leafy vine interspersed with roses, while the lower one has a frieze of joined half blooms with numerous petals.

The entire base was originally overlaid with gold leaf that has all been removed over time.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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144 José Rizal (1861-1896) 1868 Au g u st 8 Earl i est d a t ed l et t er m e n tio n in g N atio n al H e ro J o s é Riz a l 8” x 10 1 /4 ” (2 0 c m x 2 6 cm )

P 50,000 Provenance: Ramon N. Villegas Rizal Fa mi l y E st a t e, 1 9 8 8 Literature: Bayanihan newsletter, Bayanihan Collectors Club,“Our Heroes Time” No. 16 issue, December, 2013.

A manuscript letter from Jose Lopez addressed to Teodora Alonso Juinio, mentioning Jose receiving his first communion at age 7 years old.

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145 Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) a.) Nu de 1 signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a nva s 12” x 1 8 ” (3 0 c m x 4 6 cm ) b .) Nu de 2 signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 1 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a nva s 12” x 1 6 ” (3 0 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 1,400,000 Provena n ce : Ac qui re d d ir e ctly f ro m t h e a r t i st i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 6 0 ' s by R i c ha r d G r e ve, thence b y d e s ce n t to h i s d a u gh t er, A pr i l D e c ker These pieces are accompanied by certificates issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot In the renaissance it was the reclining Venus, but in the nineteenth century it became the Odalisque, that sultry beauty lounging seductively in an Eastern setting, as an excuse for artists to paint the erotic and the exotic.

The odalisque is such an accepted subject in our age, through Matisse, Picasso and other modern masters, that many have almost forgotten her origins. The odalisque pose was first associated with the pampered concubines of eastern sultans, who lived lives of luxury in the harem, beauties who idled away their days and evenings in perfumed pools, eating sugary comfits, presented the exact antithesis to prevalent western ideas about women. In nineteenth century romantic painting, particularly in France, the odalisque represented the female in her most absolute form.

In the twentieth century, the odalisque pose shed off its exotic origins and trappings. In the Philippines, Fernando Amorsolo raised the theme into something beyond mere sensuality and found a new purity of form and color in the subject.

Amorsolo applies warm colors to achieve the female form, luxurious without blatant sensuality, intimate yet objective. The fluid spontaneity of the reclining figure belies Amorsolo’s careful compositional juxtaposition of color and line, as charm becomes “one element in the general conception of the figure.”

Amorsolo accents the voluptuous form of a female figure sitting alone in her room, emanating the glow of youth. Retaining a romantic notion of painting throughout his life, Amorsolo created works achieving spontaneity and directness. As in most of Amorsolo’s work, the figure’s sensuality appears incidental to the skilled brushwork that enlivens this composition, an intimate glimpse into the beauty of the female form.

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146 Don Salubayba (1979-2014) Un ti tl e d mi xed med i a 68” x 4 7 ” (1 7 3 c m x 1 1 9 cm )

P 160,000 *ACC Grantee 2004/2012

147 Lao Lianben (b.1948) U nti tl ed sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 8 0 (b o tto m ) wa terc o lo r o n p a p er 2 2 ” x 2 5 ” (5 6 c m x 6 4 c m )

P 120,000 Present all throughout the oeuvre of Lao Lianben is the tranquil, meditative ambiance.

The introspection inducing masterpieces by the Zen master bear a calming, complex interplay of movements and contrasts, captivating the viewers as they are welcomed into a contemplative state.

This enthralling work is from 1980, 4 years after Lao was conferred the Thirteen Artist Award.

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148 Jon Jaylo (b.1975) M oonlight S e r e na de signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a nva s 36 x 48 ” (9 1 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 260,000 Exhibited: Strychnin Gallery, Vanishing Folklore, Berlin, Germany, September 21, 2012 Jon Jaylo’s surreal vision achieves a more lucent, reverberating effect when it ventures into the territory of local myths and legends, such as in the work, Moonlight Serenade. Exhibited in the show Vanishing Folklore at the Strychnin Gallery in Berlin, Germany in 2012, the painting reveals a tikbalang—the homegrown centaur that only shows itself when the moon is full, which is depicted here—pedaling a carriage that carries a cello. He travels on and against a mesmerizing blue landscape, bathed by the moon’s cold, ethereal light.

In this fragment of a dream, we take a glimpse of a supernatural world which was familiar to us in childhood: a place of magic populated by fairies, elementals, and other strange creatures, such as the tikbalang. Jaylo, who is based in New York, further imbues the moonlit scene with mystery by giving the figure not with tobacco, but with modern-day clothes and a seemingly ordinary chore as if, any moment, he could breach into our world, ready to play his music.

Jaylo is able to evoke such a heightened state because of his deft handling of color (look at the various shades of blue of the sky) and his masterful talent in composition: the circles of the wheels resonate with the sphere of the moon, and the cello, with its sensual curves, tilts and points away from the figure, creating a harmonious balance. We may never know where the half-horse, half-human is headed, but as what Jaylo’s surreal touch conveys, it will still, no doubt, be a night of infinite enchantments.

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149 Hernando R. Ocampo (1911-1978) Unti tl e d signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 6 1 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a n va s 28” x 2 2 ” (7 1 c m x 5 6 cm )

P 1,000,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila Colors in motion arrested in space — this phrase best describes this 1961 abstraction by H.R. Ocampo.

By the early 1960s, the artist wanted to paint absolute abstractions; he is eager to avoid what may be called “pictorial” readings.

H.R. Ocampo truly was an outsider. He never travelled abroad, yet he developed his own language that was “sui generis” as far as the history of Philippine abstraction is concerned.

With a palette of earthy, tropical colors, Ocampo creates an illusion of less structured composition, acting entirely on intuition.

The swirls and the treatment of paint seems at first to lack all conscious control, but is an accurate projection of the artist’s particular aesthetic goal which is utter abstraction — the absence of narrative in the paintings and drawings, despite the moving and profoundly intellectual subject matter that inspired them.

The artist’s hypnotic abstractions take inspiration from the otherworldly rhythms of nature. Using movement and bold colors, Ocampo utilized fantasy and science fiction as the basis for his works. He thrives in forms that are very delicate, and he makes these pulsate with his choice of colors that seem to be set in dynamic motion.

This 1961 work gives fruition to the dynamic tension between colors that would characterized his work for more than two decades.

The late art historian and critic Rod Paras-Perez wrote: “His paintings thus attained a sense of depth without breaking the surface matrix; a sense of a variety of moving shapes without destroying surface serenity of the painting….”

It is the tension between vulnerability and permanence that pervades in Ocampo’s oeuvre.

His transitional period, 1945-1963, was a period of intense creativity in painting, showing an increasing tendency to abstraction in their primary concern for design, color and texture. His paintings became a living, organic, logical unit.

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150 Cesar Buenaventura (1922-1983) Moth e r a nd C hild si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 7 7 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a nva s 49” x 2 9 ” (1 2 4 c m x 7 4 cm )

P 80,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Muntinlupa City Cesar Buenaventura’s oeuvre is filled with scenes of the idyllic. A member of the Mabini Artists, it is no surprise that Buenaventura exhibits a predilection for traditional Filipino themes and subjects.

Although known for his lush, impressionist landscapes, the artist has been known to spawn various genre themes and tableaus.

Unconventional of the artist, this particular piece from 1977 is of a Mother and Child. The earthy shades, highlighted with the chartreuse and ochre yellows, bring together the artist’s depiction of the timeless subject, giving it the rustic, Filipino air that is uniquely his own.

151 Onib Olmedo (1937-1996) U nti tl ed sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 8 2 (lo w er rig h t) p a stel o n p a p er 2 5 1 /2 ” x 2 0 ” (6 5 c m x 5 1 c m )

P 80,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Gisella Olmedo - Araneta confirming the authenticity of this lot A stark and austere world is Onib Olmedo’s canvas, teeming with the perturbed and distraught who agonize in vain. Lost are the individuals, hollowly gazing as they endure a perpetual state of longing.

The multi-award winning artist has been known to depict the marginalized in his own delineated, disfigured rendition.

Although having ventured into painting in the 60’s, it was in the 80’s that the expressionist master received public adulation for his work. Here, he influenced a whole generation of artists, and marked a new era in Philippine art.

This very piece is from 1982, a year after Olmedo’s gold medal win in the 1981 Art Association of the Philippines Annual Art Competition.

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152 Jose Joya (1931-1995) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 1 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on b oa r d 7 1/2” x 1 4 1 /4 ” (1 9 c m x 3 6 cm )

P 500,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Josefa Joya-Baldovino confirming the authenticity of this lot In the late 1960s Jose Joya continued to make explorations into the seemingly limitless universe of oil paint while still adhering to a very New York autumnal color sensibility. It was in the later decades that Joya added the brilliant tropical colors to his visual repertoire.

Joya’s work is never cold, anything but minimalistic. Joya’s paintings appear almost topographic — they’re an expressionist version of what one might imagine the surface of the lunar terrain to be.

Alice Guillermo writes about Joya’s paintings in the 1967 period: “In 1967, his one man show at the Luz Gallery, a farewell exhibit before proceeding to New York, indicated that his career was moving toward a new phase; thesis was seeking antithesis — his kinetic gestural style was giving way to a classicism of shapes.

From linear he turned geometric while eschewing rigid geometry in favour of loosely delineated and relaxed shapes; from compelling, feverish gestures, he became composed and circumspect, drawing a quiet wisdom from large and simple forms.”

His canvases were characterized by "dynamic spontaneity" and "quick gestures" of action painting. He is the creator of compositions that were described as "vigorous compositions" of heavy impastos, bold brushstrokes, controlled dips, and diagonal swipes."

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PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE DON ANTONIO E. BRIAS COLLECTION

153 Ivory Madonna and Child 17th C e nt ur y I v ory an d Si l ver i n K a m a g o n g B a s e H: 12 1/4 ” x L: 4 ” x W: 3 ” ( 3 1 cm x 1 0 cm x 8 cm ) iv o ry o n ly H: 16" (4 1 c m ) i nc l u d i n g b as e

P 600,000 Provenance: Parian of Manila

This statue of the Madonna and Child is carved from one piece of ivory and, at first glance, gives the impression of a stiff Romanesque statue.

The iconography, however, is typical of the late 17th century and shows the Virgin carrying the Child Jesus with her left hand and holding its foot with her right. The Nino holds an orb surmounted by an ivory cross in its left hand. The oriental face of the Virgin and the series of rings around her neck indicate that its carver was a Chinese artisan who was definitely based in the Parian in Manila. The Virgin’s face is framed by wavy ebony tresses that fall on her shoulders. The eyes of both the Virgin and Child are painted on the ivory, that of the latter done with a dreamlike quality, locally called mapungay.

