Salcedo Auctions kicks off its year-long 15th-anniversary calendar with The Well-Appointed Life sale, its first major event for 2025, with the launch of its catalogue, http://bit.ly/TWAL-March2025.
The live and online auction, presented in association with UnionBank Elite, is on Saturday, 8 March, 2 p.m, at Salcedo’s NEX Tower Ayala Avenue galleries and sale room.
Zobel’s Ícaro I,’ 1959, oil on canvas, is the first of the ‘Icaro’ series, preceding the 1962 ‘Ícaro’ in the collection of the Ayala Museum
Zobel’s ‘Ícaro I’ comes with a certificate of authenticity handwritten and signed by Rafael Pérez Madero, the foremost expert on the artist
The catalogue has the works of major Philippine artists, among them, Jose Joya’s Sonata, BenCab’s untitled mixed media piece from 1970 (previously owned by British actor Glenda Jackson), Ang Kiukok’s Crucifixion, Cesar Legaspi’s untitled oil on wood from 1971, Mauro Malang Santos’ collaborative work with Magoo Valencia simply titled Women, and H.R. Ocampo’s Revelation-E from 1978.
In the auction, collectors of Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s works will have the opportunity to acquire two paintings that have been with the artist’s heirs for over 100 years: Interior de Una Casa and Village Brittany. Both are unique entries in the artist’s body of work, which consists mostly of portraits, landscapes, and seascapes as allegorical and historical depictions.
Zobel’s ‘Retiro,’ completed in 1959, and roughly the same size as ‘Ícaro I,’ sold for US$ 1,022,355 in a Paris auction in 2021.
The centerpiece of The Well-Appointed Life sale, however, is Fernando Zobel’s Ícaro I from 1959, brought in from Madrid from its present owner who purchased it years ago. The work was completed during a transformative moment in Zobel’s life, when he decided to leave his corporate work in Manila to become a full-time artist in Spain.
Works from this year have been in high demand—in a Paris auction, Zobel’s 1959 Retiro sold for US$1,022,355. The work in Salcedo Auctions’ roster is a rare and important foundational work, however, the first in the Ícaro series, preceding the 1962 Ícaro in the collection of the Ayala Museum. It offers insight into the evolution of Zóbel’s creative approach, as a key transitional work from his linear Saetas to his later atmospheric Serie Negra, serving as precursor of his explorations in abstraction.
Ícaro I’s vertical configuration, interpreted as a distillation of a human figure about to take flight, distinguishes it from its later iterations, where the figure is already seemingly airborne. This distinction lends the painting a sense of anticipation and potential energy; where the later Ícaro works convey dynamism mid-flight, Ícaro I hovers between “grounded-ness” and transcendence.
With a certificate of authenticity handwritten and signed by Rafael Pérez Madero, the foremost expert on Zobel, Ícaro I has been displayed in significant exhibitions, including a showcase in Madrid in 2015-2016. It is documented in the Catálogo Razonado de Pinturas 1946-1984, published by the Azcona Foundation in 2022, reinforcing its place in the artist’s oeuvre.
Zobel shown inside the museum he founded, the Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, which has become a major cultural destination in Cuenca, Spain
Icaro I marksed the start of a new journey for Zobel. Liberated from corporate work, he explored art in all its forms. He would be remembered for his abstractions and recognized by his adoptive country for founding Spain’s first museum devoted to abstract art, the world-renowned Museo de Arte Abstracto de Español in Cuenca.
Presented with Exclusive Bank Partner UnionBank Elite, The Well-appointed Life live and online auction is on Saturday, 8 March 2025, starting at 2 pm. The online catalogue is available at salcedoauctions.com. In-person preview runs up to March 7 at NEX Tower, 6786 Ayala Avenue, Makati City, from 9 am to 6 pm daily (including Sunday, closed Monday). For inquiries, email info@salcedoauctions.com or call tel. no. (+63917) 107-5581, (+63917) 591-2191, or (+63917) 825-7449. For the latest updates, follow @salcedoauctions on Instagram and Facebook.
