As the leading purveyor of historically important and museum-quality Philippine art and antiques—and now also a leading auction house, León Gallery is again supporting ManilArt 2014, which will run Oct. 16-19 at the SMX, SM Aura, Taguig.
León’s is its biggest participation yet in the premier and longest-running art fair in the Philippines.
Occupying two booths (the largest space León has ever secured since it first joined the fair in 2011), León will feature in one booth a preview of the exceptional works up for bid in their coming November auction. In the other booth, it will showcase stunning pieces from the gallery collection.
Among the must-sees from the collection are masterworks by National Artists, such as the acrylic-on-canvas “Karma,” signed and dated 1979 by José Joya, pioneer of Abstract Expressionism in the country. The work is strongly redolent of Joya’s distinct style of Action Painting, with bold strokes and calculated specks set against subdued earth tones.
National Artists
Other must-sees:
“Man, Girl, and Cock,” signed and dated 1953, by Vicente Manansala. Produced three years after Manansala received a study grant from the French government, this piece is a pertinent specimen of Manansala’s “transparent cubism” as he renders human (in this case distinctly Filipino) figures swathed in an array of colors.
An untitled oil-on-wood painting by Cesar Legaspi, signed and dated 1974, it is a fiery work of art that virtually sets the canvas ablaze.
“Abstraction 133,” signed and dated 1977 by Hernando Ocampo. As one of the leading figures comprising the Thirteen Moderns, Ocampo charted a new course for Philippine art, breaking ground with his abstractions.
“Rectangular Echo,” signed and dated 1971 by J. Elizalde Navarro. Recognized for his ambidexterity as an artist, Navarro brought his skill to the fore in this piece, where a silhouette of a woman—muted yet imposing—is fused with his characteristic living colors.
“Sabel” by Benedicto Cabrera, signed and dated 1983. His “Sabel” series is without a doubt Cabrera’s most iconic creation.
Visionary artists
Also worth viewing are significant works by two visionary artists, Fernando Zobel and Lee Aguinaldo.
Zobel’s “Pinto,” signed and dated 1962, bares his imprint of reductive abstraction, a style that earned him to be called “a motive force of his time.”
Aguinaldo’s “Linear Horizontal Study,” signed and dated 1978, shows us the artist at his prime—with his exactitude and attention to detail.
Other exceptional works on view are by Romulo Olazo, Romulo Galicano, Romeo Tabuena, Mauro Malang Santos, Antonio Austria, Diosdado Lorenzo, Juan Arellano, and Jorge Pineda, (with a rare piece from 1938 titled “First Cry of Balintawak”).
For more information, please visit www.leon-gallery.com, like their official Facebook page at Facebook.com/LeonGalleryMakati and follow them on Instagram at instagram.com/leongallerymakati.
