Leon Gallery to unveil year-end Kingly Treasures Auction 2023 on December 2

The Leon Gallery is set to unveil its year-end auction that will feature famous families whose fates are intertwined with history.

According to Leon Gallery director Jaime Ponce de Leon, the Kingly Treasures Auction 2023 will take place on Saturday, December 2, and will highlight the works of the illustrious family of Juan Luna.

"Family is everything. And nowhere is this more true, fittingly enough, in this season meant for families,'' de Leon said.

Meanwhile, from the collection of Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera is a rare copy of National Hero Jose Rizal's Mi Retiro, his loving message to his fellow Filipinos, and the companion poem to his last work, Mi Ultimo Adios.

"Brothers-in-arms, Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera and none other than our National Hero Jose Rizal would share a bond built on shared values, and no greater proof of that is that Rizal would copy out in his own hand a poem and send that signed to T.H. Pardo de Tavera as a gesture of their deep friendship," de Leon said.

On the other hand, two of National Artist Fernando Amorsolo's works will also be included in the collection, depicting the tensions and horrors of the Second World War — Market Scene, one of Amorsolo's first depictions of his now-iconic subject, and Woman at the Fall of Bataan, which showcases Amorsolo's famous dalaga, anguished and tormented amid a burning landscape.

Another regal highlight of the will be the Carlos V. Francisco's Bayanihan, the only known easel-sized work in oil of his Bayanihan mural and is from the collection of an American couple, Herbert and Gertrud Harder, who once lived in New York’s posh Fifth Avenue.

The Leon Gallery said that the avant-garde lineage of Filipino contemporary artists would grace the sale as it will demonstrate anew the Filipino artist’s dedication to experimentation and honing of one’s versatility.

''This selection includes Ramon Orlina's Mt. Zion, which sublimely depicts the biblical mountain where Yahweh dwells; Kawayan de Guia's mixed media interpretation of a curiosity cabinet in Subtle Repercussions; Jose John Santos III's A Collection of Stories IV; and Elaine Navas's Red Parachute,'' the gallery stated.

De Leon said there are many treasures that remain to be uncovered in the last months of our country's 125th year of the birth of the Filipino nation. —JCB, GMA Integrated News