Conversation Pieces to Elevate your Home at Casa de Memoria’s Auction

As the lockdown slowly eases, more hosts are starting to invite intimate group of friends to their homes to catch up and share stories. Rare and ornate auction pieces make great conversation starters and can transform your space, your safe haven during these times.

At Casa de Memoria’s Tercero auction, the rich historic past meets modern times wherein bidders can take their pick from an enchanting variety of Filipino and European auction pieces to elevate their home with an alchemy of vintage and contemporary. The auction is now live online until July 31, Saturday.

“We have put together an extraordinary collection of vintage pieces that combine art, culture and playful inspirations. From paintings and chandeliers to furniture and more, the auction items at Tercero have been carefully chosen ─ and in some cases, transformed ─ to awe and inspire our bidders to elevate their homes into a refuge for art, culture and design,” said Casa de Memoria general manager Camille Lhuillier-Albani.

Here are some of the highlight lots at Casa de Memoria’s auction that can upgrade your space:

Intricate lamps. Antique lamps can bring sophistication to your space while creating a cozy ambiance. Some of the antique lamps at Tercero have been refreshed by Michelle Lao of Solano. These include "Artepiu Este" Gilt Ceramic Lamp with Peony Motif, a late 20th century Italian ceramic lamp, having gilt field painted with peonies (Lot 34, price starts at P25,000) and "Artepiu Este" Gilt Ceramic Lamp with Oriental Male Figure, a late 20th century Italian ceramic lamp, having gilt field painted with Oriental male figure amid plants (Lot 36, P20,000).

Stylish furniture. Breathe life into your space with a pair of Louis XV - Style Fauteuils chairs and the mid-20th century European pop “lips” style chair. The pair of 19th century Portuguese mahogany fauteuils in Louis XV style were upholstered with settees with a toile hunting scene by Monchet Olives (Lot 63, P40,000). On the other hand, the “lips” style chair’s shape is likely inspired by the iconic Salvador Dali's 1938 “Mae West lips sofa” and can transform your space to another level of class. (Lot 61, P15,000) Or, there is the eclectic charm of a pair of early 20th century Spanish barber's armchair seats with soliya seats and backrests by Daniel Acha. (Lot 1, P160,000)

Evocative paintings and prints. Paired with a good lighting, a striking artwork can serve as a room's focal point and can make any space look complete. At the Tercero auction, art enthusiasts check the 20th century abstract lithograph by Filipino-Spanish modernist artist Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo. (Lot 52, P40,000) There are also inspiring artworks like a late 20th century Portuguese acrylic on canvas painting titled "Serie: Soro Mariana" by Jorge Guimarães (Lot 54, P40,000) and the bold aesthetic acrylic painting "Talvez" (Perhaps) by Portuguese contemporary artist Joana Rêgo. (Lot 92, P100,000).

The event is powered by Smart Infinity. Take home an auction piece and you will be supporting a worthwhile cause as Casa de Memoria will donate part of the auction proceeds to a local charitable institution to help those badly affected by the pandemic.

The auction preview will run from July 7 to July 30, 2021. You may set an appointment to view the items in person at hello@casadememoria.com. To explore the auction pieces online, visit bit.ly/CasaDeMemoriaOnline. For more information, visit www.casadememoria.com, call 8253-3994, or e-mail hello@casadememoria.com.

M Gallery Opens 2021 wl Pagdakila sa Sining Mabini: Honoring the Masters ofMabini Art Sale

M Gallery celebrates Chinese New Year 2021 with the retrospective art show and
sale Pagdakila sa Sining Mabini: Honoring the Masters of Mabini on February 9,
Tuesday, 3 PM.

The exhibit sale pays tribute to eight masters of the Mabini Art School: Cesar
Buenaventura, Salvador Cabrera, Jose D Castro, Gabriel Custodio, Miguel Galvez, Paco
Gorospe, Crispin Lopez, and Simon Saulog.

We want to revive appreciation for the Mabini artists," asserted M Gallery owner, Mrs
Jeane Enriquez Monteverde, "so we are unveiling previously hidden masterpieces from
Mabini to show that all art is beautiful, no matter where they come from."

More importantly, Mrs Monteverde added, "Since some of these are 50 even 70 years old,
we are not only selling works by Mabini geniuses, but also prized antiques!"

Reintroducing Mabini Art in the 21st Century

"Now, we're taking the opportunity to reintroduce 31 outstanding works by Mabini artists
to Manila's new art audiences: the new and much younger art collectors and aficionados,"
she revealed.

Headlining the show are two big museum-worthy impressionist pieces by Gabriel
Custodio (1912-1993), "Still Life The Gong" (43"x 51.5", oil on canvas, 1956) and
"Ruin" (33" x 47", oil on canvas, 1954).

