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Salcedo Auctions 'Finer Pursuits: Important Philippine Art & Rare Collectibles' 

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At Salcedo Auctions, a renowned Philippine technocrat’s collection goes under the hammer.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748661579212Metro.Style.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Untitled (Carabaos), Vicente Manasala, 1966, oil on canvas, 22 ½ x 35 ¼ inches, estimated at P6,500,000-P7,000,000.</div>Keeping true to its form, Salcedo Auctions unveiled its catalogue for its second marquee sale—Finer Pursuits: Important Philippine Art &amp; Antiques—to reveal another extraordinary line-up. Exquisite art, fine antiques, ethnographic artifacts, and ecclesiastical objects are up for in-person and online bidding this June 14. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748661669792BENCAB2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>From Glenda Jackson’s estate, works by BenCab from 1970: An untitled mixed media (female forms), 16 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches, estimated at  P400,000-P450,000  </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748661749130Bencab.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Untitled mixed media work, 24 x 22 ½ inches, estimated at P1,600,000-P1,800,000 </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748661809191100836.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Onib Olmedo’s untitled painting of a woman with violin, 1992, oil on canvas, estimated at P380,000-P430,000,   from the collection of the late fashion icon Auggie Cordero.Paying tribute to the artists who’ve defined the Philippines’ cultural identity on the world stage, the auction house’s chairman and chief specialist was delighted by the enthusiastic response to the sale’s theme. “As soon as we launched the catalogue, our top clients started calling, wanting a pre-preview, haha!,” Lerma shares. Apart from the blockbuster lineup, the sterling provenance certainly bolstered interest in the sale. Listed for bidding are two paintings by BenCab from the estate of British acting legend Glenda Jackson, and an Onib Olmedo canvas work from the late fashion icon, Auggie Cordero. </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748661993833Metro.Style-2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Flight, Jose Joya, 1962, oil on panel, 29 x 47 ¼ inches, estimated at PHP 7,000,000-P9,000,000, from the estate of a Filipino statesman who left a global legacy. </div>There is a poignant backstory to a series of works from the collection of a distinguished Philippine statesman from Negros Occidental. He was an exceptional student whose brilliance extended to a sterling career as a technocrat who left a global legacy. Away from the corridors of power, the statesman’s off-hours were devoted to his own finer pursuits—literature and art. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748662164950Metro.Style-3.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:958px"/>Fernando Amorsolo’s drawings from a Filipino statesman’s collection: Santacruzan, graphite on paper,  5 x 8 inches, estimated at P180,000-P240,000 </div><div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748662329731Metro.Style-4.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>A landscape sketch from 1959, graphite on paper, 7 3/4 x 11 1/4 inches, estimated at P240,000-P280,000.</div>Eight artworks from his collection will go under the hammer, created by a traditionalist —Fernando Amorsolo—and the gatekeepers of modernity—Vicente Manasala, Jose Joya, Juvenal Sanso, and Federico Aguilar Alcuaz. This reveals the statesman’s intuitive connoisseurship, amassing prime examples from the artists’ body of work. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748662438432100437.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:958px"/></div>From the collection of a distinguished Filipino statesman, two works by Federico Aguilar AlcuazPaisaje en Azul, 1967, oil on canvas, 38 ¼ x 31 inches, estimated at P1,200,000-P1,500,000 <div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748662523873ALCUAZ.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>An untitled composition from 1967, mixed media/collage on board, 31 x 25 inches, estimated at P480,000-P600,00.  </div>“My husband already owned most of the artworks before we met,” his widow shared. “I do not believe any of the pieces were commissioned,” she adds, “but bought directly from the artists whom my husband knew personally.”She recalls meeting some of her husband’s artist friends, including Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, who painted her portrait in Manila. “It’s a gift,” she recalls the artist telling her, “because he said he needed practice.” They met again in New York, some years later, where the statesman was posted in a high-level position in an international organization. “Alcuaz came to visit as he wanted a photo of the portrait to include in some publication,” says the widow. “When he saw the blue Alcuaz in the dining area surprised to him, as he hadn&#x27;t known this had been gifted to us—he exclaimed, ‘It&#x27;s here!  It&#x27;s really beautiful!” <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748662799750Metro.Style-5.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Untitled landscape, Juvenal Sansol, c. 1960s, oil on canvas, 19 ¼ x 25 ¼ inches, estimated at P450,000-650,000 v <img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1748662838592100435.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Federico Aguilar Alcuaz’s Florero, 1965, mixed media on canvas, 51 ½ x 35 ½ inches, estimated at P2,400,000-P2,800,000; Both are from the collection of a distinguished statesman.</div>Their collection followed the couple around the world. “Most of the artworks were acquired in the Philippines and travelled everywhere with us,” the widow admits. They graced the walls of the couple’s home in Manila before hanging in their New York abode. As a widow, she continued to bring the artworks wherever her professional life took her.After enjoying the art for decades, the widow deemed it was time to share the collection with its next custodians who could appreciate the works as much as she and her husband did.<div>Salcedo Auctions &#x27;Finer Pursuits: Important Philippine Art &amp; Rare Collectibles&#x27; sale presented in association with Exclusive Bank Partner UnionBank Elite is on Saturday, 14 June 2025, 2PM at NEX Tower, 6786 Ayala Avenue, Makati City. View the catalogue and register to bid at <a href="https://members.salcedoauctions.com/auction/finer_pursuits_june2025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FINER PURSUITS</a>.</div>

At Salcedo Auctions, a renowned Philippine technocrat’s collection goes under the hammer

At Salcedo Auctions, a renowned Philippine technocrat’s collection goes under the hammer

EXCLUSIVE: This Stateman’s Art Followed Him Through Life—Now, It Finds Its Next Home

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EXCLUSIVE: This Stateman’s Art Followed Him Through Life—Now, It Finds Its Next Home

Published May 31, 2025 02:55 PM PHT

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