The Fernando Amorsolo portraits of the Tambunting women will go on the block at the Asian Cultural Council 2022 auction at Leon Gallery on March 5, 2pm.
Dona Aurora Tambunting and daughter Teresita “Tereret” Tambunting Liboro belonged to Manila high society.
In the portrait of Tereret, Amorsolo painted the likeness of a Filipino princess dressed in a maria clara designed by Ramon Valera, the foremost couturier of high society women of the ‘50s. The virtuoso portraitist rendered all the lavish details of the Filipina’s elegance : The capacious camisa (top) and panuelo (fichu) are made of fine silk taffeta in verdant green; the wide skirt is covered in gold, embroidered roses, with elegant bow accent. She is wearing tambourine (necklace of pierced and filigreed beads), criolla (hoop) earrings and a tortoise-shell peineta (comb). Her elegant figure is backdropped by the colors of the Philippine sunrise.
The portrait of the clan matriarch, Dona Aurora, created six years earlier in 1956, shows her in a regal pose, in sky blue lace velvet terno, a fan in hand. It is a picture of restrained elegance.
Portrait of Doña Teresita “Tereret Tambunting- Liboro by Fernando Amorsolo in the Asian Cultural Council auction
Doña Aurora Paraiso Tambunting married the patriarch of the Tambunting family, Antonio Tambunting. She was known as a generous woman who supported charity and church causes even down to her later years. According to the Diocese of Novaliches, Doña Aurora was one of the main benefactors of the Ina Ng Laging Saklolo Parish in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City. According to The Manila Times news story, she contributed to the inauguration of the pavilions at Elsie Gaches Village in Muntinlupa City. Among her close friends was Doña Mercedes Zóbel McMicking, the matriarch of the Zobel clan.
Tereret Tambunting is the daughter of Don Antonio L. Tambuting and Doña Aurora Paraiso Tambunting. Her father inherited the Casa Agencia de Tambunting founded in 1906, from his father, Don Ildelfonso Tambuting. Her mother, Doña Aurora, is from Lumban, Laguna, a beautiful descendant of a Spanish-Filipino family.
Doña Aurora would commission several paintings by Fernando Amorsolo, the foremost portraitist of the time. These included a portrait of Doña Aurora, a portrait of her three daughters Teresita, Hideliza and Milagros sitting together, and a portrait of Teresita as the eldest daughter. Tereret is now 91 years old and a widow of Andres Lopez Liboro.
Andres “Andy” Lopez Liboro is from the storied town of Balayan, Batangas. His parents were Dr. Augustine Liboro and Socorro Lopez of the prominent Batangas clan.
Andy graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University and from Georgetown University in Washington. Tereret graduated from Assumption College. They met when Tereret visited Washington in 1950, at the Philippine ambassador’s dinner, when the consul was Tomas Benitez who was married to Conchita Liboro.
Tereret has been active in civic and charitable organizations, including the building of pavilions for the handicapped in Alabang, and donations to Elsie Gaches Village. Following in the footsteps of her mother, this benefactor donated 16 hectares to the disadvantaged community of Muntinlupa, and was personally thanked by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for it. She also helped build the Ina ng Laging Saklolo Church in Caloocan.
Her leisure interests include playing the piano and dancing the flamenco.
National Artist Fernando Amorsolo was known for his mastery of the idyllic and scenic Philippine landscape and the portraiture of the wealthy and famous Filipino families. An Amorsolo masterpiece has been sought after by major collectors both here and abroad, from the ‘50s to the present day. Until his death in 1972, he was a prolific artist who could finish several paintings a month.
At only 24, in 2016, he traveled to Europe—a sojourn that honed his painting skills. Later, at the onset of commercial photography, the country’s affluent families desired exclusivity and thus went for the more expensive art portrait. The rich would have their photos copied in oil, with elaborate sittings. Amorsolo met this demand.
Amorsolo also made his mark in the Philippine art establishment. Following in the footsteps of his uncle and mentor Fabian de la Rosa, Amorsolo was director of the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts from 1938 to 1952.
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