Salcedo Auctions’ gallery arm, Salcedo Private View, presents a two-man exhibition of previously unseen works by business leader Victor Puyat and award-winning artist Guillermo de Luna, who was dean of Fine Arts of St. Scholastica’s College, Manila.
In Resurgence, Puyat’s paintings and photographs are showcased with de Luna’s watercolors and oil-on-plywood paintings. Also on view are collaborations between the two friends, with de Luna painting over Puyat’s photographs. As the title suggests, the works mark de Luna’s return to the gallery scene and Puyat’s renewed interest in painting, which he set aside for decades while attending to the family business.
‘Holiday Color Leaves,’ Victor Puyat, acrylic on canvas, 2024
‘Veranda,’ Guillermo de Luna, watercolor, 1989
Their paintings suggest a joyful return to a shared passion, in an explosion of vivid colors and free, gestural strokes. The works make for a dynamic conversation between Puyat and de Luna, two men from different backgrounds who’ve nurtured each other’s artistic pursuits.
‘Flowering Pond,’ Victor Puyat and Guillermo de Luna, painting on digital photography
While Puyat’s passion for art is known only in his inner circle, his corporate persona is more high-profile—he is the son of the late Senate President and visionary business leader Gil Puyat. The elder Puyat founded, among many other enterprises, a bank, an insurance company, and the famous institution, the Loyola Group of Companies that includes Loyola Memorial Park.
‘Mt. Batulao,’ Victor Puyat, digital photograph
‘Tulog ka Rin,’ Guillermo de Luna, acrylic on plywood
Victor Puyat’s mother, the accountant and opera singer Eugenia Guidote, introduced the young scion to art. Early on, she encouraged her son to study music and arranged his painting lessons with the great modernist Galo Ocampo. After getting his first camera in his teens, Puyat pursued photography, an interest he sustained into adulthood.
His attention would shift to his growing family and flourishing business, so Puyat’s art and photography took a back seat. However, he became a culture advocate, supporting the Saturday Group of Artists and some influential writers, lensmen, musicians, and architects. He eventually became president of the Carlos “Botong” Francisco Foundation.
‘Momentum of Forces,’ Victor Puyat, painting on photography
One of his most significant contributions to Philippine culture and the arts is his pioneering corporate patronage, incorporating art in business by commissioning sculptures by Eduardo Castrillo, and music by Jerry Dadap, who composed the theme for Castrillo’s landmark installation, Loyola Memorial Park’s The Redemption. Puyat also initiated a painting contest where he would cross paths with de Luna, one of the competition’s winners who became a close friend and mentor.
‘Peaceful Place’ (left) and ‘Delightful Mist,’ paintings on photography by Victor Puyat and Guillermo de Luna
De Luna was a scholar who conducted art workshops in communities while working for his art degree. He was professor at St. Scholastica’s College, Manila, for six years, then department head for three years, and later dean of the school’s College of Fine Arts, which he co-founded. All this time, de Luna exhibited annually, and has done 27 solo shows.
He also significantly influenced Puyat’s use of color as stylistic means, which is why the works of the two friends appear cohesive yet distinct. In the Salcedo Private View, both allow each other space for personal expression—in de Luna’s soft watercolors and canvas works, and Puyat’s digital photography, acrylic, and mixed-media paintings. In the exhibit as a whole, one sees how de Luna’s palette connects to Puyat’s, and how, in their collaboration, de Luna’s abstraction melds with Puyat’s digital imagery.
It is a reunion of technique and passion for art at this stage in their lives—a resurgence that’s never too late, a respite from their “day jobs,” so to speak.
Resurgence: Gemo de Luna & Victor Puyat opens on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, Salcedo Private View, NEX Tower, 6786 Ayala Avenue, Makati City. Exhibition runs until 25 October, 9 am–6 pm (till 4 pm Saturday, closed Monday). For inquiries email info@salcedoauctions.com or phone (+63917) 591-2191 / (+63917) 107-5581. Follow @salcedoauctions on Instagram and Facebook.