The Virgin is clothed in a round-necked tunic with a neckline bordered by parallel bands that were originally gilded. The dress is belted at the waist with a large buckle and falls in straight folds to the floor, where it is bordered at the hem with a gilt band. A long cloak that is draped over the statue’s left arm, where it falls in multiple folds. The cloak goes over her head like a veil, imparting a Kuan-Yin look to the statue, and its right corner is brought under the right arm to form graceful folds below the belt, where its end is tucked in at the left side of the waist. The cloak is tucked in at the back in a large suksuk, presumably to prevent it from sliding and dragging at the back. This dorsal tuck is something that one often sees in contemporary solid ivory statues of the Virgin Mary and is a unique feature found only in Philippine ivories. The cloak is incised with a border of alternating circles and rhomboids with tiny dots at their cardinal points, is edged with a back with a short fringe that resembles dentils. The border and edges were originally gilded with gold dust.

The Nino wears a long-sleeved mameluco, an ankle-length tunic that was the standard wear of infants from the 16th century until the early 20th century. It took its name from the long robes worn by the Mamelukes of Egypt. The tunic has a wing collar and cuffs edged with parallel bands like that on the Virgin’s neckline. Like hers, the Nino’s tunic is belted at the waist and is bordered at the hem with a band of gold dust. The tunic’s collar, cuffs and belt were originally gilded with gold dust.

The Virgin and Child originally wore crowns which have been lost through the passage of time. The silver-gilt crowns on the image are modern replacements in the old style.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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154 Mauro Malang Santos (b.1928) Tree sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 8 3 (lo w er rig h t) o il o n b o a rd 1 2 ” x 8 1 /2 ” (3 0 c m x 2 2 c m )

P 80,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City As much as Mauro ‘Malang’ Santos’ is considered a “linear painter,” it is in the qualities that accompany the linear aspects of his paintings that set them apart. Having been schooled and mentored by some of the most prominent names in Philippine art, such as H.R. Ocampo and Teodoro Buenaventura to name a few, Malang had gained a unique understanding of composition that brewed into what is now considered his artistic trademark.

Malang began his professional artistic career as an illustrator and editorial cartoonist, equipping him with the uncanny ability to cut to the core of his subject matter. This resulted in the creation of an artistic vocabulary, uniquely Filipino that was also universally appealing, just as in this jubilant piece, vibrantly exploding with life.

155 Anton del Castillo (b.1976) Hands of F a it h si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) mi xed med i a 84” x 4 8 " (2 1 3 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 120,000 *ACC Grantee 2006

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156 Jerry Elizalde Navarro (1924-1999) M y He a r t S ings U bu d signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 9 1 ( rig h t) oi l on c a n va s 52 1/2” x 5 8 1 /2 ” (1 3 3 cm x 1 4 9 cm )

P 1,000,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA One of the supreme talents of National Artist for Visual Arts, Jerry Elizalde Navarro, was his masterful and intuitive use of color, and this is no more apparent than in this work that is a celebration of his ecstatic, uncontainable feeling nourished by Ubud, the central hub of the island paradise, Bali, Indonesia.

In this work, the colors coalesce and swirl around from a dark sea blue, off-center, ovoid shape (the heart of the painting), radiate into elongated shapes in a long-limbed dance, and finally ramify and relax into vast fields that hold the frenetic rainbows of the painting. While these may be delineated from each other, the multi-tonal elements create a pivotal whole, vibrating with a lush exuberance that recalls a tropical bird in flight or the bright blossoms of a rainforest.

My Heart Sings Ubud is pure movement, pure performance, dazzling the eye — and the heart — with its manifold intensities, its blurs and bleeds, its temperamental forms. It features an abstraction that is at once orchestrated and spontaneous, a combination of earthbound solidity and soaring flight of fancy: a definite marker in the opus of the National Artist. Navarro, in having created this work, offers us a visual annotation of a joyous expedition in the kaleidoscopic tropics of his imagination.

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157 Lao Lianben (b.1948) Li qui d L ight signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) mixed med i ums on b u rlap 95” x 7 2 ” (2 4 1 c m x 1 8 3 cm )

P 1,400,000 Provenance: Private Collection, USA Anything but reticent, spare but not void, penetrating yet barely there. Strong yet with a self-effacing beauty.

A painting must speak to the viewer, reveal a meaning or truth that transforms and changes the viewer. Lao ushers the viewer into a new fascinating world: the very edge of the visually tangible where the visible touches the invisible — to that place where the deepest things are left unsaid.

Lao specializes in creating sudden contrasts by transitioning between bright illumination and dark secrecy. Alluding to wall sculpture, “Liquid Light” exercises a monumental presence in any space yet invites quiet contemplation. This time around, Lao’s art explores and navigates the material nature of the spirit.

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158 Chest of Drawers with Escritorio Ca. 1850 N arra, K a m a gon g , C a rab a o B o n e a n d s ilv e r H : 43 3/4 ” x L: 4 9 ” x W: 2 1 1 / 2 ” ( 1 1 1 cm x 1 2 4 cm x 5 5 c m )

P 500,000 Provenance: Baliuag, Bulacan A chest of drawers with an escritorio or fall front desk is not ordinary. Found only in houses whose owners were men of affairs, they were usually found in the cuarto mayor or master bedroom and thus served as the repository of important deeds or documents. Secret drawers concealed among the numerous compartments of the escritorio also safeguarded valuables and money.

This particular narra chest of drawers cum escritorio is rather small compared to those generally extant, an indication that the house where it came from was not a very large one. It stands on four turned tapering feet with rings on the upper and lower parts. The front and rear members of the base extend over the sides of the carcass in order to accommodate the slim tubular kamagong colonnette situated above each foot. The latter has a turned, urn-shaped base, a shaft carved with very fine reeds and a vase-shaped capital with rings at the bottom and at the top. A small, square drawer above each colonnette for storing candles has a turned kamagong drawer pull inlaid with a carabao bone disk at its center. Eight diamond-shaped lozenges of bone are inlaid on the drawer face to form a sunburst around the pull.

The sides of the chest are framed with a pair of vertical line inlays of kamagong flanked by lanite. Similar, horizontal line inlays near the top and bottom of the sides form quadrants where they join the vertical lines. A row of triangles joined together at their bases forms a serrated border on the inside of each quadrant, while a small stylized vase consisting of a triangle with three diamond lozenges at the center of the wide side is inlaid diagonally outside. At the center of the side panel is a large stellar flower of bone and kamagong, surrounded by eight arcs of lanite line inlay joined together to form the outline of a flower. Three diamond-shaped lozenges joined together at the sides terminate each cusp to form a bud with three-petals, while a circle of lanite with pairs of diamond-shaped leaves form a wreath around the whole design.

All the edges of the carcass, including the top and drawer supports are inlaid with a strip of kamagong embedded with a row of carabao disks incised with a black dot at its center. The chest has four wide drawers, each with a silver keyhole shield bordered with beads and a pair of turned kamagong drawer pulls inlaid with a bone disk incised with a black dot at its center.

The drawer faces have a line border of kamagong between strips of lanite inlaid to form a rectangle with quadrant corners and a semicircle below each drawer lock, the latter embellished with a serrated border on the inside. Short, narrow strips of bone are equidistantly inlaid along the outer horizontal and vertical sides of the line-inlay. A stylized flower inlaid at each quadrant corner has a kamagong center inset with a bone disk incised with lines to form a blossom with eight petals. Eight triangles of bone surround the disks with their apexes pointing inwards.

Each drawer pull is surrounded by a stellar inlay of eight elongated teardrop shapes, one half of each teardrop inlaid in bone and the other half in kamagong. Around it is a stylized flower with eight petals like those at the side panels of the chest.

A yoke-shaped swag of linear scrolls with diamond-shaped leaves decorate the drawer face between the pulls, each scroll terminating in a different form of stellar flower.

The topmost drawer has a fall front that converts it into a writing desk with several shelves and small kamagong drawers of various sizes at the rear, the latter with single, tiny, turned kamagong pulls. The drawer faces are line inlaid with an elongated oval in bone with a trio of diamond lozenges joined at their bases diagonally placed at each corner of the oval. A small drawer at the center is flanked by a miniature engaged kamagong baluster that, when pulled out, becomes a narrow secret drawer.

Above the middle drawer is a tiny door with yoke-shaped arch. The door has a larger turned kamagong pull, its face inlaid with a strip of kamagong following the shape of the panel and a five-pointed star in bone at the center. On either side of the two engaged balusters are identical shelves and drawers consisting of a wide drawer at the bottom with a tripartite arrangement on top with two small drawers, one on top of each other, and a shelf on either side with a tri-lobed arch.

The top of the desk, inlaid with a rectangle with quadrant corners is decorated with the same designs as the side panels.

-Martin I. Tinio, Jr

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159 Benedicto Cabrera (b.1942) Studi e s of C olom bia n I n d i a n I I si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 7 ( lo w e r rig h t) mi xed med i a 14” x 1 1 ” (3 6 c m x 2 8 cm )

P 140,000 Provenance: with Luz Gallery Private Collection, USA Probably it was his exposure to South American indigenous cultures in their rarefied elements that decades later, when he became a long time resident of Baguio, Bencab was to immerse himself in the rhythm of the Cordilleras, avidly collecting Cordillera art and artifacts. It should be noted that in 1976, Bencab exhibited “Pintura, Dibujo, Grabado” at Galeria Belarca in downtown Bogota, Colombia. He later travelled to Lima, Cuzco and Macchu Picchu in Peru, and Lake Titicaca which is shared by Peru and Bolivia, before visiting Dubrovnik in the Dalmatian coast of the former Yugoslavia in 1977.

Whether it is his “Studies of the Colombian Indian” or, closer to home, the Cordillera man as subject, indigenous peoples are interpreted by Bencab with affection and subtle irony. Bencab always favored using few colors rather than many; his works seem to assert that fewer colors in a painting gave the art greater force and meaning.

To quote the book “BENCAB” by Krip Yuson and Cid Reyes: “There is no more convincing proof of Bencab’s classicizing temper and abstracting eye than his enduring predilection for the drama of drapery. Although the artist honed his interest in drapery to the exclusion of the figure, the human body remained the primary vessel for its essential appreciation.”

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160 Oscar Zalameda (1930-2010) I stanbul signed (l ow er r i g h t ) oi l on c a n va s 35” x 3 7 1 /2 ” (8 9 c m x 9 5 cm )

P 400,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City

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161 Ronald Ventura (b.1973) Lost R a c e si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 2 ( rig h t) mi xed med i a 48” x 4 0 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 0 2 cm )

P 1,400,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Muntinlupa City Exhibited: Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), 13 Artists Awards 2003, Bulwagang Juan Luna, Pasay City, 17 September - 26 October 2003 Literature: 13 Artists Awards 2003 with preface by Sid Gomez Hildawa, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Pasay City, 2003, (illustrated) 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. This is because the period is characterized by his masterful confidence in depicting the human figure not only as a means to a narrative, but also as an end in itself: a resplendent, marmoreal form whose depth of composition harks back to classical imperatives, such as in this evocative piece, Lost Race.

Here, the artist unflexes his full talent in rendering the human anatomy, whose embodiment is crouched on the ground, revealing the curvature of the spine and the articulation of ribs in a posture of submission. The figure—lit with a smoldering alabaster glow—is juxtaposed against a rocking horse, which has become a mainstay in the Ventura iconography. The toy blends with the rusting background papered with the brands and symbols of popular consumer goods, as if the dreamlike rocking chair is no longer immune from the encroachment of capitalism. This is the world where the crouched figure finds himself in.

