For its final live and online auction of 2024, on Saturday, November 23, Salcedo Auctions caps an extraordinary 2024 season with the annual Under the Tree: The Wish List featuring the works of Philippine masters Romulo Olazo, National Artists Ang Kiukok and Jose Joya, Mauro Malang Santos, Lao Lianben, Fernando Zobel, foremost contemporary artists like Rodel Tapaya, Mark Justiniani, and Bernardo Pacquing.
The milestone year-ender began with an exclusive vernissage last November 14 with the First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos as guest of honor.
The past year, the leading auction house achieved new heights, breaking auction records, and expanded its international program with the exhibition of leading contemporary artist Junyee in Taiwan last June. It also had a groundbreaking partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry for an art and design show in Sydney featuring the works of Poklong Anading, Joel Geolamen, and Ferdie Montemayor, Nazareno/Lichauco, and Aze Ong last October.
In Under the Tree: The Wish List auction, five works date back to the 1980s, created around the golden age of Philippine abstraction by artists in their peak years. Kiukok’s Crucifixion, for example, was completed in 1980 in the beginning of his fifth decade. It is a striking reminder of the universal human experiences of suffering and hope, and an invitation to reflect on the deeper meanings of faith and resilience. Similarly, Lianben’s Man and Light from 1989 is a figurative abstract tour-de-force that draws viewers into contemplation and introspection.
Fernando Zobel’s ‘Orilla 53’, 1981, oil on canvas, estimated at PhP 8,500,000 -9,000,000 (left); Endaya by Jose Joya, 1984, acrylic collage, estimated at PhP 1,300,000-1,500,000.
Zobel’s 1981 canvas, Orilla 53, is from a pivotal period when he drew inspiration from the landscapes around Cuenca, Spain, and was influenced by his involvement with the Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, which he founded. National Artist Jose Joya’s collage Endaya from 1984 represents a phase in his practice when he explored texture, color, and form.
An untitled mixed-media on canvas work from 1985 by Romulo Olazo, estimated at PhP 6,000,000 -7,000,000; Ang Kiukok’s Rosary Queen, oil on canvas, 1998, estimated at PhP 5,000,000-6,000,000.
Collectors of Olazo’s works are in for a surprise with the inclusion of a rare, untitled piece painted in earthy tones. Combined with his signature bold brush strokes, these tones create a striking color balance and a rhythmic sense of movement and harmony.
Untitled still life (fruits), 1998, oil on canvas, Ang Kiukok, estimated at PhP 2,000,000-3,000,000
Reflecting the upbeat mood of the last decade of the second millennium are two works by National Artist Ang Kiukok. Coming from the same private collection, Kiukok’s Rosary Queen and an untitled painting of fruits (both oil-on -anvas) mark his departure from the intense, brooding figures of the previous decade.
‘May Festival’ by Jose Joya, a book piece completed in 1993, estimated at PhP1,300,000-1,500,000 (left); Mauro Malang Santos’ Blue Woman from 1999, oil on canvas estimated at PhP 2,200,000-2,600,000 (middle); Lao Lianben’s Statement, mixed-media, 1991, estimated at PhP 2,000,000-2,400,000
Malang’s Blue Woman radiates the characteristic warmth and simplicity of his works, hiding the complex layering of colors that has been the signature of his art. It contrasts with Onib Olmeda’s two untitled monochrome paintings: one depicts a woman in a traditional motherly role, and another, a grouping of nude females that suggests freedom from constraints.
Untitled (nude women), ink on washboard, 1994, estimated at PhP380,000-450,000 (left), and untitled (mother and child), ink on washboard, 1993, estimated at PhP380,000- 450,000, both by Onib Olmeido.
The new millennium marked another significant time in Philippine art. The older masters consistently displayed their characteristic styles, while younger contemporary artists introduced their own thematic and conceptual preferences. To be offered are a Justin Nuyda (Mindscape Search: Stairway, 2005), and a Malang that exemplifies the artist’s command of color and composition and his steady brush strokes evident even in his twilight years—Fruit Vendors, completed when Malang was already 78.
Bernie Pacquing’s ‘Curious World of Probability’, oil resin on canvas, 2011, estimated at PhP 900,000-1,000,000 (left); Rodel Tapaya’s ‘The Tree of Make Believe’, acrylic on canvas, 2012, estimated at PhP 2,000,000-4,000,000
Works by the younger generation show continuity and divergence. Bernie Pacquing’s 2011 oil-on-resin, Curious World of Probability, hews close to the abstract tradition, but the artist’s fresh approach distinguishes it from the styles of his predecessors. One of the youngest featured in the room list, Rodel Tapaya’s The Tree of Make Believe reveals his masterful blending of past and present to convey current realities using characters from Philippine mythology and folklore.
A 19th-century church altar frontal from Pampanga, estimated at PhP 800,000-950,000 (left); a framed 19th century processional silver cross, estimated at PhP300,000-400,000
These are just some of the highlights from a valuable collection that celebrates the holidays with highly covetable Philippine furniture, prized ethnographic and ecclesiastical art. Among them is an outstanding 19th-century altar frontal, a lustrous 19th-century silver processional cross, and and a divine panoply of important santos from various parts of the country.
Established and emerging collectors can look forward to priceless possessions in Under the Tree: The Wish List.
Presented with Exclusive Bank Partner Metrobank, Under the Tree: The Wish List live and online auction is on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, 2 p.m.. The online catalogue is available at salcedoauctions.com. In-person preview runs up to Nov. 22, at NEX Tower, 6786 Ayala Avenue, Makati City, from 9AM to 6PM daily (including Sunday, closed Monday). For inquiries, email info@salcedoauctions.com or phone +63 917 107 5581 | +63 917 591 2191 | +63 917 825 7449. For the latest updates, follow @salcedoauctions on Instagram and Facebook.
