AVANT Auctions, the Philippines’ first online auction house specializing in fine art, is set to sell its first lots beginning Jan. 20 with an especially curated collection of 88 exceptional works by the country’s best artists.
The maiden offering which coincides with the Chinese New Year is dubbed Auspicious Art Auction and features a wide range of important pieces from the last century, including the pivotal painting “Summer Houses in Brittany” by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo (1901), the festive “Flower and Fruit Vendors” by Oscar Zalameda from the collection of the Bank of America (circa 1980s), and the grandiose “Diaphanous—Anthuriums B- CCXXIV’ by the recently deceased master-painter Romulo Olazo.
Among the other artists whose works are also up for bids in this milestone auction are National Artists Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Arturo Luz, Jose Joya and J. Elizalde Navarro as well as renowned contemporary artists Andres Barrioquinto, Elmer Borlongan, Lynard Paras, Yasmin Sison Ching, Rodel Tapaya and Ronald Ventura.
Avant Auctions is the brainchild of Jonathan Sy, proprietor of Gallery Big and founding director of ManilArt, the Philippines’ biggest art fair.
“Our goal is to provide an alternative platform to access art,” Sy explains. “Putting auctions online will make it easier and more convenient for bidders to find premium works and, for sellers, including artists themselves, to reach a wider, global market.”
Interested bidders may register at www.avantauctions.com. On- line preview and bidding begins on Jan. 20. Lots may be viewed up-close in a special preview launch to be held on Jan. 27 at the Pavillion, 2/F, LRI Design Plaza in Bel-air, Makati. The real-time, lot by lot online auction will start at 1 p.m. on Jan. 30.
Call 7758888, 6667755.
