Extremely Rare and Historically Important Wood ​​Sculpture by Jose Rizal to be Auctioned​​​

Wazzup Pilipinas!

An oval bas-relief wood sculpture 39 inches long, 18 and a half inches wide and 2 and a half inches high, carved from a single piece of heavy wood, possibly narra, with a dark varnish or stain and made by Philippine National Hero Jose P. Rizal in Dapitan. This extremely rare and historically important artwork will be auctioned at the Leon Gallery on June 9, 2018.

It’s provenance stems from the family of Narcisa Rizal (1852 – 1939), the third sibling of the hero’s family. Narcisa and her daughter Angelica would be frequent visitors to Dapitan and, in fact, they would accompany him when he embarked to Manila at the end of his exile from that distant port.

By the end of the 19th century, “physical culture” or the need for exercise had become a European obsession, beginning first in Germany where it became not just an expression of the highest individual development but also as a symbol for nationalism. A nation was only as strong as its citizens’ health and as beautiful as their well-developed bodies.

Jose Rizal was an avid follower of all things Continental, his stay in Europe—in the shadow of the newly-built Eiffel Tower, for example, while in Paris—and its capitals made sure of that. He absorbed not only precepts of liberty, fraternity and equality but also their representations and methods employed to represent these.

Gaspar Vibal, publisher of rare Filipininanas “The Life, Times and Art of Damian Domingo” and “Flora Filipina”, theorizes that Rizal’s fascinating sculptures represents the national hero’s deliberate contradiction of the Filipino colonial archetypes.

Prior to this sculpture by Jose Rizal, Filipins had been represented as either indolent savages of prettified, emasculated townsfolk. Watercolors of these representations of half-naked tribesmen or ineffectual, over-dressed supernumeraries would circulate in Europe beginning in the latter half of the 19th century, culminating in the humiliating “Expocision General de las Yslas Filipinas de Madrid in 1887. It featured transplanted northern hillsmen dancing daily around carabaos in a backdrop of thatch huts. (Two or three of these Filipinos would, in fact perish, from pneumonia as a result.

It was the anti-thesis of everything Jose Rizal—or for that matter Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo—stood for. A proud Filipino equal to anybody in the world.

In 1890, he would write the incendiary essay “Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos” (On the Indolence of the Filipinos)—laziness as a result of the hot Philippine climate being a favorite put-down of the Spanish. It breathed fire and brimstone, and along with his novels, would account for his exile in Dapitan in 1892 for four long years until his execution.

Therefore, sometime during his exile between 1892 and 1896, Jose Rizal would create this unique and first prototype of the Filipino: virile, muscular and engaged in a highly civilized, European display of strength. The bas relief (or basso-relieve or low-relief) depicts a young man, half-dressed in fashionable gym clothes of the time, knee length pantaloons with a drawstring at the waist; holding aloft a barbell in a typical exercise stance. The figure’s legs are long and well-proportioned with strong calves; his arm muscles as well are well-defined. His upper torso shows off a tight abdomen and a solid chest.

In fact, a case may be made that this could be a self-portrait of the hero himself, as truly, the ‘First Filipino’, not only gifted and mentally acute but also an outstanding physical specimen. Jose Rizal, in profile, bears a striking resemblance to the athlete in the sculpture.

Leon Gallery Announces the Spectacular Mid-Year Auction 2018

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Leon Gallery has set the date for its much-awaited, scintillating Spectacular Mid-Year Auction 2018 on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at its Eurovilla I showrooms on the corner of Rufino Street and Legaspi Street, Legaspi Village in Makati.

Headlining the must-have masterpieces are an exquisite Lorenzo Guerrero of life along the Pasig River. Guerrero, who became most famous as the mentor of the brilliant and internationally-celebrated Juan Luna, was also a wonderful painter in his own right. He was educated by the foremost Spanish instructors at the Manila academia : Manuel de la Cortina, who was himself a graduate of the Madrid art academy and his successor Nicolas Valdez. Guerrero, in fact, was to become the teacher of Manila’s finest artists, from Simon de la Rosa Flores and his nephew Fabian de la Rosa, Felix Martinez and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Telesforo Sucgang, Felix Pardo de Tavera, and Jorge Pineda to name a few stellar painters who passed through the portals of the legendary art school.

A 1917 work by one of Guerrero’s star pupils, Fabian de la Rosa, of a charming pair of ponies in a stableyard, provides an interesting behind-the-scenes look of a Manila home, at a time when horses were more common than automobiles.