The painting is an elegy on all things lost, abandoned, and forgotten as well as an indictment on the paltry substitutes we receive in return. The appropriate response, it seems, is the shame of nakedness, the shrugging off of inessentials. This is a body accepting of its weakness, inertia, and limitation. Lost Race is one of Ventura’s most powerful and haunting works.

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162 Antonio Luna y Novicio (1866-1899) 1898 Dec em b er 3 Autogra ph M a nu sc r i p t o n Vale R e ce ip t, S ig n e d " El D irec to r A. L u n a " 4 3/4” x 6 ” (1 2 c m x 1 5 cm )

P 50,000 Provenance: Grace Luna de San Pedro estate, 1989.

A vale receipt written on the face of an envelope amounting to 4 pesos representing the commission redeemed by Sr. Cialcita, the Ayudante of the President, dated Manila, 3 December 1898, and signed “El Director A. Luna”. The person mentioned may be one of those who murdered Antonio Luna in Cabanatuan exactly 6 months hence.

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163 Arturo Luz (b.1926) Carni v a l F or m s si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) da te d 1 9 9 3 acryl i c o n h a nd ma d e pa p e r 36” x 4 8 ” (9 1 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 300,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist in 1993 In some abstract works, enough of a likeness has been retained to represent real things. In others, original objects have been reduced to simple geometric shapes and they can be barely identified unless the artist has named them his title — his concern being the rendering of the essence of the subject rather than the natural form itself. Arturo Luz’ painting entitled Carnival Forms (1958) suggests the fun and gaiety of the carnival through the varying repetition of the wheel form.

Arturo Luz has produced art pieces through a disciplined economy of means. His early drawings were described as "playful linear works" influenced by the likes of Paul Klee. Since then, Arturo Luz has devoted his sixty year career to a highly stylized version of minimal austerity.

Arturo Luz, like Fernando Zobel, Constancio Bernardo, Lee Aguinaldo and Jose Joya are among the artists who explored non-objective art in painting and mixed media works, both in linear and painterly styles. But Luz, through discipline, has built his reputation around distinct visual worlds stripped of distraction and sentiment. His direction had to do with abstract painting of a geometric-planar kind.

They are deceptively simple, and represent the artist’s never ending search for the essential characteristics of subject through a reduction of form and selective use of color. His best masterpieces are minimalist, geometric abstracts, alluding to the modernist "virtues" of competence, order and elegance; yet amid all the descriptions, the core basis of his art is drawing.

After his early figurative works featuring bottles, musicians, cyclists and jugglers, his paintings underwent a rigorous abstractioning process to the point of geometricism.

A founding member of the modern Neo-realist school in Philippine art, Arturo Luz received the National Artist Award, the country's highest accolade in the arts, in 1997.

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164 Lot of 7

(a)

Ferdie Montemayor

(b.1965)

a.) To da signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 4 ( v e rs o ) acryli c on c a n va s 20” x 1 6 ” (5 1 c m x 4 1 cm )

Jason Montinola

(b.1979)

b .) Un t it le d dated 2 0 1 1 oi l on c a nva s 14” x 1 1 ” (3 6 c m x 2 8 cm )

Wire Tuazon

(b.1973)

c.) Unt it le d signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 4 ( lo w e r le f t) mixed med i a 16 1/2 ” x 1 1 1 /2 ” (4 2 cm x 2 9 cm )

Yasmin Sison

(b)

(c)

(b.1973)

d .) Un t it le d oi l on c a nva s 8” x 1 0 ” (2 0 c m x 2 5 cm )

Renato Barja Jr.

(b.1982)

e.) We A r e A ll Migr a to r y signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 4 ( lo w e r le f t) mixed med i a 11” x 9 1 /2 ” (2 8 c m x 2 4 cm )

Rodel Tapaya

(b.1980)

f.) Un t it le d signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 4 ( lo w e r le f t) oi l on c a nva s 9” x 7 1 /2 ” (2 3 c m x 1 9 cm )

Bembol dela Cruz

(d)

(e)

(b.1976)

g .) Ke y a nd F low e r signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 1 ( b o tto m ) mixed med i a 9” x 6 1 /2 ” (2 3 c m x 1 7 cm )

P 120,000

(g) (f)

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165 Jorge Pineda (1879 - 1946) Battl e of Z a pot e si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 0 1 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on c a n va s 13” x 1 9 ” (3 3 c m x 4 8 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila This piece is accompanied by a letter issued by Mr. Jose Pineda, eldest grandchild of the artist, confirming the authenticity of the lot.

Jorge Pineda was a witness to two wars way before World War 2 came, and ‘The Battle of Zapote’ is proof.

In the first 20 or 21 years of his life, Jorge Pineda lived through the last quarter of the 19th century, thus including the years of the Philippine Revolution against Spain. Later, Pineda studied at the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura just before the outbreak of the Philippine American war.

Revolts or wars came and went, yet, in the words of Emmanuel Torres in 1975: “Pineda prepared long and hard to master the craft of drawing and oil painting, studying in the old Academia before the Philippine Revolution, and then again under private mentors after the Philippine-American War, and much later enrolling for life studies at Teodoro Buenaventura’s school of drawing in Magdalena Street, Trozo.

As in many of Pineda’s other works, it was Pineda’s interest in genre to portray a mood of concentration, suggesting the spirit within, as much as figures in action.

As a painter, Pineda was a peer to Fernando Amorsolo, yet he explored subjects outside those of the Amorsolo School. Pineda was considered the leading illustrator of his time.

The interplay of figures is a characteristic of Pineda’s works, as well as the psychological interest in people absorbed in their activity.

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(a)

(b)

166 Cesar Legaspi (1917-1994) a.) Fem a le N ude 1 si gned (l o w er r i g h t ) pastel o n p a per 21” x 1 4 ” (5 3 c m x 3 6 cm ) b.) Fem a le N ude 2 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 3 ( u p p e r le f t) pastel o n p a per 19” x 1 2 ” (4 8 c m x 3 0 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Manila The nude figure, mainly a tradition in western art, has been used to express ideals of beauty and other human qualities. This classical theme has been taken on by many modernists, but with a more abstract approach — one of the most noteworthy artists of which, Cesar Legaspi.

Legaspi’s technical prowess, mixed with his understanding of light and cubistic elements, has allowed him to give a revitalized essence to his subjects, as if to empower them. The capturing of the human form is then transformed from a heavily technical display, to a more emotional one — the focus is the same, however, as the use of the subjects’ physique, in various poses, are expressive of basic and complex emotions and suggestive of context.

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Progress of Medicine at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), 1953

167 Carlos “Botong” Francisco (1912-1969) Detai l N o. 1 signed a n d d a t ed 1 9 5 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l o r o n p a per 17 3/4” x 1 2 1 /4 ” (4 5 cm x 3 1 cm )

P 300,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City Carlos Botong Francisco was a most distinguished practitioner of mural painting for many decades and best known for his historical pieces. The themes of the country’s foremost mural painter revolved aroud the communal man rooted in the soil, and the folk traditions of his ancestors. He institutionalized not only Christian lowlanders but also the Muslims and the cultural minorities.

Francisco’s first important murals were done in 1953. This watercolor, inscribed "detail # 1" is the study of one of two sections of the four panel “Progress of Medicine," one of his important murals of 1953, second to the now dismantled and carelessly disposed “Five Hundred Years of Philippine History,” the mural for the International Fair held in Manila. (It’s scope covered the legendary origin of the Filipino with the first man and woman Malakas at Maganda, up to the administration of the then president Elpidio Quirino. Foreign visitors to the fair were impressed by Botong Francisco’s “Five Hundred Years of Philippine History” mural which received two color spreads in the February 9, 1953 issue of Newsweek, but local appreciation was, apparently, lukewarm since it was promptly dismantled and carelessly disposed of after the fair.)

Fate was far kinder to “Progress of Medicine," which for the longest time was in the Philippine General Hospital.

This watercolour on paper study for “Progress of Medicine” from 1953 is almost like a study for a scene from a Manuel Conde costume movie of the same era. Characteristic of Botong’s indigenous characters drawn from mythology, history, and legend, are how his sinuously curvaceous women contrast sharply with the powerfully chiselled physical features of the men.

Carlos Botong Francisco's art has been described as " a prime example of linear painting where lines and contours appear like cutouts.”

In his quest for a Filipino modernist idiom, Francisco studied Filipino folk aesthetics and researched Filipino history, customs, and traditions. He arrived at an idiom which was both Filipino and Asian in the fresh colors of the folk, the flowing, and the curvilinear rhythms creating decorative patterns. This work also reflects Carlos "Botong" Francisco’s deft hand as a comics illustrator, even for the iconic Pinoy Komiks, illustrating the Tagalog classic Siete Infantes de Lara in 1948.

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(a)

168 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) a.) B ag uio 1 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 3 ( lo w e r le f t) waterco l o r o n p a per 29” x 2 1 1 /2 ” (7 4 c m x 5 5 cm ) b.) Bag uio 2 si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 3 ( lo w e r le f t) waterco l o r o n p a per 29” x 2 1 1 /2 ” (7 4 c m x 5 5 cm )

P 400,000

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(b) Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist Private Collection, Makati City Throughout the long, and undoubtedly impressive career of Vicente Manansala, we have seen the evolution of his work.

The prolific cubist master has spawned countless works of art, ever bearing of a unique air that is definitively his.

One feature in the oeuvre of Manansala that is impossible to ignore is the delicacy of his watercolor pieces. Truly outstanding is his use of the medium, as he lavishly captures the lush landscapes and vegetation from scene to scene — just as in this fine pair of works.

These paintings are from 1973, 3 years after Manansala was awarded the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila.

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169 Lee Aguinaldo (1933-2007) Li n ear E x plosion N o .2 si gned, t i t l ed, a nd d a t e d 1 9 5 9 ( in v e rs o ) oil on b oa r d 48” x 7 2 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 8 3 cm )

P 2,000,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by Houston Haile who was assigned as special agent in the Philippines after World War II. Upon his demise, his three paintings

by Lee Aguinaldo which formed part of his estate were inherited by his sister Louise Haile Lewis.

“The mythic image of Pollock, an edgy ‘Jack the Dripper,’ persists today” (“Leaving His Mark” by Michael Fitz Gerald, Vogue, November 1998) as it persisted in the late 1950s of Lee Aguinaldo’s youth.

Soon after Pollock slammed his car into a tree and died at the age of 44 in 1956, his art acquired a reputation for evoking an unchecked, elemental force.

To American critic Clement Greenberg, it was the physicality of the paintings' clotted and oil-caked surfaces that was the key to understanding them as documents of the artist’s' existential struggle.

Louise Haile Lewis in her living room with the Linear Explosion Floor No. 1 by Lee Aguinaldo in the background.

Until the beginning of the 1950s, most Americans thought of abstract painting as something foreign, without roots or future in the United States. Only when the “drip” paintings of Jackson Pollock were featured in Life magazine in 1945 did American Abstract art suddenly acquire popular cachet. Aguinaldo had no formal art education, yet during his stay in New York, he frequented the Metropolitan Museum.

