The Kingly Treasures Auction 2019 30 November 2019 | 2:00 PM León Gallery Fineleón ART & ANTIQUES Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES
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León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES The Kingly Treasures Auction 2019 30 November 2019 | 2:00 PM León Gallery FINELeón ART & ANTIQUES Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972) Tinikling 2 | LEON GALLERY León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES THE KINGLY TREASURES AUCTION 2019 | 1 León Gallery FINELeón ART & ANTIQUES Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES Auction Saturday | November 30, 2019 2:00 PM Preview November 23 - 29, 2019 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 [email protected] +632 8856 27 81 2 | LEON GALLERY León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES Hernando R. Ocampo (b. 1911) Petals in the Sun THE KINGLY TREASURES AUCTION 2019 | 3 León Gallery FINELeón ART & ANTIQUES Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES Jorge Pineda (b. 1879) Kakawate 4 | LEON GALLERY León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES 7 Foreword 8 - 195 Lots 1 - 142 200 Index 201 Terms and Conditions 202 Registration Form THE KINGLY TREASURES AUCTION 2019 | 5 León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES Director Research and Text Jaime L. Ponce de Leon Jed Nathan Daya Earl Digo Maureen Ann Doma Curator Lisa Guerrero Nakpil Design and Layout Aldrene Harold Carillo Consultants Augusto M.R. Gonzalez III Photography and Graphics Martin I. Tinio, Jr (+) Aldrene Harold Carillo Ramon N. Villegas (+) Patricia Louisse Dato Jedlyn Espiritu Management Edwin Hurry Jr. Jane Daria Kate Lynn Naval Aliana Jannie Bricenio Joemari Neri Richelle Custodio Magdalina Juntilla Gallery Support Team Reymar Jurado Nestorio Capino Jr. Geller Nabong Angelo Bueno Nyza Mae Neri Zinister Allan Carmona Aleza Nevarez Ramil Flores Rouel Sanchez Robert Gotinga Louise Sarmiento Wilfredo M. Manalang Celina Sta. Ana Generoso Olaco Joanna Tamayo Manuel Sintos Reneliza de Taza Allan Jules Torrion Champ Yared Published by León Gallery G/F Eurovilla 1 Rufino corner Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines This catalogue is published to accompany the auction by León Gallery entitled The Kingly Treasures Auction 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or reprinted without the express written consent of León Gallery. © 2019 León Gallery Fine Art & Antiques www.leon-gallery.com 6 León Gallery Foreword FINE ART & ANTIQUES Dear Friends, Welcome to The Kingly Treasures Auction 2019! As we usher in the Christmas season, I welcome you all to the last auction of the year, the much- awaited Kingly Treasures Auction 2019. This year’s cornucopia is, once again, replete with treasures from all the ages—and the most distinguished collectors. I am honored to announce that several superb pieces from the Don Luis Maria Araneta y Zaragoza collection are highlights of this sale. To quote heritage historian Augusto “Toto” M. R. Gonzales III, Don Luis was renowned as having the most exquisite taste even as a child. This wasn’t surprising considering that his family lived in the most beautiful residence during the prewar period, along aristocratic Calle R. Hidalgo. His mother, Doña Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas de Araneta, although known for her Roman Catholic piety and simplicity, was also a woman of high style who was concerned about her dresses and her beautiful home. A magnificent pair of angels as well as a glorious armchair are two of the Araneta Collection’s wonders featured, as well as a rare painting, a book piece, of the Marikina valley by the lyrically talented Fabian de la Rosa. The much sought-after Buen Calubayan, on the other hand, appropriates Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s most-awarded painting, the evocative La Barca de Aqueronte (Charon’s Boat.). There are many precious paintings, both massive in scale and intense emotion: from Arturo Luz to Betsy Westendorp to an exquisite work by BenCab. Andres Barrioquinto, recently feted at the National Museum of the Philippines as well as the Start Art Fair in London, returns with a stunning work redolent with his favorite themes of peacocks and princesses. A singularly splendid Serie Negra by Fernando Zobel is an example of his elusive series of masterpieces, the majority to be found in museum collections. There are jewels that would bring sparkle to even the most prestigious collections, led by the classic beauty of Fernando Amorsolo’s masterworks. These Amorsolo gems show the mesmerizing range of our very first National Artist for Painting. Not to be outdone are marvels from one of the foremost modernists in the country: Ang Kiukok. Two superlative paintings of Mother and Child as well as the highly important Screaming Figures have been memorialized in reference books. Finally, and in line with an auction date that falls on the 156th birthday of the great Andres Bonifacio, there are several foundational documents that were the cornerstones of the