Christie's auction a triumph for Philippine art
By Lito B. Zulueta
Fierce bidding for a small Anita Magsaysay-Ho jacked up the price to P15 million, a new record for a Filipino painting. Suddenly, the major auction houses of the West are casting
more than a cursory glance at Philippine art.
THE SPECTACULAR sale of an Anita Magsaysay-Ho oil painting during the recent Christie's auction of Southeast Asian art is sending shock waves across the local and
regional art scenes.
Christie's officials couldn't hide their elation at what they called the "surprise" of the session: the painting, titled "In the Marketplace," initially estimated at 18,000 to 25,000 Singapore dollars (around US$10,000
to $15,000) eventually fetched S$669,250, or about P15 million.
Christie's called the bidding "fierce" which was eventually won by an "institution."
Some non-Filipino works offered for auction got higher prices (the Dutch painter Walter Spies' haunting Balinese paintings, "Ploughing Farmer" and "Sawahs im Preangergebirge," fetched
S$773,750 and S$828,750, respectively), but the outcome for the Anita Magsaysay-Ho painting was incredible considering its estimated price had been much lower.
Moreover, there was a failure in bidding in certain works that had been expected to attract fierce bidding. "Provenance" by the Indonesian master Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh, estimated
at S$48,000 to $70,0000, did not get a buyer. Two years ago, a Saleh work fetched S$2 million.
The dramatic achievement of the Filipino work has reinforced international respect for Filipino art, according to Ramon Orlina, president of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP). "I am
quite happy," the glass sculptor says. "It means that Pinoy art--and the artists--will be more and more exposed to the world."
The impact of the stunning achievement still has to wash off, however. Looking back now, many believe that the fantastic sale had been prefigured by the fact that Anita Magsaysay-Ho's
work was chosen by Christie's to be the cover of the catalogue for the auction.
But Orlina says just the same that the feat was still dramatic considering the work was small (28x30 in.) and executed in tempera, which means it's not as lasting as oil.
Very Filipino
Painted in 1955, "In the Marketplace" captures a typical scene in the market where women - both the vendors and the buyers - haggle animatedly. It is a lively canvas: the viewer can almost overhear the intense exchanges.
Perhaps it is this sense of sight and sound that explains collectors' aggressiveness at outbidding one another. That and its obvious intrinsic merits as an art work.
"Maganda if you really look at it," Orlina says. "The theme is very Filipino. The colors are very Filipino-orange and red."
The AAP president says interest in the work was much like the interest generated years ago by Vietnamese art. "The Vietnamese have their own style. Now, with this sale, foreigners now seem to have gotten a hold on the Philippine style."
It also helps that there's good economics as far as Magsaysay-Ho's works are concerned. Since the painting is nearly 50 years old, done at the peak of the painter's creative career, it's considered a rare find for collectors. Moreover, there are not too many works by the painter around. Magsaysay-Ho, unlike certain veterans, has not mass-produced herself. Already
an octogenarian, her production has understandably slowed down so that her works have become rarer and easily, more and more expensive.
"So it's a matter of supply and demand," Orlina says. "Her works are scarce, and the market becomes less and less easy to satisfy. So collectors fight over her."
Taking notice
Although Orlina believes that the sale does not automatically mean that other works by the artist "will go up that way," it means that collectors, particularly foreigners, will take greater
notice of Filipino works.
Judging from the auction, that seems to be the case. Other Filipino works were sold within the estimates set by Christie's.
Amorsolo's 1941 work, "A Lady by the Cooking Fire," estimated at US$30,000-40,000 was sold for
$41,700 or about P1.7 million. An undated oil landscape by Juan Arellano, estimated at US$9,000 to 10,000 was sold for $9,625.
Carlos "Botong" Francisco's watercolor, "Blood Compact," was sold for US$6,500 against the
estimated price of $6,000 to $7,000. A 1966 oil on canvas by Federico Alcuaz sold for US$11,500, well within the estimate of $9,000 to 12,000.
Orlina, too, is happy that Christie's was impressed by the strong sales of Philippine art so that the venerable auction house might be wooed to hold their auctions right here.
Although Christie's had assisted the AAP in a rare auction last year, the event was really a charity benefit. "Now they can really look at the Philippines as a market," says Orlina, who points out that Christie's had already held a commercial auction in Thailand.
Happy days for forgers
The downside to all these, however, is the probability that the market will suddenly be awash with fake Anita Magsaysay-Ho's.
Orlina says Philippine art should learn from the lesson of the Amorsolo episode. When Christie's first introduced the master in its auctions, an Amorsolo easily fetched P4 million. When Christie's tried to repeat the feat with five Amorsolos in its next auction, Orlina, who was consulted in the authentication process, was shocked to find out that three of the paintings
were fakes.
"From then on, the value of an Amorsolo dipped," Orlina says.
But Magsaysay-Ho may escape Amorsolo's predicament because she's still alive and is still around to authenticate her own works.
Orlina says that rival auction house Glerum asked him two years ago to authenticate an Anita Magsaysay-Ho that did not subscribe to the characteristic style of the artist.
"It was a nude and as far as we know, Anita has not painted nudes," he says. The canvas seemed to have been painted according to the Balinese style in colors that one could hardly
associate with the artist.
But a check with the artist herself showed that the work was authentic. "It turns out it was commissioned by the G.I. boyfriend of the model," Orlina says. "It was circa 1940s, so the
mature Anita Magsaysay-Ho had yet to evolve."
To prevent forgeries from undermining the growing international recognition of Philippine art, Orlina says that the AAP is trying to establish a "collecting society." The device is really to protect commercial exploitation of art works by profiteers and unscrupulous people, such as when an art work is used in a commercial endeavor without authorization from the artist. With the society, artists can press on with their claims for royalties and protect their intellectual property.
The art underworld can be checked by the collecting society since artists will be
compelled to register their works with the AAP and submit representations of the works for easy filing and classification.
Suspected fakes can be checked against the catalogue so that forgeries can be minimized, Orlina explains.
Moreover, art schools should develop sounder scholarship so that there can emerge experts on the masters. "If we have experts, then any alleged work by a master that departs even for
a little from the style of the master can be easily determined," the AAP president says.
from Philippine Daily Inquirer Internet Edition
11 October 1999
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