Celebrity power couple Dr. Hayden and Dr. Vicki Belo-Kho are putting some of their prized paintings on the block—a highlight of Leon Gallery’s The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction on Saturday, June 7, at 2 pm. The auction kicks off Leon Gallery’s celebration of its anniversaries—in 2010, it opened as a gallery of Filipino masters, and in 2013 it held its first auction.
From the Dr. Hayden Kho and Dr. Vicki Belo collection, Fernando Zóbel (1924 – 1984), Variante Sobre Un Tema de Cassatt, signed (lower left and verso), dated 29 July 1967, titled, and inscribed “67-33” (verso), oil on canvas, 31 1/2″ x 31 1/2″ (80 cm x 80 cm)
Foremost in their beautiful collection is Anita Magsaysay-Ho’s Women Gleaning, painted during her Manila homecoming years in the early 2000s, after years of constant shuttling between continents and having been a Canadian citizen for three decades. Also a highlight is Fernando Zóbel’s Variante Sobre un Tema de Cassatt, part of his evocative Dialogos series, his artistic conversation with the American painter of women and children, Mary Cassatt, one of the two American women painters to first exhibit in the prestigious Paris salon.
From the Dr. Hayden Kho and Dr. Vicki Belo collection, Vicente Manansala (1910 – 1981), Nude, signed and dated 1970 (lower left), charcoal on paper, 31 1/4″ x 30″ (79 cm x 76 cm)
Vicki and Hayden have one of the most oft-repeated love stories in the country. They met as fellow judges in a beauty contest in a university and they hit it off. Their colorful romance became fodder for media. The child-like Vicki, already successful in her career and a stalwart and pioneer of the beauty and cosmetic industry, found in Hayden a steady presence and support. They had a fairy-tale wedding in Paris. Their daughter Scarlet became the most followed child in Instagram in the Philippines, and one of the most worldwide. They formed a strong bond as husband and wife, as parents, and as partners running the country’s biggest beauty empire.
Their home, designed by architect Ramon Antonio, has rich art collection, many of it murals—BenCab, Magsaysay-Ho, Zobel, a huge Malang mural.
Vicki Belo comes from a clan prominent in design and the arts. Her biological parents, engineer Agustin “Toy” Cancio and the Vassar-educated Conchita Gonzalez Cancio, were among the founders of Cancio-Calma Associates, Inc., an interior and furniture design firm founded by the Cancios and architect Lor Calma. Toy Cancio was also among the founders of the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID), with Herminia Cancio Layug (mother of design artist Budji Layug), architect Lor Calma, and interior designer Edith Oliveros. For many years, PSID was located at the Cancio-Calma Building on Pasong Tamo, Makati. Toy and Imelda Gonzalez Cancio lived in a fabulous, classically styled mansion in Dasmariñas Village (now the home of Philip and Ching Cruz), which was built by Conchita’s mother, the former Rosario “Charing” Chiong-Veloso Singson Gonzalez, who was also the mother of Vicky’s adoptive mother, Florencia “Nena” Singson Gonzalez. Nena married the prominent lawyer, Enrique Belo.
Vicki’s lola Charing descended from one of the wealthiest Chinese businessmen of Cebu, Nicasio Chiong-Veloso. Toto Gonzalez, in his blog, Remembrances of Things Awry, recalls that the Chiong-Velosos were so wealthy, they owned a hôtel-particulier at the Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, and that the Chiong-Veloso daughters were valued clients of the top couture and jewelry houses in Paris which were clustered around the Place Vendôme. Vicki also loves Paris and the finer things in life, and chose the Paris Opera’s Palais Garnier as venue of her wedding reception.
Vicki’s adoptive mother, Florencia “Nena” Singson Gonzalez Belo, was Cebu’s Carnival Queen who was later revealed to be the subject of the unfinished portrait donated by Amorsolo’s heirs to the National Museum of Fine Arts. Vicki was invited by the National Museum to see the painting, which had remained unidentified since it was first exhibited at the National Museum in 2015. It was Judy Araneta Roxas who first identified it during a visit to the museum in 2016.
For several years now, Vicki and Hayden have been building up their collection of Filipino art, and it is a delight for art lovers and collectors to view and examine them up close now that they are up for auction, ready for new owners to enjoy them.
The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction is on June 7, 2025, 2 p.m., at Eurovilla 1, Rufino corner Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City. Preview week is May 31 to June 6, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For further inquiries, email info@leon-gallery.com or contact tel. no. 8856-27-81. To browse the catalog, visit www.leon-gallery.com.
Follow León Gallery on their social media pages for timely updates: Facebook–www.facebook.com/leongallerymakati and Instagram–@leongallerymakati.
