A rare Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo could be yours this weekend
Beauty is an abstract aspect of life where one finds hope—such as between the glowing lines of a Rothko. We find inspiration in the thick globs of Van Gogh’s sunflowers, or redemption in the darkness that envelop a Caravaggio. Beauty begets generosity, because true beauty is something that we love to share, love to give, and love to receive.
Art, like beauty is a gift that is always welcome, but not what you might expect. In León Gallery’s Kingly Treasures, their final auction of the year, the gift of art is right at your fingertips, beckoning, cajoling, and tempting…assuming you have what it takes to beat the other bidders.
Alfonso Ossorio's "Quadruplets"
“In Ossorio’s eyes, the embodiment of things seems fortuitous, as inessential as the fact, for example, that a gas may assume a liquid state. Each body seems to him as a spirit occasionally passing into a field where himan eyes can perceive it.” —Jean Dubuffet
Andres Barrioquinto's "Silent Air"
"Silent Air," with all its symbolic flora and fauna, allows it to portray an image that can seduce the viewer into looking closer into the transformation of a woman as she steps into the next stage of her life: marriage.
Ang Kiukok's "Fish"
Save for the sheet of paper or foil underneath the fish, there are no other objects on the perceived table. Perhaps the artist wanted to focus on the subject as the lone leitmotif, given the intentional geometric mannerisms injected in the composition, such as the spiky, bony frame and teeth, or the circle at the center.
Buen Calubayan's "Fressie Capulong"
Part of Calubayan’s groundbreaking 2012 exhibit, Fressie Capulong, this painting is one of 57 portraits juxtaposed to represent the subject’s complete life, perhaps her very identity. The image puts the viewer face-to-face with a woman who appears on the verge of a breakdown, her posture still composed, surrounded by a sea of gray.
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo's "La Inocencia"
The centerpiece of the entire auction, this rare Hidalgo has been in the hands of the Legarda family since Benito Cosme Legarda y Tuason bought it from the artist himself. Painted in 1901, "La Inocencia" harkens back to the happiest years of the affluent and elegant Filipino painter who had fallen in love with his Spanish model, Maria Yrritia. The painting’s frame is a work of art on its own—supple, curling lily pads with upturned edges—designed by Isabelo Tampinco.
Fernando Amorsolo's "La Siega"
In "La Siega," Amorsolo chooses to portray a life that in 1961 was becoming less ordinary in the changing countryside. The life he chose to portray on canvas brims with good cheer, serenity, casual grace, and optimism. His colors are extremely vivid and as in most of Amorsolo’s work, has an intense, dream-like quality.
Hernando R. Ocampo's "55-G The Wall"
Ocampo’s canvas has become a playground for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of childlike forms, and a manifestation of indigenous Filipino abstraction. The idea that painting needs no meaning other than a purely visual one appealed to Ocampo so much that he got to calling some of his works “visual melodies.”
Jose John Santos III's "The Open Minded"
The man stares at the viewer while juggling, a mysterious window on his top hat may open into the unknown. Jose John Santos’ visual platform is that of a hyper (sur)realist, but is based on a distillation of subconscious reality—a formal, elevated representation of dreams and stream of consciousness.
Lao Lianben's "Presence"
This work features a very strong play on contrast by the artist. The vast nothingness that exists behind the streaks of light adds to the brilliance of the otherwise faint beams, the luminescence of which gives us a glimpse to the very threshold between the tangible and intangible.
Elmer Borlongan's "Mega Touch"
A blind masseuse presses the tired muscles of a man who evidently finds release and satisfaction with the massage. Whatever worry or disappointment has besieged him that day falls away at the moment of contact. With their round foreheads and steep jawlines, the figures of Borlongan continue to embody the life, dream, and aspiration of the Filipino everyman.
Kingly Treasures December Auction will be live on December 3. Leon Gallery is at G/F Eurovilla 1, Rufino corner Legazpi Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City or bid online at Leon-Gallery.com.