The self-taught Aguinaldo held his first exhibit in 1958, and his works were clearly influenced by Pollock.

Artists like Aguinaldo and the public at large learned to view Pollock’s work and that of other so called New York school painters as responses to the Atomic Age climate of “perpetual crisis,” and it even became a point of pride that abstract painting done in a new, go for broke American manner had stolen the fire of modern art from Europe.

Full of bright, inscrutable jottings in the skyline or landscape-like spaces, Linear Explosion No.2 has an intensity that suggests private notations of a vast, inner world, and in the same vein, perpetual crisis.

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170 Michael Cacnio (b. 1969) Pas de D e ux ( H or se S e ri e s ) si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 4 brass H: 31” x L: 3 6 ” W: 2 1 ” ( 7 9 cm x 9 1 cm x 5 3 cm )

P 200,000 Exhibited: NCCA, Brass Act: Micahael Cacnio at 45, NCCA Gallery, Intramuros, Manila, December 8, 2014 - January 31, 2015 Top corporations, art collectors and dignitaries treasure his art work, thus putting Michael Cacnio at the forefront of the Philippine art scene. Michael Cacnio’s themes reveal enduring truths not only about family life, human nature and the community, but also the entire creation — such as animals — as well. The artist depicts horses in dramatic, if untraditional, poses. Brass gives his sculptures a bright high note as it draws attention to the exquisitely shaped forms, or in the case of animals, dynamic, graceful forms. The brass in his sculpture celebrates the richness of color like precious material.

Michael Cacnio is a product of UP Diliman, College of Fine Arts. Starting his creative life as a painter, he found his vocacio efficax (effectual calling) in the art of sculpting brass. In 2006, Michael Cacnio was proclaimed as one of the TOYM awardees, and has been acclaimed in his more than 50 well received solo exhibits in Asia, Europe and the United States. In 2007, he became the first Filipino artist to be featured in the first solo exhibit in the European’s Commission headquarters in Barleymont, Brussels.

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171 Danilo Dalena (b.1942) Tu l o g- Tulog ( J a i- A lai S e ri e s ) si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 29 1/2” x 3 9 ” (7 5 c m x 1 0 0 cm )

P 600,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City Art, said Picasso, is “a form of magic designed as a mediator between this strange world and us…” And closer to home, the strange world of jai alai bettors during the martial law years is captured by Danilo “Danny” Dalena.

Dalena’s compositions are highly visually cohesive in form and mood. A purgatorial view of life is conjured amid the atmosphere of strangeness. A monobloc chair and figures peeking from the awning window add to the atmosphere of strangeness. In the Jai Alai series, in the words of Alice Guillermo: “…done in the bleak martial law years, the betting hall becomes a metaphor for the human condition, particularly for society in crisis. The game, like an arbitrary throw of dice with its winning combination of numbers, mesmerizes and provokes in crowds of the oppressed and unemployed a temporarily heightened existence compounded by hope and despair., by monstrous jubilation and drunken despondency…” the latter of which is depicted in this work.

Dalena’s first foray into the arts after graduating from UST (where he had as professors Victorio Edades and Galo Ocampo) was in the publishing industry where he did illustrations and editorial cartoons for publications such as the Philippine Free Press and the Asia Philippine Leader.

This raised the standards of editorial art in the country. He did some political sculptures, and a series of drawings of urinals begun in the late 60s which he called the Toilet Series. The Toilet Series was composed of on-the-spot pen and ink drawings of urinals in the bistros and beer gardens which he frequented. Since then, Dalena has been actively producing works that are biting, probing commentaries on the prevailing human condition in the country. With a penchant for plump figures with obscured faces, coupled with heavy brush strokes, his paintings contain a surrealistic emotion peppered with the artist’s dark and acerbic humor.

In 1974 shortly alter the declaration of martial law caused the closing down of the Philippine Leader, Dalena found himself without work. He then began the Jai Alai Series that portrayed not the game itself, but the swirling mass of bettors who arrived hopeful but left as losers. One of the paintings in his series grabbed the grand prize in the Art Association of the Philippines competition the following year.

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172 Onib Olmedo (1937-1996) The Apa r t m e nt signed a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) ink and a c r y l i c o n b oa r d 62 1/4” x 4 3 ” (1 5 8 c m x 1 0 9 cm )

P 1,200,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City Awarded: Honorable Mention, "International Exposition de Paintres," Chateau Musee de Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, June 1992 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Gisella Olmedo - Araneta confirming the authenticity of this lot The medium used is one in which the artist exhibited exceptional skills, and succeeded in bringing out with greater clarity and graphic impact the message that he was trying to convey. This is the “ink-wash” medium whereby the artist poured ink on the surface of a “cartolina” board and then, against this black background, used swabs of cotton to etch out the image or design of the painting.

The title “The Apartment” by itself carries a connotation of irony and pathos. Because, in actuality, this term is used to describe concrete two-storey structures, usually built in rows, sometimes with as many as 10 or 15 adjoining houses with uniform architectural designs and even colors, and rented out to middle-class couples who still don’t have the means to build their own single-detached houses. This was in vogue in the fifties all the way up to the early nineties, before the advent of more chic dwelling places known as townhouses and high-rise condominiums. Onib Olmedo’s “apartment” is a far cry from these solid, concrete structures. What it depicts is a flimsy, make-shift, “two-storey” shanty made out of woven bamboo sidings and pieces of found or discarded materials, featuring a tilted roof..

The composition of the painting is highly dense and compact, utilizing visual devices that provide contrapuntal motifs – organic materials like woven bamboo sidings and discarded capiz window panes, which evoke a soft, indigenous, and even romantic aura, providing a stark contrast to the harshness projected by rolls of barbed wire strewn right on the floor.

The painting is divided into two sections. On the upper level, there is a man hunched over in prayer, seated on bamboo flooring, clutching his rosary beads, his eyes closed, totally absorbed in prayer. On the lower level is a bespectacled man with a “skin-and-bones” figure and an emaciated face that looks almost like a skull, playing the guitar and singing what we would surmise is a sad and plaintive tune. In the background, barely visible is a woman, who we presume to be his wife. She is preoccupied with household chores, hanging her laundry in a makeshift “sampayan,” (clothesline). On the foreground, right on the floor, are pots and pans, suggesting that the family utilizes a small space for all their activities. This is where they cook and eat and wash the dishes; this is where they do their ablutions; this is where they sleep. With all these graphic images, the painting exhibited at the biennial competition in France, must have sent out shock waves through the European continent, among its nationals who had not been exposed to the harsh realities of life in a Third World country during that era.

Onib Olmedo’s award-winning painting sends out its message in a subliminal manner: in spite of the abject poverty depicted by the Filipino family’s squalid surroundings in a cramped shanty, the human spirit still shines through. The man in the upper level holding his rosary beads in a gesture of supplication, exemplifies the Filipino who takes refuge in his faith and spirituality, which empowers him to hurdle the challenges posed by his dire circumstances — a seemingly hopeless situation brought about by the extreme poverty in Third World countries. This was borne out during the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines, when he praised the Filipino people for the strength of their faith that gave them amazing resiliency in the face of the disaster brought by super-typhoon Yolanda.

The man in the lower level of the painting depicts the other coping mechanism of Filipinos. In their day-to-day struggles, in the midst of their hand-to-mouth existence, they experience joy and solace through music. Most Filipinos enjoy singing or playing some musical instrument, mostly the guitar. In the poorest neighborhoods, somehow the “istambays” (hangers-on) bond together by belting out either English pop songs or the latest OPM (Original Pilipino Music) compositions, usually at night, in front of the community’s sari-sari store.

In a nutshell, the painting is an affirmation of the two major elements of the Filipinos’ support system: PRAYER, manifesting their profound belief in a Supreme Being who, they are convinced, will always take care of them, in the midst of all the hardships and struggles brought on by poverty; and MUSIC, which has a way of soothing the mind and uplifting the spirit in the most tumultuous situations,

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“The Apartment,” the award-winning painting by Onib Olmedo, is thus an artistic statement on the social problems plaguing Philippine society. The work is a subtle indictment of the ineptness of Philippine society, including the leaders of government and the private sector, in solving the problem of informal settlers. The Filipinos who live on less than one dollar per day do not have the basic necessities of life that would give them the dignity they deserve as human persons. They do not even have a decent roof over their heads. They squat on makeshift shanties along rivers and waterways, their dwelling literally blown away whenever a typhoon hits the Philippines, which happens at an average frequency of 20 per year. And yet, paradoxically, studies have shown that Filipinos are among the happiest people in the world. The painting explores the reason behind this phenomenon: the Filipino can always rely on his faith and his music to alleviate the suffering brought on by poverty and oppression. This perennial problem is rooted in the feudalistic system prevailing in the Philippines, to which our people have been subjected, over the past four centuries.

Onib Olmedo (1937-1996) has been acclaimed by critics as a major Filipino artist of the 20th century. Olmedo created a body of work that utilizes the expressionist technique of distortion to portray the inner torment experienced by modern man.

His paintings are characterized by an implosive impact, but have an uplifting and ennobling quality, celebrating the triumph of the human spirit in the face of pain and anguish. At the same time, they are social commentaries with touches of wit and irony—reflections of the artist's quintessential, down-to-earth humor. The subjects of his paintings were the denizens of Sampaloc and Ermita, including musicians, prostitutes, vendors and waiters, as well as people from the upper strata like society matrons, corporate executives and ballerinas.

Olmedo garnered all the significant local awards during his lifetime, including those given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Art Association of the Philippines, Mobil Oil Philippines and the Manila City Government. In the international art scene , he won an award in the prestigious Internationale Exposition des Peintures in Cagnes Sur Mer, France.

Olmedo died in 1996 when he was only 59 years old. His impact in the art scene continues to be felt until this day, as evidenced by a whole new generation of artists who are self-confessed Olmedo disciples, producing works inspired by their icon's distinctive style, and putting up exhibitions that have paid homage to their late master.

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PROPERTY FROM THE NAPOLEON AND SERGIA ABUEVA COLLECTION

173 Hernando R. Ocampo (1911-1978) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 6 8 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on b oa r d 10” x 8 ” (2 5 c m x 2 0 cm )

P 120,000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist Color is the reason for painting. Color is pleasure and satisfaction. Color is the heart of H.R. Ocampo‘s paintings.

Towards the end of the 60s, H.R. Ocampo developed into the visual melody period, in which he brought back tonalities into his abstract designs of organic shapes, creating a richer form of abstraction.

In 1974, he was asked: How does one look at an H.R. Ocampo painting anyway?

The master answered: “Don’t look for a topical or literal meaning. Approach it as a visual image. Find the leitmotif.

As in music, the moment you catch the main motif, then you capture the whole in variations.”

The blue, flame-like forms cast oscillating shadows and reflection on the surrounding design of the red and sienna elements.

H.R. Ocampo masterfully concludes: “You see what you want to see.”

