ASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL FOSTERS CULTURAL EXCHANGE FOR FILIPINO ARTISTS

March 9, 2024 Opinion

From revered National Artists and icons of modern and contemporary art, to young and celebrated artists of their
generation, the growing list of Filipino artists who have received the Asian Cultural Council fellowship grant
continues. This year, ACC Philippines Foundation Trustees led by Chairman Ernest Escaler and President Ma. Isabel Ongpin, carries on its commitment to raise funds through the Asian Cultural Council Auction.

The benefit event set on March 9, 2024 is curated and organized by ACC staunch partner Jaime Ponce De Leon and his team at Leon Gallery. Proceeds from the fundraisers go entirely to the ACC Philippine Fellowship Program that supports Filipino artists in their self-exploration and development through cultural exchange in the United States and/or intra-Asia. Since ACC’s founding in 1963, around 300 artists, art scholars and educators, art institutions and organizations have received fellowship grants across all art disciplines.

In this opening salvo for 2024, ACC and Leon Gallery celebrate the birth anniversaries of three of the country’s modernist stalwarts: Fernando Zóbel’s 100th and the 110th of two of his closest friends, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, and Nena Saguil. Anita is represented by a rare rendition of the iconic “Planting Rice,” while Saguil graces this sale with impeccable works representing her prolific career, starting with her beginnings at the Philippine Art Gallery to her
artistry-defining experience as a painter of the École de Paris.

The works of Jose Joya and Roberto Chabet, two former ACC grantees who share the distinction of being the first
Filipino recipients in their respective fields (Joya for the Visual Arts and Chabet for Museology, both in 1967), are
also equally the centerpieces of this auction. The “sun and moon” of Filipino art, Juan Luna and Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, are also represented in this sale. Luna has three works that span important periods in his life: “Landscape in Bilbao,” “Ecce Homo,” and a lyrical work from his award-winning Roman period, titled “Idilio.”

The cherished troves of prominent Filipino collectors and stewards of the arts—Don Eugenio “Geny” Lopez, Romeo Jorge, and Assemblyman and Ambassador Pedro Conlu Hernaez are also featured. A portion of the proceeds from this annual auction will help fund various ACC grants for Filipino and other Asian artists and arts-based practitioners. To know more about the auction, visit www.leongallery.com and to learn more about ACC Programs
visit www.asianculturalcouncil.org