The annual event’s 2024 edition presents works by Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Nena Saguil, Jose Joya, Roberto Chabet,Juan Luna, among other masters of Philippine art

By Art+ Magazine
March 7, 2024

León Gallery, in partnership with The Asian Cultural Council (ACC), holds its first major auction for 2024 on March 9, at 2 p.m., G/F Eurovilla 1, VA Rufino cor. Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City.

The event marks the birth anniversaries of three of the Philippines’ modernist stalwarts: Fernando Zóbel’s 100th, and the 110 th of two of his closest friends, Anita Magsaysay-Ho and Nena Saguil.

Magsaysay-Ho is represented by her rare rendition of “Planting Rice,” while Saguil’s work shows her beginnings at the Philippine Art Gallery to her artistry-defining experience as a painter of the École de Paris. 

The works of Jose Joya and Roberto Chabet, the first Filipino recipients of ACC grants in their respective fields (Joya for Visual Arts and Chabet for Museology, both in 1967), are among the centerpieces of the auction. 

The “sun and moon” of Filipino art, Juan Luna and Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, are also represented. Luna, for instance, has three works that span important periods in his life: “Landscape in Bilbao,” “Ecce Homo,” and a lyrical work from his award-winning Roman period, “Idilio.”

The respective art collections of Eugenio “Geny” Lopez, Romeo Jorge, and Pedro Conlu Hernaez are likewise up for auction.

ACC Philippines chair Ernest L. Escaler said the Leon Gallery and the Asian Cultural Council have, for the past nine years, produced nothing short of a fruitful and “wonderful partnership.”

Leon Gallery director Jaime Ponce de Leon remarked: “The Asian Cultural Council Auction is always an occasion close to our hearts, not least of all because it brings to the forefront the abilities of our young Filipino artists. The works of Jose Joya, its first-ever grantee for the visual arts, are among the highlights, as are important pieces from another ACC grantee, Roberto Chabet.”

Part of the proceeds from the annual auction will help fund various ACC grants for Filipino and other Asian artists and arts-based practitioners. 

“As we aim to actualize ACC’s mission year after year, we seek the support of like-minded individuals and form alliances along the way to support our advocacy,” said Escaler.

“On behalf of Team Leon Gallery, allow me to invite you once again to enjoy, experience, and join this new adventure in Philippine art,” added Ponce de Leon.

Log on to https://leon-gallery.com/auctions/The-Asian-Cultural-Council-Auction-2024