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174 Anthony Palomo (b.1962) Garde n si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 5 ( u p p e r le f t, u p p e r rig h t a n d b o tto m ) oil on c a n va s 56” x 4 8 ” (1 4 3 c m x 1 2 2 cm )

P 140,000 Exhibited: Pinto Art Museum, 'ADLIB', Antipolo, Rizal, Philippines, November 2015 A painter's life lived in the "never ending weekend," while periodically maintaining a small garden as a diversion from the daily family life and work schedule. Introspecting a mundane activity of its metaphorical allusion; Man as a butterfly and the partner, the woman brings the balance and support despite the differences and normal conflicts. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus — I guess it I've always mused to myself must it have really began in the "Garden?"

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175 Mauro Malang Santos (b.1928) F i s h Vendor sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 0 4 (lo w er rig h t) c h a rc o a l o n p a p er 1 1 ” x 7 1 /2 ” (2 8 c m x 1 9 c m )

P 70,000 The maturity in Mauro ‘Malang’ Santos’ later works is indicative of the artist’s development over his decades-long practice. Malang, one of the premiere modernists, has fused a cubistic approach into his canvasses, while incorporating a very Filipino sensibility into his themes and subjects.

As his later works were more noticeably of Filipina women in floral and religious settings, this work from 2004 recalls of his earlier choice of subjects — a fish vendor. As the mature Malang’s technical prowess encompassed nearly all mediums, it is no surprise that Malang’s eloquence in translating with oils also applies to charcoal.

176 Kawayan De Guia (b.1979) Atomi c F light m a n dated 2 0 1 6 mi xed med i a 46” x 3 6 ” (1 1 6 c m x 9 1 cm )

P 80,000 As mankind leaps to ever greater heights,we tend to forget our rich historical past. Now on a global arena as we play games not only with the earth but also our rich ancestry, this journey our forefathers had once taken. We will all be lucky if we shoot that ball on time, and if our luck have not run out.

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177 Robert Langenegger

(b.1983)

Th e Sle e p of Monst e rs P ro d u c e s R e a s o n si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 1 oil on c a n va s 95” x 6 7 1 /2 ” (2 4 1 c m x 1 7 1 cm )

P 120,000 Exhibited: Finale Art File, Robert Langenegger: Execution of Elegance, La Fuerza, Makati City, Philippines, April 17, 2009 - May 5, 2009 Literature: Robert Langenegger: Execution of Elegance, Finale Art File, 2009, Makati City, (Illustrated in cover) Robert Langenegger has evolved, through the years, a body of work that combines disturbing imagery, graphic themes, and snatches of nightmare worthy of Freud, all commingling in an orgiastic (one critic calls it “carnivalesque”) parade of cynicism and depravation. The same is true with this untitled work, an epitome of the Langenegger iconography, with its phalluses, monstrous figures indulging in pedophilia, misplaced religious symbols, and headless body spilling its cancerous guts amid the virulent cacti…

While it’s easy to say that Langenegger, the featured artist of Finale Art Gallery at Art Stage Singapore this year, intends only to shock, he actually comes from a long tradition of artists who plumb dark psychological depths that includes Goya, Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst. Unafraid to disturb sensibilities, the artist offers the viewer—through menacing visual description —a lens and a mirror with which to examine his private fears and his potential for evil.

This artistic intent can’t be more true than in this painting that readily offends, exorcises and liberates if only to emphasize how repressed thoughts and sentiments—evoked through powerful symbolism—may end up as the larger ills and indignities plaguing society.

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PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE BEBÉ VIRATA COLLECTION

178 Vestry Table Las t Q ua r t e r of t he 1 9 th C e n tu r y N arra H: 33” x L: 1 0 1 " x W: 4 3 ” ( 8 3 cm x 2 5 7 cm x 1 0 9 cm )

P 200,000 Provenance: Ilocos Maria ‘Bebe’ Lammoglia Virata Collection

This narra table with two large drawers originally stood in the sacristy of a not-so-important church, a conjecture reached due to the fact that the top consists of two wooden panels, something that would have been unthinkable in a major parish church. The presence of the drawers on only one side shows that it was placed against the wall and used as a vestry table. A pair of massive wrought-iron handles attached to cone-shaped bosses is attached to each drawer, the width of which indicates its use for the storage of vestments for the Mass.

The table stands on six turned baluster legs with a pair in the middle to give strength to the piece.

The upper part of the leg is ring-turned, while the shaft is fluted. The legs seem to have been truncated at its lower end to reduce the height of the table to enable it to be used as a desk.

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179 Hernando R. Ocampo (1911-1978) Onen e ss of Opposite s si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 8 ( lo w e r rig h t) pentel p en on b r i st ol b o a rd 22” x 1 5 ” (5 6 c m x 3 8 cm )

P 100,000 Provenance: A gift from the artist to Paul B. Zafaralla Known for his ingenuous creativity, the pioneering modernist that is H.R. Ocampo has created a visual translation of form into evocative interpretations of movement, physique, and emotion.

This very work by Ocampo was a token of gratitude for a friend who wrote on some his artworks, which were published in some of the major mainstream English dailies and magazines.

Done on cream bristol board with black pentel pen, the shapes in the figure are not solid. Shoddy by the nature of the medium of choice, specks of the bristol board are still visible. Three groups of black shapes are vertically drawn with inward projections, but are joined together for continuity without visual and color lift-offs.

The surrounding cream areas intertwine with the three groups of black shapes to effuse the concept of 'oneness of opposites.'

A visionary, with his poised approach to his work, H.R. Ocampo never fails to amaze his audience with his art whatever medium they may be done in — be it oil or acrylic on canvas, to pentel pen on bristol board.

180 Romulo Olazo (1934-2015) D i aphanous sig n ed a n d d a ted 1 9 7 9 (lo w er left) o il o n c a n va s 1 2 ” x 1 7 1 /2 ” (3 0 c m x 4 4 c m )

P 120,000 With an archive of well over 3,000 works to boast, prolific modernist Romulo Olazo has spawned from his paint and canvas a dazzling assortment of works.

From his acclaimed diaphanous and permutation series, to various oil and pastel works, time and again Olazo’s genius has astounded patrons of the arts.

This 1979 Diaphanous work by the modern master possesses the very luminescence that the gossamer-like series has been adulated. Brilliant in its splendor, the translucent layers of white emit a beguiling radiance, subdued only by the unfazed dark hue of the backdrop. This very piece was made the same year Olazo won honorable mention in the 11th International Biennial Exhibit of Prints in Tokyo.

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181 Romeo Tabuena (1921-2015) Wo man w it h P a r a sol si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 6 ( u p p e r le f t) oil on b oa r d 30” x 2 1 ” (7 6 c m x 5 3 cm )

P 300,000 Not every Filipino artist has had the opportunity to travel overseas and showcase their craft — what more the distinction of garnering acclaim and recognition for such. Among the few painters that have accomplished such a feat, and had done so in very iconic fashion, is Romeo Tabuena.

A pioneering neo-realist, Tabuena had gained recognition with his colorful, cubist works. With his prismatic deconstruction and rendition of elements, he has managed to fluently translate the reality of his subjects into the brilliant planar figures that have astounded his audiences time and again.

This very work from 1976 is a prime example of Tabuena’s cubist genius, putting on display the stylistic development of the artist after having resided for over two decades in Mexico.

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182 Arturo Luz (b.1926) Mag ba ba nig 1952 si gned (l o w er l eft ) oil on w ood 27 1/2” x 1 5 1 /4 ” (7 0 cm x 3 9 cm )

P 1,600,000 Provenance: Morton J. Netzorg, USA Exhibited: Carnegie Endowment International Center, Philippine Cultural Exhibition, 46th Street, New York City, September 1- October 1, 1953; American International Underwriters Building, Philippine Cultural Exhibition, 102 Maiden Lane, New York City, November 16 – December 15, 1953; Chancery of the Embassy of the Philippines, Philippine Cultural Exhibition, Washington, D.C., February 24 – March 9, 1954 Literature: Philippine Cultural Exhibition 1953-1954, An Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by 21 Philippine Artists arranged by the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG) with foreword by Salvador P. Lopez, New York, (illustrated)

A panel of paintings by Arturo Luz (foreground) and a painting by Venancio C. Igarta (background) at the Carnegie Endowment International Center in New York City, 1953

In the late 1950s Arturo Luz admired the style of Rufino Tamayo. In a 1973 interview, Cid Reyes asked Arturo Luz: “Did you ever consciously imitate Tamayo’s style?”

Arturo Luz replied: “Well let me ask you, would any painter admit to having consciously imitated another painter?

Subconsciously, of course, one can be very attracted to another painter’s work, and the younger you are, the more you deny it.

Perhaps it’s a matter of pride, I don’t know. It’s only later that you acknowledge your debt to whoever influenced you. Being influenced is a natural process; if you try to fight it, I think you’re already one step behind, because you can’t….”

The “Magbabanig” is rendered in Arturo Luz’ now familiar semi-abstract line and composition.

In another occasion, Arturo Luz was quoted: “…To a painter… the primary object should be to produce a work of art, not a Filipino painting. The very moment he consciously aims to create what to his mind is distinctly Filipino — perhaps a market scene in Quiapo done on a native lanete, instead of the usual canvas, and painted in achuete — he sacrifices his artistic integrity, and his work usually results in dismal failure. Why? Because he strives to produce, primarily, a nationalistic painting, and only secondarily, an artistic one.”

Arturo Luz’ inclination to produce a primarily artistic work is exemplified in this piece — the slender, yet robustly astute figure is an excellent display of Luz’ abstraction of figures, and his use of minimalism. Brilliant in composition and execution, this early work is a testament to the artist’s genius artistry.

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183 Set of Pukaw Jars Late 1 9t h C e nt ur y C erami c a. ) heig h t : 1 0 1 /2 ” (2 7 cm ) b. ) hei gh t : 1 5 ” (3 8 c m ) c. ) hei g h t : 1 1 3 /4 ” (3 0 cm )

P 80,000 (b)

Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

(a)

(c)

Pukaw jars were imported from China during the late Ching Dynasty. In the West they were always referred to as ginger jars, since they were probably originally used to hold ginger preserves in China.

In the Philippines, however, the large ones were usually utilized as containers for sugar by the lowlanders, while the Cordillera tribes used them for storing tapuy, rice wine.

The jars, one with cover and two without, are provided with two pairs of ears that once held rattan handles for ease in lifting them. The ears are in the form of elephant heads with their trunks forming the ears.

The bodies of the jars are painted in polychrome with either leafy sprays of pink or mauve chrysanthemums with a flying phoenix or with horizontal rows of the same flowers with leaves. The shoulders are decorated with a cobalt blue diaper pattern with reserves painted foliar sprays in polychrome.

184 Dex Fernandez (b.1984) N o. 1 m ix ed m ed ia 6 3 1 /2 ” x 4 8 ” (1 6 1 c m x 1 2 2 c m )

P 140,000 *ACC Grantee 2014 This work reflects my intense fascination with portraits and how they are people's landscapes which I continue to deface in my practice.

The defacement comes in forms of elaborate mannerisms such as dressing in masks, or simple gestures such as the use of the icon of the smiley face. As with most of my works, the palette used is of bright and neon palettes to represent the escape from the mediocrity life sometimes brings.

