WALA LANG
WORKS ON PAPER. Prints by Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. (Juggler, ’82, 10/100)
Covid-19 notwithstanding, art auctions continue to set new records. At the Nov. 28 León Gallery Kingly Treasures Auction 2020, paintings fetched the highest prices. An HR Ocampo (Tempo Rubato, 1949) went for P37.4 million; a BenCab (Homage to Turing, 2006) for P29 million; and a Cesar Legaspi (Miners, 1979) and an Amorsolo (Lavanderas, 1949) tied at P13 million each. They are all National Artists but works of younger artists like Annie Cabigting, Jigger Cruz, Marina Cruz, Emmanuel Garibay, and Geraldine Javier had starting bids in the seven figures.
There were also pieces of furniture—a fabulous aparador for which you had to have a spare P2 million before you raise your hand. A Cordillera hagabi, a rather ungainly prestige bench (the seat is slanted so you could slide down), fetched an incredible P22 million. Sculpture, santos, drawings, historical documents, maps were also on offer and fetched similarly high prices.
WORKS ON PAPER. Prints by Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. (Juvenal Sansó (Flower Vendor, restrike, 4/30).
At that rate, ordinary mortals particularly young people early on their career paths need to strategize to collect art. I suppose most want to live with things they like, to feel they got their money’s worth, and to expect an increase in the value of their stuff.
People flocked to Makati’s “Art in the Park” that offered affordable works (defined as P50 thousand or less). Everything passed a critical review, giving comfort to buyers unsure of themselves. It was a nice compromise for those like me with champagne taste and a beer budget. No kidding—I couldn’t afford a Zóbel when I was a U.P. assistant professor. My income has risen in time, but Zóbels also have and what I couldn’t afford then, I still can’t afford now.
Strategizing involves figuring out how best to maximize one’s objectives (enjoyment, upside potential, and wow factor) within given constraints (space and wallet thickness). Contemporary works tend to be so large that more than one could overload a room. A young art lover needs to proceed carefully. He or she could have young children, live in a condo or a normal-size house, prefer a minimalist décor, and without the millions to blow on a fashionable artist.
With space and wallet constraints, works on paper would be an attractive and overlooked option. Prints and engravings were once a trendy and highly competitive field. The rich collected them, chasing after the rarest and best examples, not to hang like paintings but to keep in albums and in boxes, for private enjoyment and for sharing with select others. Top artists like Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt etched and printed numerous works and print shops abounded in European and American cities. There were also great collectors, like the Austrian Duke who accumulated some 100,000 prints that became the nucleus of Vienna’s Albertina, one of the world’s great print rooms.
There are wonderful Philippine drawings (pen-and-ink, pencil-on-paper), professional photographs, and engravings. The Philippine Association of Printmakers mounts exhibits. León Gallery and Salcedo Auctions have offered works on paper by Manuel Rodriguez, Sr., Rod Paras-Pérez, and H.R. Ocampo. I’ve come across some gems at The Drawing Room (Elmer Borloñgan, Kikò Escora), Silverlens (Pio Abad), Galleria Duemila (Pandy Aviado), Fundación Sansó (restrikes of Sansó prints), and with private dealers like George Salvador (Nunelucio Alvarado). Alex van Hagen exhibits marvelous photographs. As far as I know, National Artists Larry Alcala and Francisco Coching did only drawings and their pen-and-inks are among my lucky finds, both from George Salvador.
I’ve also had more than my share of near-misses. One of my regular window-shopping stops while in school at Stanford was John Howell Books off Union Square in San Francisco. They had a Damian Domingo album Tipos del Pais that was tagged at $2,000, my entire life savings. I was prepared to risk bankruptcy but it was already on reserve for Carlos Quirino, then National Library director. I saw it years later at Dr. Eleuterio “Teyet” Pascual’s. Quirino had apparently sold it to Don Luis Araneta and Teyet badgered him till Don Luis gave in. Now probably worth close to several hundred grand per drawing, it’s one of the ones that might have been. My consolation prize was a pair of prints from Relation by Jean de Galaup, compte de Lapérouse, French naval officer and explorer who passed Manila in 1787. The two cost $30.
Win some, lose some—the important thing is to enjoy one’s collection and have fun while collecting.
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Photo captions: WORKS ON PAPER Prints by Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. (Juggler, ’82, 10/100) and Juvenal Sansó (Flower Vendor, restrike, 4/30).