Celebrated portrait and still life artist Betsy Westendorp has touched the hearts of many art enthusiasts with her sublime artworks that celebrate the beauty of people and nature that most of us often take for granted. In her passing, Filipinos remember her through the gentle, yet commanding splashes of color in her paintings where she poured out all her passion and dedication.
Spanish artist Betsy Westendorp, who gained acclaim in the Philippines and her native Spain, passed away on November 23 at her home in Aravaca in Madrid, Spain. She was 94.
From vivid landscapes, breathtaking sunsets, to the lush Philippine flora and fauna, idyllic species of orchids, clouds and “skyscapes” or atmosferografias–all of these, often in large-scale canvases, are hallmarks of Westendorp’s illustrious career that spanned over six decades.
Isabelle Maria Westendorp, nicknamed “Betsy” after her Dutch aunt, who was also an artist, was born in Spain in 1927. At a young age, Betsy started to explore the world of art and her own style, with her family members serving as her early muses. Art eventually became a lifelong passion that led her to paint portraits of some of the world’s most respected and famous personalities–from high society figures to members of royalty and heads of state.
Though Spanish by birth, Westendorp was definitely a Filipino by heart. Moving to Manila at the age of 21 after marrying business magnate Antonio “Tony” Brias, she quickly embraced Philippine culture, nature and art scene with open arms. Westendorp spent most of her life in Manila and, for decades, made an indelible mark in the Philippine art scene through her prolific art.
Establishing her name
During one of her trips to the Casas Colgadas or Hanging Houses in Cuenca, Spain–a complex of houses used to shelter Fernando Zobel’s Spanish abstract art collection–Philippine Ambassador to Spain Luis “Chito” Gonzalez invited Betsy to represent the Philippines at the Filipino week of the Instituto de Cultura Hispanica in Madrid. Ambassador Gonzalez’s wife, Vicky Quirino-Gonzalez, then introduced her to members of Spanish royalty, who later posed for their portraits by the artist. Because of that chance meeting, Betsy was able to paint a portrait of now King Felipe VI and his sisters when they were children, and the rest, as they say, is history.
A well-loved portrait and still life painter, Betsy would go on to exhibit her art in international galleries such as the Hastings Gallery in New York, the Instituto de Cultura Hispánica in Madrid and local institutions such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Ayala Museum.
One of her most acclaimed exhibitions was held in 1974 at the Spanish Institute in New York, which was graced by prominent names such as former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Aristotle Onassis, Antonio Garrigues and Betsy’s father, former General Carlos Westendorp.
Just last Jan. 29, 2021, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (MET), in partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, De La Salle University Publishing House and Pioneer Insurance, honored the celebrated artists with her major retrospective titled “Passages: Celebrating the Artistic Journeys of Betsy Westendorp,” where over 100 of her best pieces, spanning 60 years of the artist’s illustrious career in various cities around the world, were put on exhibition at the MET. Most of the pieces in the collection alluded to her departure from her home country Spain to commence what would be a lifetime relationship with the Philippines, as well as the paths she traversed that led to her self-definition as a woman, wife, mother and artist. It was also her last major exhibit before she passed on almost two years later.
She is also one of the few artists to have received cultural distinctions from two nations. In 1976, His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain bestowed on her the Lazo de Dama de la Orden de Isabel la Catolica, an exclusive order and the equivalent of knighthood for women. And in 2008, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vested her with the Presidential Medal of Merit in recognition of the artist’s contribution to Philippine art.
Some of her most celebrated pieces are “Passage (No. 1433)” oil on canvas (2016) from a private collection, “Atmospherica,” oil on canvas (1991) from the Denise and Emmanuel Miñana collection, “Homage to Life,” oil on canvas with mixed media (2018) from the Denise and Emmanuel Minana collection, and her self-portrait, oil on canvas (2013) from the artist’s collection.
At the news of the artist’s passing, local galleries and art institutions paid tribute to her and her works.
“We mourn the passing of one of the country’s most beloved artists, Betsy Westendorp, and express our loving thanksgiving for her life and art,” premier auction house Salcedo Auctions wrote in a Facebook post late Thursday evening as a tribute to the late artist. “Highly regarded and one of our ‘Legacy Redefined’ artists, who exhibited at Salcedo Private View on numerous occasions, Westendorp lives on through her ravishing canvases that captured the effervescent and ephemeral beauty of the world around her,” the post concluded.
“Westendorp opened our eyes to the beauty of Philippine flora, fauna and landscapes through her glorious works of art. For more than half a century, Westendorp was moved by the allure and grace of our natural surroundings as her muse,” Leon Gallery wrote in a Facebook post.
And while passing on, just like the sunset, marks the end of a long day, so to speak, the life that person once led is also added to people’s collective memories and the pages of the book of life. We will always be reminded of Betsy’s brilliance and grace through the artworks that her skillful hands had once painted—through the magic of her creations that she left behind, on canvases as huge as her passion and dedication to her craft. — Ma. Angelica Demegillo
