Salcedo Auctions’ Under the Tree: The Wish List unwraps a thoughtfully-curated selection of over a hundred works of important Philippine art, fine antique hardwood furniture and furnishings, valuable collectibles so apt for the festive season. The annual year-end sale goes on-site and online on Saturday, November 26, 2022, 2 p.m. Seasoned and emerging collectors can join the country’s premier auction.
This year’s sale focuses on the gift of art as legacy. Art lasts generations, the most suitable gift to be remembered by Salcedo Auctions’ team of specialists assembled distinctive works from the National Artists, pioneering modernists, and sought-after contemporary artists, as well as rare collectibles.
A major highlight is an everyday scene of Quiapo, Manila through the eyes of National Artist Vicente Manansala. His semi-figurative abstraction captures the frenetic movement of people against the backdrop of heritage shop-houses with their elegant ventanillas, wrought-iron balustrades, and capiz shell windows. Displaying soft curved lines and subdued colors, this piece is a sublime example of Manansala’s period of transition towards his more pronounced, transparent cubist style.
Untitled (Still Life) is National Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz’s post-impressionist still life with a subtle color palette rare among his works. Similar transitional phases are evident in notable modernist Manuel Rodriguez, Sr.’s Jones Bridge, Pasig River, in post-impressionist colors; in Oscar Zalameda’s progression towards his signature cubist forms in European Houses; and in Juvenal Sansó’s early inspirations from the sea and its coasts.
Ronald Ventura, fresh from inaugurating the country’s newest art museum The M at BGC and holding Beastmaster, his successful solo exhibition, at Salcedo Private View, is represented in this auction by a piece that he created before gaining critical acclaim in 2004. Untitled (Hand Models) is a quiet and introspective piece that is an impressive prelude to the signature techniques and themes that would later define Ventura, and carried over to this day.
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- Ronald Ventura, ‘Untitled (Hand Models),’ 2003
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- BenCab, ‘Introspection No. 1,’ 2003
More works emanating from the artists’ evolving art styles include quite possibly a boceto for one of National Artist Jose Joya’s early 1960s murals; Lee Aguinaldo’s untitled experimentation that preludes his better known Mandala and pop-inspired Galumph series; and National Artist BenCab’s Introspection No. 1 done during his transition towards a figurative art style. The flowing lines and flat planes echo BenCab’s earlier illustrations of marginalized members of society and explorations of the use of flat colored planes that synthesize his Larawan series.
Completing the lineup are the works of National Artists Fernando Amorsolo and Cesar Legaspi, Malang, as well as subject matter uncharacteristic yet quintessentially by the artist, such as the woodcut ink painting Untitled (Sabungeros) by Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Another highlight of the collection is one of the last completed paintings of Justin Nuyda, Search Mindscape: Break of Dawn, described by the artist’s daughter Ayni Nuyda-Sanchez as his “favorite painting” and quite possibly the only 3×5 ft painting he ever made. It is offered by the artist’s estate, and proceeds from the sale of this masterpiece will benefit the Philippine Cancer Society, an established advocacy group which for decades have been helping cancer patients.
Justin Nuyda, ‘Mindscape Series,’ 2022
A piece to look forward to is Raffy Napay’s majestic tapestry that shows his highly technical skill of sewing, stitching, and weaving masterpieces like a painting. After developing an allergic reaction to oil paint, Raffy Napay replaced the brush with a needle and the paint with thread, as he wove a path for himself in the contemporary art world through the traditional artistic genre of tapestry.
Raffy Napay, ‘Untitled’, 2022
Among the collectibles are an iconic bench of National Artist Napoleon Abueva; Ramon Orlina’s Triumvirate, the last remaining piece from his Tower Club collection; an Art Nouveau style Émile Gallé table lamp; a vintage Bernardaud porcelain dining service for 20; and a 19th century chest of drawers made of kamagong from Baliuag, Bulacan. Storage chests were introduced in the Philippines from Europe in the 1800s, and this particular comoda, with drawers instead of two doors, was more unusual and more expensive during that time. Also of great interest for admirers of ilustrado architecture is a massive pair of Art Deco narra doors, formerly from the Laperal mansion in Bulacan, with its intricate metal work and original sliding mechanism intact.
Bench by Napoleon Abueva
19th century chest of drawers from Baliuag, Bulacan; Ramon Orlina’s ‘Triumvirate,’ 2001
Early 20th century ‘Laperal’ Art Deco exterior doors, from the house of the descendants of Roberto Laperal, Sr. in Valenzuela (formerly part of Bulacan province)
Three pairs of pre-colonial earrings called Panika were excavated in Mindoro. Dating back to 800 to 1300 A.D., the ornamental pieces are of high content gold and are still in good condition. Another piece of excavated gold jewelry is the 14th century Garuda ring from Butuan. The insignia resembles a Hindu demigod, and wearing such rings was believed to invoke power and protection.
A solitaire emerald diamond ring from Harry Winston is among the modern luxury jewelry in the sale.
Left: 14k gold ‘panika’ earrings; right: 14th century ‘Garuda’ ring
A Harry Winston 1.15-ct emerald cut diamond solitaire ring
For car collectors there is the extremely rare Aston Martin DBS V12, the only one of its kind in the Philippines. Casino Royale was the car of choice in the 2006 adaptation of the James Bond film franchise, its distinctive gray named after the iconic movie. This model comes from a very limited edition, and is one of only 84 cars to have been manufactured with 2+2 seating, and one of only 368 Casino Royale cars to have ever rolled out of Aston Martin’s Warwickshire factory. There were approximately 2000 DBS V12 units which the British luxury sports car maker produced over a five-year period. In mint condition, the automobile also comes with a Swarovski crystal Emotion Control Unit (ECU) key fob, initially developed by Aston Martin for its DB range.
DBS Coupe, 2+2 Touchtronic, 2010, 6.0 V12, 13,000 Miles, ‘Casino Royale’ Grey Metallic
The Under the Tree: The Wish List on-site and online auction is on Saturday, November 26, 2022, 2 p.m. Register to bid and browse the catalog at salcedoauctions.com. The auction preview begins Saturday, November 12 and runs daily from 9 a.m. to 5 pm at NEX Tower, 6786 Ayala Avenue, Makati City. For inquiries, email [email protected] or phone tel. no. (+632) 8823-0956 | (+63917) 591-2191. Follow @salcedoauctions on Instagram and Facebook for updates.