-Dex Fernandez

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185 Ramon Orlina (b.1944) Lovers si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 9 9 green gl a ss H: 10 1 /4 ” x L: 1 1 ” x W: 6 ” ( 2 6 cm x 2 8 cm x 1 5 cm )

P 200,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot

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186 Mark Justiniani (b.1966) a.) Unt it le d 1 si gned a n d d a t ed 2 0 0 0 ( lo w e r le f t) pastel on p a per 20” x 1 6 ” (5 1 c m x 4 1 cm ) b.) Un t it le d 2 si gned a n d d a t ed 2 0 0 0 ( lo w e r le f t) pastel on p a per 20” x 1 6 ” (5 1 c m x 4 1 cm ) c.) Un t it le d 3 si gned a n d d a t ed 2 0 0 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) pastel on p a per 20” x 1 6 ” (5 1 c m x 4 1 cm )

P 100,000

Slick, what with the brooding “bright-lights-big-city” mood, yet gritty in spirit, the urban scenes are vaguely familiar, yet puzzling. We perceive Manila as so grand and overwhelming, but Justiniani’s viewpoint captures a sense of intimacy about the city.

The scenes portrayed involve a degree of complicity with ordinary people, mostly from the streets at night, an area that has become, in effect, dissipated by an atmosphere of ennui…yet the three canvases merely suggest ghostly human presence, if at all, except for what looks like a lady’s leg. A woman of the night, perhaps?

A social commentator, Justiniani jabs at the deterioration or inaction of society, or aspects that reveal its ‘directionlessness,' confusion and stagnation. All of which, achieved with the powerful distortions and colors of expressionism, many times bordering on surrealist horizons.

These works by the artist yield insights, both dark and disturbing, into the complexities of everyday life at the end of the twentieth century. His desire to scratch beneath the surface of appearances was kindled by representing a kaleidoscopic view of human experience, its pain and ambiguities.

187 Kid Kosolawat (Thai, 1917-1988) U nti tl ed sig n ed (lo w er rig h t) o il o n c a n va s 3 5 1 /2 ” x 2 7 1 /2 ” (9 0 c m x 7 0 c m )

P 30,000

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188 Edwin Wilwayco (b.1952) Off-R oa ding ( Blue R a i n ) si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 2 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 57 1/4” x 9 6 1 /4 ” (1 4 5 cm x 2 4 4 cm )

P 400,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City A luscious preponderance of vivid, warm colors, intense nuances of reds and oranges immerses the viewer in Wilwayco’s landscapes, recalling the words of American abstractionist Joan Mitchell: “It’s a secure landscape not desperate. I’ve chosen one you can live in.” Interestingly, Wilwayco’s kinship with grays is put to great advantage, invoking a chilly, brooding tonality to the works. The artist’s partiality toward various shades of blues implicitly bound him to the vitality of both aquatic and spiritual forces, moving unhindered in nature’s realm.

Wilwayco has always referenced the sacred and the divine in the primacy of his emotions. More than the investigation of space, or the activation of textures, more than the vibrancy of colors or the complexity of composition—the artist concerns himself with the resonances of abstraction as a spiritual language, conveying meanings that are profoundly affecting, if not life-changing.

Exaltation is itself an impetus for the transmission of painterly energies embodied in such works as “Dance of the Blessed Spirit,” with its whirling vortex seemingly spiraling out of control, or “Swan’s Reflections,” with its organic luxuriance, coiling tendrils and flux of roots.

-Cid Reyes

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189 Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) Moth e r a nd C hild si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 5 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a nva s 24” x 2 0 ” (6 1 c m x 5 1 cm )

P 1,200,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Muntinlupa City Literature: Benavides, Dolores L., Modern Art Today, Philippine Progress, Manila, 1956, p.77 (illustrated) Manansala's mother and child themes started with his Madonna of the Slums from 1950, which is a portrayal of a mother and child from the countryside who became urban shanty residents once in the city. This “Mother and Child” from 1956 is expressive of the feelings of anxiety and insecurity of the time. The image is of a keen and watchful mother whose child's hand is against her face in a gesture that suggests protection against the harshness of life. The influence of another legendary National Artist can be gleaned in the visual aesthetic Manansala employs in this early work. Manansala was interviewed in 1976: Question: Who has influenced you deeply?

Mannsala: Carlos Botong Francisco. Let me tell you how deep his influence is on me. In 1960, I was looking at photographs of some paintings in a newspaper article on ten Filipino paintings to be exhibited in Australia. I thought one of the paintings was a particularly good one by Francisco…I told myself, why, this is an excellent Francisco. When I looked closer at the picture and read the caption, I realized I had done the painting.”

Manansala captures the pathos of midcentury urban poor culture at a time when he had not yet developed the technique of transparent cubism, although the archetypal cubistic execution of the subjects is evident. “Cubism then became the generating force of Manansala's mature works, the stylistic center of his main oeuvres. It was not a master-follower relationship — it was more like extending the premises of a tradition. Cubism did not curtail the dimension of Manansala's vision. He enriched the style and gave it a new context. Above all, he gave it a new sense of place."

- Rodolfo Paras-Perez, Manansala, Manila, 1980, p. 75

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190 Phyllis Zaballero

(b.1942)

Bi ntana LVI I I sig n ed a n d d a ted 2 0 0 1 (lo w er rig h t) a c ry lic a n d g ra p h ite o n p a p er 3 0 ” x 2 2 1 /4 ” (7 6 c m x 5 7 c m )

P 80,000

191 Emmanuel Garibay Tatay n i Tisa y signed a n d d a t ed 2 0 1 5 ( lo w e r le f t) oi l on w ood 32 1/4” x 2 9 ” (8 2 c m x 7 4 cm )

P 120,000

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192 Carlo Calma (b.1981) Preque l V s. S e que l signed mixed med i a 76 1/2" x 7 7 1 /2 ” (1 9 4 cm x 1 9 7 cm )

Rodel Tapaya (b.1980) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 7 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on b oa r d 8 1/4" x 6 ” (2 1 c m x 1 5 cm )

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) Le mor t e t le m a lhe u re u x si gned (l o w er l eft ) etching 12" x 9 1 /2 ” (3 0 c m x 2 4 cm )

P 300,000 This is an exploration and a critique that’s happening now in the global art world. I look at parallelism in terms of subject, context, material process, history and culture in the artists of the east and west. In this piece, I dissected Rodel Tapaya’s province in Montalban, Rizal, Philippines and its curiosity over superstition, healers, mythology, spiritual creatures and beasts such as Kapre (English “Brute”), Asong lobo (English “Werewolf”) and the likes. Marc Chagall’s work as well has parallelism in the context of fables and story telling that I begin to manipulate and re-create the story like stills in a movie. Marc Chagall’s Le mort et le malheureux (from Fables de La Fontaine), 1952, Etching - tells a story of a wanderer and Chagall’s imagination and memory to the more dream-like world of ancient myth and fable, told and retold, changing from time to time and place to place but ultimately always the same.

The Fables illustrate the grand themes of life that is about love, death and human folly.The imagery as depicted shows death and the unfortunate. The etchings for the Fables were executed by Chagall between 1927 and 1930; The Fables was issued in an edition of 200 portfolios on Montval, 40 of which also contained a suite of the etchings in japon nacre and 85 of which contained a suite with hand-coloring by Chagall. In addition, there were 15 portfolios hors commerce. I bought the Chagall from a famous west auction house (Provenance: Auction Lot ID: 108685) and I will sell it back to an east auction house as a political statement. What we are left as well are two polar opposites or juxtapositions but by deductive or additive of its nature we thus create a new scenario – a new reality. Both Tapaya and Chagall are original works of art embedded in this montage – like three actors in a play – an augmented reality.

-Carlo Calma

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193 Patricia Perez Eustaquio (b.1977) Un ti tl e d si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 4 ( lo w e r rig h t) graphi t e on p a per 18” x 2 4 ” (4 6 c m x 6 1 cm )

P 120,000

Born in 1977 and based in Manila, Patricia Perez Eustaquio is one of the leading Filipino artists of her generation. She works in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, and installation. Informed by the vocabulary of craft and design, her work explores the vanity of artistic and cultural constructs, referencing the histories and processes related to different materials by crafting highly decorative objects and then excising various elements, thereby creating a stark contrast between what is present and what is absent.

Eustaquio is a Thirteen Artists’ Award recipient and the winner of the Ateneo Art Awards in 2009. Her work has been exhibited in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, New York, and Basel, and is part of the Singapore Art Museum collection and private collections in Southeast Asia, the United States, and Europe. She is exhibiting at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, in June 2016.

194 Isidro Ancheta (1882-1946) Bag yo si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 3 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on w ood 8 1/2” x 1 3 " (2 2 c m x 3 3 cm )

P 80,000 A student of the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura of Teodoro Buenaventura, Isidro Ancheta has produced a masterful quality to his craft, elegantly capturing and immortalizing the bucolic past, with a refined academic technique.

Ancheta's works, most of which ravaged in the 2nd world war, usually feature landscapes and seascapes of the lost idylls of the Philippines. Although known to capture the beauty of the Philippines in the Brilliant splendor of the blazing Philippine sun, this 1930 work puts on display otherwise.

Unique to this piece is the context it's been situated in — the gloomy sky, visible raindrops, choppy sea, flying debris, even the swaying of the trees in the background all come together, denoting the harsh, unsettling weather.

A particularly different work is this one, as the sunny, gleeful pastoral settings are replaced by a turbulent, and tempestuous storm.

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195 Luis Lorenzana (b.1979) The Sum m on of E m p e ro r F ra g i l e wi th th e G re e n Yuki G i rl s signed a nd d a t ed 2 0 1 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oi l on c a nva s 48” x 3 6 ” (1 2 2 c m x 9 1 cm )

P 400,000 From his oeuvre, Luis Lorenzana has created a motley crew of characters from an interior, fantastic world that seems to share borders with that of Tim Burton’s. Magical, comic, with a dash of gothic sensibility, his figures are recognizable for their chubby-cheeked nonchalance and wide-eyed cunning, ready to spring at you with their irresistible—but ultimately dangerous —tricks.

Such a trickster is Emperor Fragile in the work, The Summon of Emperor Fragile with the Green Yuki Girls, which was part of the exhibition, The Tales of the Beer Fairies held at Silverlens in 2010. With fierce blue eyes, red nose and metal rocker face paint, the emperor comes roaring towards and pointing at the viewer, ready to unleash his magic with the star-tipped wand sending out crackling volts of lightning. His entrance is dramatic with his hooded retinue and floating flowers trailing his wake. Lest he may be mistaken for another superhero, he wears the symbol of “Fragile” on his chest for all the world to see.

The work, while possessing the sublime charm and dark humor from Lorenzana’s other creations, pushes the envelope by offering us a story: Who is Emperor Fragile? What is his motive? Who needs his saving? And why are the “Green Yuki Girls” sprouting like flowers from the ground? It is the power of the painting to extend itself further in the imagination of the viewer like a still from an animation film that happens to be the artist’s private, elaborate, and deeply engaging mythology.