Hailing from Tanza, Cavite, the UP School of Fine Arts graduate of 1939 gained global
prominence by having his mural "Fishing Village" displayed at the lobby of the United
Nations Headquarters in New York.

Paco Gorospe (1939-2002), from Binondo, Manila, and known as "The Picasso of the
Philippines", has three modernist works on sale including the colorful piece called
"Musician" (47.5" x 35.25", acrylic on canvas, undated).

On sale, too, are the famous still life paintings by J.D. Castro (1908-1994) from Carmen,
Nueva Ecija, which became famous and much sought-after for their uncanny realism.
There are also portraits from the older brother of National Artist Benedicto Cabrera, Salvador Cabrera (1930-1986), who is known in art circles as "The Quick Draw Artist' for finishing as many as 10 paintingsa day.

There is a 72-year-old seascape done in 1948 by Miguel Galvez (1912-1989) from
Paombong, Bulacan. He is the first Filipino to win in the South East Asia Art Festival.
Also included is a painting of a beautiful maiden by Simeon Saulog (1916-1995), whose
works have made the rounds of the auction circuits, realizing prizes as high as $7,266.

For sale, too, is the historical oeuvre "Katipunan" (43.4" x 35.5", oil on canvas, 1976)
by Crispin V Lopez (1903-1985). The piece won first prize in the Historical category of
the Arts Association of the Philippines painting competition.

The show also features 15 alluring landscapes, one of which is a diptych, by Cesar
Buenaventura (1922-1983) from Manila. The son of painter Teodoro Buenaventura, he
studied under Maestro Fernando Amorsolo. His peasant life and landscape works have
often been compared to those of Vincent van Gogh.

Interestingly, Mrs Monteverde's decision to launch this Mabini show, seen to be the first
of many, firmed up when she realized how Cesar Buenaventuras are raking big money in
the auction circuit.

"What makes these Mabini artists great is their masterful brushstrokes," she explained,
"coupled with depth, balance, and colors that bring out feelings that speak to everyone.
Thus, for Mrs Monteverde, this retrospective is aimed at "pure appreciation of beauty and
to honoring the goodness of the masters for the people's appreciation."
"1 want to magnify only the beauty of visual arts because to let real beauty and truth shine
through!" she concluded.

Pioneering Art Supplies in the Philippines

M Gallery started only 7 years ago, with Madame Imelda R Marcos herself cutting the
ribbon, but its roots are deeply grounded in the owner's very auspicious family history.

The gallery has been mounting group exhibits by both veteran and young artists since
2014.

Mrs Monteverde is the granddaughter of the Philippines' pioneer art supplies store
patriarch Mariano Enriquez, who opened the first and only pre-War art supplies store
along Recto in the 1940s and 1950s.

M Enriquez Art Supply started as the only importer, dealer, distributor, and seller of
quality art materials becoming a household name among students and artists.

"I was a teenager then and I would meet all sorts of artists and students visiting our store
to buy their art supplies," Mrs Monteverde recalled. "We catered to architecture and
engineering, too."

Painting then was more of a hobby than a profession," she explained, "artists would
sometimes give us their paintings in exchange for art supplies-or simply because they're
happy."

This accounted for how the family started to accumulate so many paintings over the
period of 50 years. They supplied leading bookstores with imported but affordable
top-quality art materials like Grumbacher, Talens, Holbein, and Sakura.

We would have the likes of BenCab, Vicente Manansala, HR Ocampo, Ibarra dela Rosa,
Oscar Zalameda, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Lopez, Custodio, and Buenaventura dropping
in to buy paints and supplies," she mused.

"Many of these works were the artists' own gifts to our grandfather. Others were bought
from galleries. Many were procured in bulk from galleries that closed," and, thus, the
Monteverde art collection grew through the years and are now being sold for the first
time.

Getting Inspiration from 1930s Architecture

"The architecture was exquisite!" she delighted. Thus, the inspiration to come up with
a gallery came from the purchase of the beautiful pre-War Rufino ancestral mansion
along Taft Avenue.

Hence, the artworks found a new home. "When I bought the mansion, I knew it would
have to be more than just our office," Mrs Monteverde waxed. She now handles the
family's importing business.

"Traditional Chinese women aren't allowed to inherit and run the family business," she
confessed. "So, I concentrated on something else I knew would make a great livelihood,
too."

"I have always been fond of old thingsfurniture, lamps, and, yes, paintings-and we
used to import shiploads of antique from around the globe," she shared.

"So, we came up with M Gallery or Gallery M, which could mean Masters, Museum, or
even Mabini," she teasingly quipped, "depending on how you want to look at it."

M Gallery is open Mondays through Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM. For appointments, viewing schedules, and price inquiries, call 8-834-8143 or email mgallery00@gmail.com. Visit mgallery.ph for photographs of their painting collection.