LUNA JUAN (1857 - 1899) 19th Cent. Juan Luna (Philippine School) signed oil on canvas with a typical portrait of a Roman boy LUNA JUAN (1857 - 1899) (Filipijnen) olieverfschilderij op doek (op board) : "Portret van een Romeinse jongen" - 39,9 x 30,6 getekend (r.o.)
a) Portrait of Maria de La Paz, nicknamed "Bibi" watercolor on paper 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm) b) Portrait of Andres, nicknamed "Luling" signed (lower right) watercolor on paper 4" x 3" (10 cm x 8 cm) PROVENANCE Estate of the artist Andres Luna de San Pedro Mrs. Grace Luna de San Pedro Ms. Elizabeth Troster Ms. Ruth Francis Dr. Eleuterio Pascual Milagros Garcia del Rosario Juan Luna would be one of the Philippines’ greatest painters of the 19th century. Alongside Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo he would capture the imagination of his compatriots — who, by their example, would allow to dream of a world where Filipinos stood equal to any Westerner — and thus galvanize a nation. Luna’s greatest achievement was to capture the highest honors for the Spoliarium at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884 in Madrid. He would become the toast of two continents and the object of admiration of Jose Rizal as well as of the rest of his country. He would have a star-crossed marriage with Paz Pardo de Tavera and would have two children, portrayed in these charming watercolors. The first was Andres, nicknamed ‘Luling’, born in 1887 or after the couple’s marriage in Paris. The second was a daughter, named Maria de la Paz after her mother, and nicknamed , nicknamed ‘Bibi’. Bibi would unfortunately perish at just three years old — adding further strain to the tenuous marriage. Luna would reportedly be tormented by her passing and would become upset that Paz gave up her mourning clothes too soon. Andres would become one of Manila’s most celebrated architects. (Don Telesforo Antonio Chuidian, whose revolutionary saber is offered also in this auction, was a godfather.) These mementoes of happy days were part of the Andres and Grace Luna de San Pedro papers that were re-discovered in New York and brought back to their home country.
Portrait of Adele della Rocca signed, dated 1884, and inscribed "A la S.ta Adele della Rocca" (lower right) oil on canvas 42" x 22" (107 cm x 56 cm) Private collection, Rome. Belonging to Adele della Rocca and her descendants in a direct line A thorough genealogical research retraced the whereabouts of the painting since it was given to Adele. A society newspaper of the period, “La Conversazione della Domenica” notes that she was married to Count Gianelli-Viscardi in 1887. It was “quite an event,” reports the paper. Indeed, the last owner of the painting, who thought Luna was the name of a village in the Lazio province of Rome, only recalled that it had been inherited from his grandmother Antonietta, who happened to be a “pianist of Polish origin”. We discovered through genealogical study that the Count and Countess Gianelli-Viscardi had a son, Giulio, and that indeed the young Count married Antonietta Crijenko Descovich, the former owner’s pianist grand-mother. The portrait at hand, as well as that of the sitter’s sister Irene, have thus continuously stayed in the same family until this extraordinary discovery. WRITE UP It is well known that, as Juan Luna was finishing the “Spoliarium”, his masterpiece now at the National Museum, the rumor spread all over Rome that a new, but very exotic, Master from the Philippines was busy resurrecting the glorious art and culture of ancient Rome. Everybody was queuing at his workshop in via Margutta, and one day, end of 1883, as the painter was applying his last touches, he became aware of a loud disturbance behind him: King Umberto I and his wife, Queen Marguerita were there, accompanied by a group of courtiers, ready to admire the masterpiece which everybody was talking about. According to an article published by “The Sun”, an American newspaper, 9 years later, an American citizen who had been Luna’s roommate in Rome and who happened to be in this workshop that day, reported the scene: the painter apologizing for not being able to shake the royal hand offered to him, his own being covered with paint, and the enthusiasm of the royal couple discovering the painting. One of the main courtiers of King Umberto I happened to be the General Enrico della Rocca, a senior aide-de-camp of the king since 1882, and descended from a marquis himself. It is therefore very likely that he was accompanying his master on that occasion. What better gift for his nieces Adele and Irene della Rocca, who were at a marriageable age and about to be launched in Society, than celebrating their beauty through the talent of that painter who had been the talk in town? Luna needed money more than ever, as the monthly allowance from his family was usually exhausted before the end of each month, and also because he had not been able to accept any work during the whole year, busy as he was with the monumental task of his Spoliarium. It has been reported that King Umberto, praising Luna’s work, proposed to buy it at a high price but Luna could not accept, because the Spoliarium was due to compete for a prize in Madrid, scheduled in July. He had already got the silver medal in Madrid in 1881 for the Death of Cleopatra, and now longed for the gold. After rebuffing the king, albeit for good reasons, Luna could hardly reject as well such a prestigious and lucrative commission, emanating from one of the most prominent members of the Italian court. These historical accounts allow us to determine a date for our portrait with even more precision than the date 1884 next to the signature of Luna. It is known that he left Rome for Madrid in April ’84, ready to participate to the fine art competition in which he was to receive indeed the gold medal in July. Therefore, the painting and that of the subject’s sister were necessarily executed in the very first months of the year. An interesting comparison with these portraits is to be made with another work of Luna, representing two young and elegant girls at the balcony of an opera house, which we believe was executed in the same period. We indeed know through the telling of Luna’s roommate in The Sun, that Luna was commissioned for “various works” once he was through with the Spoliarium, including “for some European monarchs”. Doing this painting must have been a pleasant moment for Luna, who had been busy since a year depicting the extreme violence of gladiators’ life in the Colosseum. For this portrait, recreational as it was, he dropped the dark palette of the Spoliarium for a paler one, powder blue dress, white flowers in order to enhance the virtue of this aristocratic girl in ceremonial attire, somewhat hieratic and official, a maiden in Majesty. But the need for colors takes over in details, like the intervention of red and purple in the white bouquet, and the movement of the beige background, treated in an almost impressionistic manner, a way Luna has often adopted in order to let the light animate his paintings and play behind its characters. Juan Luna, having studied so far in Spanish institutions, had not yet been deeply influenced by the impressionist movement emerging in France, but it is obvious that he had already been confronted by some works, be it for the simple reason that they were scandalizing the whole of Europe. As for the technique, the usual strong impasto scattered here and there, characteristic of our national painter’s manner in these years, adds depth and strength to the virginal and evanescent beauty.