Fernando Amorsolo — who happened to be Fabian de la Rosa’s nephew — is also in the spotlight with several riveting and early works : A post-war procession outside the ruins of the Antipolo church; works from the Thirties, Forties and Fifties, from an orange-streaked sunset scene by the water to glorious country scenes “Under the Mango Tree”  and by a waterfall. The works are all the collections of several distinguished Manila families. A rare urban scene of the massive Ynchausti Rope Factory is a unique view of Manila in the 1920s.

Scintillating Jose Joyas, one ante-dating his historic participation in the Venice Biennale (the Philippines’ first in that august art fair); others from his halcyon years in the 1970s. Other mid-century moderns include Vicente Manansala with a superb work dated 1949 that speaks allegorical almost in a style more typical of Carlos “Botong” Francisco : a trio of women pound rice, in a variety of Filipino costumes, while men pile grain in tall mountains. In the background, a sunlit landscape which suggests the Benguet rice terraces and in the foreground, a large carabao. Another work, datelined Paris, portrays a grieving mother at a child’s bier. Arturo Luz, Ang Kiukok, and Romeo Tabuena are likewise represented, as are Juvenal Sanso, Oscar Zalameda, Lao Lianben, Malang, and Federico Aguilar Alcuaz.

A finely-proportioned ‘comoda’ with original marquetry in a floral design, an imposing Sheraton sideboard, and a ‘Mariposa’ butterfly sofa are just some of the impressive furniture to be included in the June sale.

Among the collectible memorabilia, the country’s most iconic heroes are represented. There is a bread-and-butter note (dated 1891) from the Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal to the Scottish millionaire Don Alejandro S. Macleod who had thrived in Manila. Letters from various historical personalities to Teodora Alonso are also available in a single lot, including a Rizal family recipe, and more piquantly, the court documents of the suit brought against Rizal’s mother and her brother. Her unjust persecution greatly influenced Rizal’s nationalism.

Most explosive is the narration of Gregoria de Jesus of the last days of Andres Bonifacio as well as a dagger bearing the markings of the Katipunan. This document, while having been featured in works on the Philippine Revolution has never been revealed in full previously and is certainly one of a kind. A rare autographed photograph of the Lakambini of the KKK (dedicated to the journalist Jose P. Santos) and a letter to Emilio Jacinto complete the historical offerings that will fascinate the collector and every patriot.

Apropos, a BenCab of Rizal’s last days in Fort Santiago — and featuring excerpts of his “Ultimo Adios” is also a highlight, alongside an appealing work from his “Larawan” series, inspired by turn-of-the-century Philippine photographs. From the contemporary artists, exciting works by Ronald Ventura, Marcel Antonio, Jon Jaylo, Danilo Dalena, Emmanuel Garibay, Edwin Wilwayco, Manuel Ocampo (with a grim Christmas work) and Jose John Santos III are also featured. The Santos work echoes the themes in the rest of the auction of women of the Philippine Revolution : The painting juxtaposes ladies in traditional Filipino wear with Cretan friezes, a view of a bahay na bato through an archway, and a fragment of an antique door.

President Duterte, DOTr Inaugurate New World-Class Terminal in Mactan

Wazzup Pilipinas!

“This is the the most beautiful airport in the country today.”

This was the reaction of President Rodrigo Duterte as he led the inauguration of the new terminal at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) today. 

“Alam ko ang kapasidad ni Art [Tugade]. Bilyonaryo ito. He is a very good planner. He is the valedictorian of our class, kaya alam ko talaga kapasidad nito. Art has my respect and I congratulate him, and his partner [GMR Megawide], for making this project,” President Duterte added.

Department of Transportation Secretary Tugade was likewise pleased with the project, which is part of the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program of the administration.

“Napakaganda ng terminal na ito. Ganito ang mga tinataguyod nating proyekto para sa publiko. Gusto natin world-class, at gusto natin mabilis ang trabaho,” said Tugade.

When the Duterte administration took over in mid-2016, the terminal was at 16% completion rate. GMR-Megawide was also originally given a one-year extension to finish the project following an 11-month delay due to land issues. However, Secretary Tugade’s directive was to fast-track construction, and the terminal was delivered in three years, instead of four.

Starting 01 July 2018, the new terminal building will start commercial operations and cater to international flights, while the existing Terminal 1 (T1) building will handle domestic flights.

As the premiere gateway to the Visayas and Southern Philippines, the MCIA is the second largest airport and one of the busiest airports in the Philippines. With a total of 25 international destinations, 30 domestic destinations, and with 26 partner airline carriers, the MCIA has become a viable choice connecting Cebu to the rest of the Philippines and to the rest of the world.

The inauguration was also witnessed by key cabinet members, members of Congress, local government officials, executives from the private partner GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC), and airline executives.