Geny Lopez collection including Joya, BenCab sold at ACC Auction 2024

MANILA, Philippines — Leon Gallery, in partnership with the Asian Cultural Council, recently concluded the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Auction 2024. It was the ninth year of collaboration between the gallery and the cultural group, and the auction turned out to be a huge success.

The highlight of the auction sale last March 9 were the masterpieces included in the collection of media titan and pioneer Don Eugenio "Geny" Lopez.

Lopez owned the 1961 Jose Joya masterpiece called “Yellow Abode,” which represents the zenith of the artist’s abstract expressionist powers. Joya painted it in 1961, which is considered as a prolific year of the artist because, in the same year, he was conferred two of his most important awards — the Republic Cultural Heritage Award and the Ten Outstanding Young Men Award.

"Yellow Abode" yielded P24.03 million, inclusive of buyer’s premium, during the recent auction.

Two other exquisite pieces from Lopez’s collection — Benedicto Cabrera’s “Three Faces of Sabel” and Vicente Manansala’s “Vendors”  commanded whopping amounts of P24.03 million and P19.2 million, respectively.

Another Joya work, “Picnic at the Great Wall II,” representing the artist’s evolution to geometric expressionism, brought in P20.4 million. 

Eight works by Fernando Amorsolo achieved stellar sums at the auction. This elite group is led by “Mango Vendors” from the artist’s “Golden Period,” harvesting a striking P22.8 million. It is followed by two “Tinikling” paintings from the collection of industrial magnate Dennett Howe; they brought in P12.01 million and P14.4 million, respectively.

“Lavandera,” from the collection of eminent public servant Carlos P. Romulo, counted in at P4.3 million, while “Ang Mga Ulila,” a rare relic of a lost Amorsolo masterpiece, found its way at P7.8 million.

The “sun and moon” of Philippine art, Juan Luna and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo, fetched bountiful prices. Hidalgo’s “Barcos de la Vela,” from the collection of Irish-born railway tycoon and banker William Sproule, added P24.03 million.

Luna’s “Idilio,” representing his fruitful 1880s decade that produced the iconic “Death of Cleopatra” and “Spoliarium” and from the collection of patriot and