Philippine Revolution which he ignited. These include a collection of cedulas personales, the extremely rare blood oath (only one other known to exist), and a document penned and signed by Bonifacio himself planning KKK expansion to Mindanao. Precious memorabilia from the Generals Miguel Malvar and Vito Belarmino are also highlights. I join all of the highly dedicated men and women of León Gallery in wishing you all a Merry Christmas. I look forward to seeing more of you in 2020! Jaime L. Ponce de Leon Director 7 León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES a) c) d) b) 1 National Artist Benedicto Cabrera has perhaps created one of the Benedicto Cabrera (b. 1942) most enduring series of portraiture, Sabel, which is considered a a) Brown Brothers landmark in Philippine visual arts. signed and dated 1975 (lower right) etching 16/20 However, BenCab has also painted a wide range of subjects— 12" x 10 1/2" (30.5 cm x 27 cm) from rockstars to poets. In these works, the master takes a turn by painting the faces of peasants (both men and women) as a b) Marlboro Country veritable ode to their hardship and dignity. By obscuring their signed and dated 1975 (lower right) faces, BenCab holds a mirror up to the personal and subjective etching 12/25 experiences of his subjects and transcends them into the wholly 11 1/2 x 10" (29 cm x 25 cm) transcendental and universal. c) Imaginary Portrait of Sabel signed and dated 1975 (lower right) etching 10/20 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" (14 cm x 14 cm) d) Imaginary Portrait of Sabel signed and dated 1975 (lower right) etching 10/20 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" (14 cm x 14 cm) P 100,000 8 | LEON GALLERY León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES Emmanuel “Manny” Garibay has remained consistent in depicting unique Filipino 2 scenes in his body of work. He is one of the most notable chroniclers of the ordinary, infusing it with ennobling quality. In this work, one of the founding Emmanuel Garibay (b. 1962) members of the Salingpusa group captures a frequent street scene in Manila— the usual car banggaan of the powerful and wealthy, and a pobre scavenger, Banggaan foreshadowing the clash between Filipino social structures. signed and dated 1995 (lower right) oil on canvas A member of the Artista ng Bayan, a group of artists that aims to reflect the state of 30” x 24” (76 cm x 61 cm) the marginal and dispossessed in their artistry, Garibay is known for his expressionist figurative style in depicting the content of many of his works, which often express P 120,000 a keen social and political consciousness. Striving to lift up the ordinariness of the people by using their stories as metaphors for universal truths, one can never fail This piece is accompanied by a certificate to meet ordinary people in his paintings: the newsboy, the bus rider, the cigarette issued by the artist confirming vendor, the tired woman activist, the glue-sniffing boy—breathing souls struggling the authenticity of this lot from the bottom of Philippine society. As to how Garibay puts it: “It is the richness of the poor that I am drawn to and which I am a part of, that I want to impart.” THE KINGLY TREASURES AUCTION 2019 | 9 León Gallery FINE ART & ANTIQUES 3 Ang Kiukok (1931 - 2005) Seated Figure signed and dated 1985 (upper left) acrylic on board 18" x 12" (46 cm x 30 cm) P 380,000 This piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Finale Art File confirming the authenticity of this lot The painting illustrates the intriguing look between caricature, with its distorting propensity, and a cubist-expressionist response to social realist art. Ang Kiukok’s painting career can be summed up as a dichotomy of a struggle for human expressiveness and constant perfection of cubistic pictorialism. The human condition at its most pathetic or angriest predicament has always inspired this artist. Suffering and torture were images familiar to him as he witnessed these in his boyhood during the Second World War. Ang’s first trip to the United States in 1965 also proved to be a profound experience for him. He saw at close quarters the materialism of a highly industrialized society that turns human beings into machines or robots—a society that dehumanizes. Images of such cruelties continue to haunt him in the political and criminal violence reported daily by the mass media. The restricted color range of the work reflects the elegant austerity of Ang’s aesthetic sensibility. The painter’s colors not only strengthen the architectonic quality of his forms but also intensify his visual statements. It is this eruption of brutality from within civilized circumstances that enabled Ang Kiukok to extract from the scene such a convincing symbol of anguish. 4 Vicente Manansala (1910 -1981) Holland Park signed and dated 1974 (lower left) oil on canvas 14”x 18 1/4” (36 cm x 46 cm) P 180,000 Provenance: Private Collection, Makati City Vicente Manansala’s transparent cubism flaunts a translucence and ethereality—a lightness akin to that of his earlier works with watercolor that preceded them.