Major artworks and one-of-a-kind antiques will be up for auction on Feb. 18 at the Leon Gallery for the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Auction 2023.
These include Anita Magsaysay-Ho’s Fruit Market, once exhibited at the Philippine Art Gallery in 1957. It had been owned by American millionaire Frank Anderson who once owned the Basilan Lumber Corp. said Leon Gallery director Jaime Ponce de Leon, a friend of Ms. Magsaysay-Ho. “It’s always a holy grail for every auction,” said Mr. Ponce de Leon during a press conference on Jan. 24 in Makati.
A 6-foot x 8-foot Jose Joya, one of the biggest to be sold at auction, will also be on the block.
Since 2015, the Leon Gallery has partnered with the Asian Cultural Council Philippines to raise funds for ACC’s cultural exchange grants program. Proceeds from the fundraisers go entirely to the ACC Philippine Fellowship program. Over 300 artists have received fellowship grants since 1963, with some of these grantees since becoming National Artists, namely: Jose Joya, Lucresia Kasilag, Lamberto Avellana, Alejandro Roces, Francisco Feliciano, Jose Maceda, Kidlat Tahimik, Ramon Santos, and Alice Reyes.
During the press conference, guests were introduced to ACC grantees Sasa Cabalquinto (who gave an avant-garde dance performance), Caroline Marie Duque, Charles Ivan Yee, Sofia Santiago, and Ana Tamula.
The newest ACC grantees include Ms. Cabalquinto, who has a fellowship to the US and Japan to conduct research, immersion, and exploration on Butoh dance and diaspora; Rocky Cajigan, who has a fellowship to the US to explore curatorial and programming activities in New York; and Radnel Ofansa, who will complete his second and final year as a candidate for the Master of Music degree at the Mannes School of Music in New York City’s The New School.
THE AUCTIONWorks by many important names in art will go on the block on the Feb. 18 auction — H.R Ocampo, Vicente Manansala, Fernando Zobel, Manuel Rodriguez Sr., Nena Saguil, Felix Resureccion Hidalgo, Felix and Ramon Martinez, and Fabian de la Rosa. An Amorsolo piece in the auction that depicts a scene from the lost Elias and Salome chapter from the Noli me Tangere is expected to create some buzz.
As for antiques, there’s a dagger inscribed with a dedication to Don Ramon Despujol, a nephew and aide of the Spanish Governor-General who informed Jose Rizal of his Dapitan exile.
“It is our honor again to be part of ACC and to raise the funds for the deserving artists for further studies,” said Mr. Ponce de Leon.
The auction will be held on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Leon Gallery. For details, visit leon-gallery.com. — Joseph L. Garcia