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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED COUPLE

196 Anita Magsaysay-Ho (1914-2012) Moth e r a nd C hild si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 4 3 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on w ood 16” x 1 3 3 /4 ” (4 1 c m x 3 5 cm )

P 3,000,000 Provenance: Salvador De Leon Collection Private collection, Makati City Literature: Roces, Alfredo R., Anita Magsaysay – Ho: In Praise of Women, The Crucible Workshop, Pasig, 2005, p.24 and p.78 This gifted artist, the Philippines’ foremost female painter, with a creative output spanning six decades, has, according to her friends, remained gentle, soft-spoken and humble throughout the years.

In the book “ANITA MAGSAYSAY-HO — In Praise of Women” Alfredo Roces writes: “The war years did not prevent Anita from painting. Her father provided her with thin, smooth white boards of wood, about four inches square, on which she painted portraits. She gave art lessons to her friends. When the family evacuated Manila to Montalban, she managed to paint palette knife landscapes.

During the early 1940s, Magsaysay-Ho’s works showed the influence of Amorsolo in choice of subjects and in treatment of light and color. As early as the wartime decade, Magsaysay-Ho already found the theme that she will explore for the rest of her famed artistic life. But being described as the female Amorsolo does not quite mean that she got the idea of painting rural women from Amorsolo.”

Roces continues: “With the city still in rubble and prospects for furthering her artistic tradition in Manila scarce, Anita journeyed on the troopship, The China Mail, bound for the U.S. to pursue further her art studies.” It is there where she got the idea of painting rural women.

Anita Magsaysay-Ho tells Cid Reyes in 1984: “I was looking for a subject I could feel for, something I could really paint. Well, I am a woman and I know how a woman feels, but what really inspired me to do those women is Bruegel. There was a Bruegel painting of some women at the fields in the Cranbrook Museum.”

Going back to the war years in the Philippines: Two years after this sweetly sunlit painting was finished, deeply aware that her genius is indeed a gift, Antia Magsaysay-Ho acknowledges it in a poem she wrote on January 5, 1945, entitled “God’s Sunset,” which appears on page 9 of the book Anita Magsaysay-Ho, A Retrospective: The ever changing shapes of clouds Now pink; now gray; now white; The multiple glaze above, The heavens extremely bright; I gazed at my drab coloursAnd at the grandeur that is Thine; Lord, how can I depict Thy work; Without Thy hand in mine?

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

197 Juvenal Sanso (b.1929) L ands c ape Ca .1 9 8 0 sig n ed (lo w er rig h t) o il o n b o a rd 1 7 ” x 2 1 1 /2 ” (4 3 c m x 5 5 c m )

P 80,000 When Juvenal Sanso had excluded human elements from his pieces, his works transitioned towards a more tranquil disposition. The acclaimed Brittany series, as these works are known, bear a relaxing meditative ambiance.

The rugged rock formations by the body of water possess a beguiling tonal quality, stretching to the horizon to meet the sky as they are engulfed by the illusion of distance.

198 Benedicto Cabrera (b.1942) Jet Pa nga n ( Roc k S e ri e s ) si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 9 5 ( lo w e r rig h t) charcoa l a nd p a st el o n p a p e r 32 1/2 ” x 2 2 1 /4 ” (8 3 cm x 5 7 cm )

P 200,000 Aside from his re-explorations of the Philippines’ colonial past via old photographs, or his social commentaries via the famed madwoman, Ben Cabrera has done a number of portraits on occasion.

For this portrait, Bencab uses a few colors rather than many, and his works assert that fewer colors in a painting give the art greater force and meaning. And ‘force’ is an apt description given that the subject, Jett Pangan, an icon of 1990s pop culture, has that forceful persona onstage when he sings.

To quote the book “BENCAB” by Krip Yuson and Cid Reyes: “There is no more convincing proof of Bencab’s… abstracting eye” which is apparent in how the artist distills the image of the rock star into his sartorial essence. Ben Cabrera, like most if not all contemporary artists, works on the portrait outside of reality.

Portraits are, after all, a peculiar amalgam of art and reality, and it presents a person, most often famous, in a way not visually experienced before.

Like any craftsman, the “interaction” between the painter’s brush and the personality of the subject is made permanent in the final outcome of the portrait.

Bencab uses boldness of lines amid the severe neutrality of the background to create an image of the popular rock singer with a young, yet straightforward candor divested of unnecessary details. The flash of vermilion orange provides the requisite 1990s visual angst in a portrait that otherwise captures laid back restraint.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

PROPERTY FROM THE VICENTE LOPEZ, JR. COLLECTION

199 Romeo Tabuena (1921-2015) Moth e r a nd C hild F l e e i n g Wa r si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 4 3 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a nva s 25” x 3 5 ” (6 4 c m x 8 9 cm )

P 1,300,000 While Romeo Tabuena is known for his monochromatic landscapes of nipa-huts, farmers and carabaos done in an exquisite style, with attenuated figures spread out in large, tonal areas suggesting early morning fog, he was somewhat influenced by Chinese painting, he went through considerable evolutions.

This early painting from the 1940s shows Romeo Tabuena’s depiction of a war-torn nation via the travails of a mother with child. Tabuena creates a visual account of the impact of war by showing how an “every woman”— a mother— is suffering.

He documents the tragedy experienced by Filipino people, represented by this bare bosomed woman carrying her baby amid the chaos of a dark suffering city, tinged with red from fire and blood. The turmoil going on is depicted in a narrow range of hues and tones, dominated by dark areas of gloom. Tabuena’s portrayal of the tragedy of war, a swirling tangle of victims and barely identifiable oppressors, whirl around the canvas depicted in strokes of violent colors. It is a tragic, unforgettable image.

The painting anticipates Romeo Tabuena’s other side to his art, which was expressed in dark oil paintings, some of which reflected the “proletarian” concerns of the period. In this work, the figures in the background have an almost expressionist distortion with no happy elements to relieve the labored atmosphere.

There have been other facets and turns to Tabuena’s evolution, specifically, when Tabuena famously settled in Mexico later in his life, he developed a colourful prismatic style with folk subjects.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

200 R.M. De Leon (b.1960) Cad mi um Re d a nd P e n c i l 4 si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 9 0 ( b o tto m ) acryl i c on p a per 31” x 4 3 ” (7 9 c m x 1 0 9 cm )

P 100,000 Exhibited: Finale Art File, R.M. De Leon: Attitude and Form, Sunvar Plaza, Makati City, Philippines, August 28, 1990 - September 14, 1990 R.M. De Leon’s works have taken many forms – from featuring the familiar, to flaunting a unique and powerful means of abstraction.

His vigorous strokes, sparkling colors, and passionate figuration all work together to comprise the fiery, evocative works that we have come to know.

Having graduated from the University of the Philippines with a degree in Fine Arts in 1984, De Leon came through with his first solo show on the same year. His early works were greatly influenced by iconic abstractionist, Roberto Chabet — nonetheless, these works still possessed qualities that were uniquely R.M. De Leon.

This very work, with its impassioned strokes and powerful color choice, shows a more ‘intense’ side of the artist, all while exhibiting his restrain and genius use of space.

This piece is from 1990, a period when he transitioned to conceptual art and defined his works in the contemporary scene.

In the same year, De Leon was a recipient of the CCP Thirteen Artist Award.

201 Sam Penaso (b.1971) Red M etal s c ape d a ted 2 0 1 5 w eld ed m eta l 4 8 ” x 6 0 ” (1 2 2 c m x 1 5 2 c m )

P 100,000 *ACC Grantee 2013 From junkshop to art, Sam Penaso’s sculptures indicate how upcycling can also become a way to introduce art to the people. Instead of throwing these bits and pieces, these scraps are given a new life as an art work — connected, repainted, embellished, and reignited through structure and form.

The lines and shapes in these sculptures capture the essence of how art can be formed in different ways, and in the use of different media. Taking from his experiences as an artist, Penaso’s sculptures act as mediation of what he has seen and observed abroad and with the materials readily made available in the country. Mere scraps turn into his form of expression; the bits and pieces become a portrayal of his experiences and observation. Thus, transient junk then becomes a permanent art work.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

PROPERTY FROM THE J. ANTONIO ARANETA COLLECTION

202 Vicente Rivera y Mir (1872-1954) Lan dsc a pe si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 3 3 ( lo w e r le f t) oil on w ood 14” x 1 9 ” (3 6 c m x 4 8 cm )

P 300,000 Literature: 1030 R. HIDALGO Volume 2: LEGACY IN ART, Edited by Antonio S. Araneta, MARA Inc., Metro Manila, 1986, p. 87 (illustrated) Through the first three decades of the 20th century, Vicente Rivera y Mir was among the formidable list of Who’s Who, which constituted the faculty of what was, during the pre-war years, the bulwark of the conservatives — among which were Fernando and Pablo Amorsolo, Fabian de la Rosa, Irineo Miranda, Teodoro Buenventura, and Guillermo Tolentino to name a few.

From the 1880s until the early 1900s, painters like Vicente Rivera y Mir, Felix Martinez, Eusebio Santos, and Jose Maria Asuncion, were painting scenes that captured actions and depicted life. This was most probably due to advancements in photography and such.

These artists began to portray anecdotal settings that incorporated strong interplays on mood and ambiance.

A tranquil delicacy imbues this painting, enlivening the composition as the figures in the distance cross a bridge, and trek on through the dense forestry.

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

(a)

(b)

(c)

203 Claude Tayag (b.1956) a.) I mma c ula da C on c e p ci o n si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l or o n p a per 13” x 9 1 /2 ” (3 3 c m x 2 4 cm ) b.) La S a gr a da F a m il i a si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l or o n p a per 13” x 9 1 /2 ” (3 3 c m x 2 4 cm ) c.) Sant o N iño si gned a n d d a t ed 1 9 8 9 ( lo w e r rig h t) waterco l or o n p a per 13” x 9 1 /2 ” (3 3 c m x 2 4 cm )

P 60,000

204 Cesar Legaspi (1917-1994) Nu de si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 7 7 ( lo w e r le f t) charcoa l o n p a per 22” x 1 5 ” (5 6 c m x 3 8 cm )

P 50,000

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Artist Claude Tayag, once again, puts on display for us his Philippine Folk Santos series – one of the themes featured in his first one-man show in the ABC Galleries in 1978.

Tayag, time and again, has succeeded in capturing our attention with his reanimation of the work of the Filipino image carvers - a marvelous recapturing of these icons.

León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

205 Romeo Tabuena (1921-2015) M exi c o si gned a nd d a t ed 1 9 5 6 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on b oa r d 25” x 1 9 ” (6 4 c m x 4 8 cm )

P 120,000

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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

206 Elmer Borlongan (b.1967) Vu l caniz ing S hop si gned a nd d a t ed 2 0 0 0 ( lo w e r rig h t) oil on c a n va s 60” x 3 6 ” (1 5 2 c m x 9 1 cm )

P 1,000,000 Leon Gallery wishes to thank Mr. Elmer Borlongan for confirming the authenticity of this lot In the 1980s and 1990s, Elmer Borlongan explored the paradoxes of urban life and emotional isolation, and constant themes in his works ranged from universal social injustices to isolated situations of psychic torment. Borlongan developed a distinct take on Filipino expressionism, a tradition stamped by the oeuvre of Onib Olmedo, Jaime de Guzman, and Danilo Dalena and to a great extent influenced the social realist aesthetic that fired up the protest art of the 1970s and 1980s.

