By Jose Paolo S. dela Cruz
The pieces are displayed, the initial bidding prices are set, and the bidders battle it out until one emerges as the victorious owner of a coveted piece – such is the story of an auction. And while auctions are definitely fun to watch, they may also feel intimidating to join, especially since they’re easy to mistake as high-brow events for the moneyed connoisseur.
This isn’t always the case, of course.
Salcedo Auctions, the country’s first auction house, tries to change this perception with the upcoming benefit auction under its subsidiary, gavel&block. Starting 2p.m. on Saturday, May 5, bidders will get a chance to own pieces from a trove of distinctive artworks by National Artists, international masters, leading Filipino artists, and other artisanal objects of design merit. The auction will be held at the Conservatory of the Peninsula Manila, while the pieces will be on display at The Gallery from May 1 to 4.
“We want to expand the market for these artworks. Some of these items may end up being sold at very high prices, but the auction itself can also be an opportunity for people who want to start investing in art to find authentic pieces of art that are more affordable,” says Richie Lerma, founder and art adviser of Salcedo Auctions.
Bidding aside, here are some other things you can accomplish in this Saturday’s gavel&block event:
1. Own art and fine pieces at the ‘best price’
Eight years ago, Richie and Karen Lerma, the lovely couple behind Salcedo Auctions, attended an auction in Australia where they chanced upon a pair of genuine Bvlgari earrings. They ended up winning the bid at a mere $300. “We brought it to the Bvlgari store to check its authenticity. The store was very high-brow, the attendant was slightly snobbish,” Richie tells us over dinner. “We told the attendant of how we won the earrings in a bidding before he disappears to inspect our find. Later, he comes out, gives us back the earrings which have now been polished and placed in a velvet pouch, and congratulates us for being the owners of a genuine Bvlgari jewelry (which is definitely worth more than 300!).”
Lesson: It might be your lucky day! “Sometimes, prices for a BenCab print can go into hundreds of thousands, but some days, you find a piece and you’re the only one who wants it, and you get it for almost nothing!” Richie adds. True enough, the gavel&block benefit collection comes with diamond and gold jewelry whose starting bid prices are around the P 5,000 to 10,000 range, an Amorsolo that starts at 24,000, and more!
2. Enjoy a smorgasbord of art
You can’t win all the bids, but you can definitely appreciate all of them during the preview. Highlights of the benefit sale include a 1986 mixed media painting on canvas by leading abstractionist Romulo Olazo, a 1973 oil on wood by National Artist Ang Kiukok, and ‘Deco Deconstruction,’ a limited edition digital print on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper by Ronald Ventura, which was generously donated by the artist to the school.
National Artist Arturo Luz is represented by two pieces – a 1999 paper collage from the ‘Desert Series’ and an untitled, timeless wood cubiform sculpture that shows the depth of his artistry. Also included are ‘The Moving Form’ by Eduardo Castrillo and two works by the late expatriate Paris-based artist Nena Saguil – an iconic pen and ink featuring her primordial spheres, and a 1978 watercolor of similar motif translated into elegant chromatic forms.
‘Apunte del Puerto de Santa Maria,’ a 1973 etching by Fernando Zobel, represents two views of the sunset. Another opportunity not to be missed at the benefit auction are two artworks offered as one lot by the modernist vanguard: a pen and ink and a mixed media work.
Works by leading international masters round out the important artworks offered in this sale, including rare documented lithographs by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali and the French post-impressionist Henri Matisse, as well as Filipiniana prints and maps by Pedro Murillo Velarde, Rigobert Bonne and Jean Francois La Perouse.
Deco Deconstruction
2017, starts at P 80,000
3. Help send geniuses to school
The benefit auction is being held to raise funds for the Vicky SyCip Herrera (VSH) Filipino Scholarship at International School Manila For the past 57 years, the Filipino scholarship program at ISM has provided promising futures for over 150 Filipino scholars, who have gone on to top colleges and universities in the Philippines, as well as renowned universities abroad – Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell and Princeton, among others. These scholars have gone on to pursue successful careers as entrepreneurs, humanitarians, lawyers, doctors and architects. Now that’s something quite priceless!
The gavel&block auction preview will run from Tuesday 1 May – Friday 4 May, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at The Gallery, Level 3, The Peninsula Manila, and the online catalogue may be viewed at salcedoauctions.com. For further information regarding the benefit auction and the Vicky SyCip Herrera Filipino Scholarship at ISM, please contact Salcedo Auctions +632 659.4094 (Rose) or the International School Manila (Maica) +632 840.8606. For updates, visit www.facebook.com/VSHScholarshipFoundation and follow @salcedoauctions and @gavelandblock on FB and IG with the hashtags #ismxgavelandblock #bidforthefuture and #arttransforms
###