The turmoil and repression going on in the social and political life of the country was mirrored in Borlongan’s work of the time.

Again and again, among his paintings are found dreary scenes done in a narrow, gloomy range of hues and tones, dominated by dark areas featuring desperate, skid row individuals. Even his home cum studio in Nueve de Pebrero, Mandaluyong, was located not far from a famous institution for society’s “dispossessed,” a “Goya-esque” parallel universe for the malaise of the characters which inhabited his canvases. In 2002, he and his artist wife Plet Bolipata moved out of Mandaluyong and settled far from the madding crowd.

Those many people who have followed Borlongan’s works before and after 2002 have noticed a number of striking differences.

When he was still based in the metropolis, his paintings mirrored urban blight, peopled with the masses trying to eke out a paltry living, and the colors were full of melancholy.

“The colors I used then were mostly earth tones and grays including Payne’s Gray, which is a stormy gray that changes color when you mix it with black or white,” said Borlongan tells the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a February 16, 2014 article.

Once he and Plet moved to Zambales, however, he began drawing more rural scenes: vendors carrying a basin of freshly caught fish, a family seated in what looks like a fabric boat.

His colors were also brighter. He couldn’t help it because, in the province, colors seem more saturated, more alive.

Yet there are still instances wherein, in spite of the sea of change in his outlook, Borlongan still made occasional forays into the circumstances of laborers and the like, alongside his more sedate pictures of everyday life.

Critic Lisa Ito wrote: "In terms of style and subject matter, the transition from Manila to Zambales is evident to those who are familiar with his earlier works. There are subtle shifts… as well as lighter tonal changes in his palette and the freeing up of background space compared to his earlier works."

In this work from 2000, Borlongan visually captures a towering example of an idle flaneur: a hardy worker taking a break from the day’s work. The unstinting light of the sky, almost fluorescent, is softened by tell-tale clouds, illuminating the image of a laborer with a mallet, standing atop the dark pile of rubber tires. There is no hint of the angst of toil in the standing figure.

The posture recalls those nude Greco-Roman Gods of antiquity, what with the weight of his body shifted to one leg. A casual apotheosis of the modern day, brown-skinned god of labor (slacks and all) if there ever was one.

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Paintings and Sculptures A Abaño, Ambie 118 Abueva, Napoleon 50 Aguinaldo, Lee 41, 141, 180-181 Albor, Augusto 23 Alcuaz, Federico Aguilar 19, 29, 99, 139 Amorsolo, Fernando 17, 26, 37, 45, 56-57, 64, 73, 81, 91, 100, 115, 130-131, 151 Amorsolo, Pablo 94-95 Ancheta, Isidro 52, 204 Antonio, Marcel 78, 146 Arguilla, Lyn 111 Austria, Antonio 11 Austria, Tam 92 B Balisi, Allan 62 Barja, Renato Jr. 174 Belleza, Norma 106 Borlongan, Elmer 136, 214-215 Bose, Santiago 108-109 Buenaventura, Cesar 156 C Cabigting, Annie 123 Cabrera, Benedicto 46, 54, 89, 108-109, 116, 168, 208 Cacnio, Angel 20-121 Cacnio, Michael 182 Calma, Carlo 203 Calubayan, Buen 72, 117 Castañeda, Dominador 62 Castrillo, Eduardo 39 Chabet, Roberto 10 Chagall, Marc 203 Cruz, Jigger 136 Cruz, Marina 51 D Dalena, Danilo 27, 147, 183 De Guia, Kawayan 188 De Leon, R.M. 210 del Castillo, Anton 160 dela Cruz, Bembol 174 E Edades, Victorio 140 Eustaquio, Patricia Perez

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F Fernandez, Dex 196 Francisco, Carlos "Botong" 177 G Galicano, Romulo 79 Garibay, Emmanuel 202 H Habulan, Renato 114 Hilario, Riel 128 J Javier, Geraldine 44 Jaylo, Jon 153 Joya, Jose 72, 76, 124, 129, 157 Justiniani, Mark 198 K Kiukok, Ang 22, 38, 53, 101, 138 Kosolawat, Kid 198

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Index L Langenegger, Robert 189 Lao Lianben 59, 152, 162-163 Legaspi, Cesar 87, 108-109, 176, 212 Leviste, Larry 142 Lorenzana, Luis 90, 205 Lorenzo, Diosdado M. 114 Luz, Arturo 97, 173, 194-195

W Wilwayco, Edwin 137, 199

M Magsaysay-Ho, Anita 206-207 Mallari, Joy 68 Manansala, Vicente 12, 40, 78, 82, 104, 126127, 178-179, 200-201 Mansit, Joven 107, 146 Medalla, David 34 Meimban, Norlie 86 Mendoza, Sofronio Y 80 Montemayor, Ferdie 12, 174 Montinola, Jason 174 Muñoz, Maya 10

Furniture and Objets d’ Art

N Navarro, Jerry Elizalde 47, 93, 161 O Ocampo, Hernando R. 154-155, 186, 192 Olazo, Romulo 33, 83, 105, 119, 134-135, 192 Olmedo, Onib 75, 156, 184-185 Orlina, Ramon 63, 197 P Palomo, Anthony 187 Parial, Mario 18 Penaso, Sam 106, 210 Pereira, Jose 68 Pineda, Jorge 175 Puruganan, Ricarte 20-21 R Rivera y Mir, Vicente 211 Roxas, Felipe 55 Rubio, Dominic 38 Ruiz, Jose Tence 98 S Saavedra, Carlo 124 Sabado, John Frank 26 Saguil, Nena 13, 133 Salubayba, Don 50, 152 Sanso, Juvenal 52, 67, 108-109, 118, 208 Santos III, Jose John 144-145 Santos, Mauro Malang 44, 108-109, 160, 188 Saprid, Solomon 77, 125 Sison, Yasmin 110, 174 T Tabuena, Romeo 65, 193, 209, 213 Tapaya, Rodel 174, 203 Tayag, Claude 212 Torres, Juanito 66 Tuazon, Wire 174 V Ventura, Olan 90, 142 Ventura, Ronald 170-171 Villanueva, Cris Jr. 54 Vitalis, Macario 76

Z Zaballero, Phyllis 202 Zalameda, Oscar 11, 35, 169 Zobel, Fernando 69

19th Century Philippine School 32 A postal card from Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt to Jose Rizal 122 Antonio Luna y Novicio 28, 172 Antonio Luna's Impresiones 88 Antonio Luna's La Independencia 58 Bolo 84-85 Chest of Drawers with Escritorio 164-167 Episcopal Chair 30-31 Ivory Madonna and Child 158-159 Jose Rizal 16, 36, 150 Jose Rizal's other fiancee 96 Jose Rizal's unrecorded lover 74 Le Dondiin et les Philippines 132 Makamisa by Jose Rizal 143 Niño Juan Dormido In a Virina 148-149 Set of Liturgical Vestments 112-113 Set of Pukaw Jars 196 Sheraton Sideboard 42-43 Sillones (Set of 3) 70-71 Sto. Cristo Expirante 102-103 Sto. Niño 24-25 The Scourging at the Pillar 48-49 Two Chalices 60-61 Vestry Table 190-191

Terms and Conditions The following are the terms and conditions that Leon Gallery has set for the auction. Kindly read carefully.

Leon Gallery, all the participants of the event, processes, and transactions shall be guided accordingly by these rules: GENERAL: a. b. c.

d.

e.

Each item (lot) in this catalog is offered for sale dependent on the terms exhibited below.

All lots are numbered according to the catalog unless otherwise stated by the auctioneer.

Transferring, selling, assigning of lots to anyone other than the bidder that won prior to the removal of the lot from the gallery is not allowed. Only the winning bidder has the authority to remove the lot from the gallery.

All items sold do not have any warranty. Leon Gallery is not and will not be liable for any unfortunate circumstances that can happen to the lot after it has been transferred to the winning bidder.

All participants must agree to be bound by the terms that have been set by Leon Gallery.

BIDDING: a.

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Bidders are required to complete and sign registration forms. Participants shall be asked to present a valid govern ment-issued identification card (passport, driver’s license, etc.) upon registration.

Before the auction proper, each buyer will be given an assigned buyer’s number. The highest bidder of a specific lot shall be the buyer of the lot.

The auctioneer shall announce the winning bid and the corresponding buyer’s number of the bidder. Failure of the winning bidder to object at the time of the announcement shall be considered as an acknowledgment of the bid and purchase. The buyer is legally liable to purchase the lot or pay the difference if the host must re-offer and sell it for a reduced price.

The buyer’s premium shall be 15% plus Value-Added Tax on premium (16.8% in total).

The auctioneer shall be in charge of supervising the bidding and shall be the sole arbiter of any disputes. Leon Gallery reserves the right to withdraw property at any time before the sale and reject a bid from any bidder.

Absentee bids are allowed in this auction. They are permitted to bid until fifteen (15) minutes prior to the start of the auction for all the items in the auction. Absentee bids for later lots may continue to be accepted according to announcements or signs posted on the office window. A deposit may be requested on absentee bids over Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 200,000) or at the discretion of the auctioneer. The auctioneer will be responsible of bidding the absentee bid in opposition to the floor bidders. In case a tie occurs, the earlier bid wins the lot. Leon Gallery will not be liable for any failed absentee bid. The absentee bidders may contact the gallery after the auction to know if they won the lot.

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The balance of the invoice must be paid in full and merchandise picked up within three (3) days from the date of the sale. One week after the auction, left items may be moved to an off-site facility for pick-up. A storage fee will be charged if merchandise is left longer than two (2) weeks of One Hundred Pesos (Php 100) per lot per day. If the property is left longer than four (4) weeks, it will be considered abandoned. We are not responsible for shipping, but if packing and handling of purchased lots will be done by us, it is done at the entire risk of the purchaser. A refundable deposit may be required.

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LITIGATION: In case of litigation between Leon Gallery and the buyer, the parties must submit to the Law Courts of Makati.

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Hernando R. Ocampo Untitled

Vicente Manansala Mother and Child

Le贸n Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Afternoon Meal 1951 oil on canvas 27" x 37" (69 cm x 94 cm)

For personal and private consignment opportunities please contact Leon Gallery info@leon-gallery.com leongallerymakati@gmail.com +632 856 2781 www.leon-gallery.com

G/F Eurovilla 1, Rufino Corner Legazpi Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City, Philippines www.leon-gallery.com | info@leon-gallery.com | +632 856 27 81

Le贸n Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES

NOW ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS For the Spectacular Mid-Year Auction 2016

Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) Cavite 1927 oil on wood 13 1/4" x 16 1/4" (34 cm x 41 cm)

G/F Eurovilla 1, Rufino Corner Legazpi Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City, Philippines www.leon-gallery.com | info@leon-gallery.com | +632 856 27 81