Juan Luna y Novicio (Filipino, 1857-1899), portrait, pencil on paper, signed L/R, 18" x 14", framed 27" x 22". Provenance: Westbury, New York collection.
a) Portrait of Maria de La Paz, nicknamed "Bibi" watercolor on paper 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm) b) Portrait of Andres, nicknamed "Luling" signed (lower right) watercolor on paper 4" x 3" (10 cm x 8 cm) PROVENANCE Estate of the artist Andres Luna de San Pedro Mrs. Grace Luna de San Pedr o Ms. Elizabeth Troster Ms. Ruth Francis Dr. Eleuterio Pascual Milagros Garcia del Rosario
PROPERTY FROM THE DON JORGE B. VARGAS COLLECTION Idilio (Idyll) signed (lower right) ca. 1880s oil on canvas 28 1/2" x 15" (72 cm x 38 cm) WRITE UP: Juan Luna’s Idyll of Romance "Idilio" of Perfect Love In the decade that ‘Idilio’ was painted, Juan Luna was at the zenith of his fame : In 1881, ‘The Death of Cleopatra’ had won a silver at the Madrid Exposition, trumped shortly thereafter by a gold in 1884 for ‘Spoliarium’. It was a victory that would win the devotion of the general public in Spain, (not to mention the Philippines), attract the admiration of the Spanish King — with the happy aftermath of persuading his beloved Paz Pardo de Tavera to marry him in 1886. ‘Idilio (Idyll)’ has a special meaning in the Spanish language : not merely the peace of perfect happiness, but a kind of love that is dreamlike and other-worldly. Juan Luna’s “Idilio” is set in a fairytale place, somewhere between night and day : A dark, mysterious forest surrounds a nymph, two tall trees are backlit by the fiery reds of sunset. The beauty wears flowers in her hair and she is surrounded by purple irises that are clearly painted as if it were daylight. Luna intends to convey the moment when life and time have come to a standstill. It’s a magical garden of love. He paints the mythical character in the garments of the 19th century, with a draped corset. The color of her robe is a rich gold, the folds outlined in creamy streaks of impasto, as are the petals in her hair. “Idilio (Idyll)” is a romantic twin parable of a joyful period in this painter-patriot’s life : when he would have achieved both artistic and personal fulfillment, the golden age of happiness that created the spectacular "Hymen oh Hyménée". The maiden captured in love’s thoughts could easily have been one of the ten bridesmaids depicted in his opus depicting a Roman wedding. It’s a heady combination of rich silks, symbolic flowers, and a beauteous love-struck woman. Luna, a keen student of Roman and Greek mythology, portrays a virgin goddess — a depiction of ‘Iris’, goddess of sea and sky and thus protectress of the rainbow, represented by the blooms in the painting. She is also the picture of idealized love, the ‘Idlyll’ herself, lost in her own imagination, enthralled (like Luna) with the very idea of love and its perfection.
PROPERTY FROM THE AMBASSADOR PEDRO CONLU HERNAEZ COLLECTION Landscape in Bilbao signed (left) ca. 1893 oil on wood 12" x 17" (30 cm x 43 cm) WRITE UP: Having weathered the most turbulent periods of his life — that would crescendo into the destruction of his marriage and his subsequent trial — Juan Luna would nevertheless emerge unscathed. He would be acquitted and released from prison in February 1893 and quit Paris for Madrid, the city where his fame and good fortune had begun. Luna would be seeking a place of safe harbor. Luna scholar Martin Arnaldo notes that he would stay for the winter and spring in the Spanish capital and then in July head for Bilbao to summer by the sea.At the invitation of his powerful friend, the Senator Victor Chavarri, he would come to Portugalete in Bilbao and stay for almost a year. While there, he would be commissioned to paint the steel mills owned by Chavarri's partner, Don Martinez Rivas; and woulda also chronicle the quaint villages and farms that surrounded the northern city. He would stay till April 1894, creating a series of works known as his 'Bilbao period'. One work from this period titled “Puesto de Sol (Sunset)” in the collection of the Lopez Museum dated 1893 is from this very period, with a similar vista of a forest and a small town behind it. The landscape at hand similarly captures one of those picturesque villages and farms all the way to San Sebastian. Red tiled roofs punctuate the green landscape. A large structure with a pair of wooden doors propose a barn. A brown newly-plowed field is in the foreground; behind it are haystacks and a traveling cart pulled by a horse. Juan Luna was the master of the painted suggestion, creating in a few short strokes, interesting characters and their stories. It’s in the somber quiet of the afternoon, in the middle of the famous Spanish siesta when time has stood still and would find that peace at last in Basque country in northern Spain. The painter longs for that same quietude.
Juan Luna y Novicio (Philippines, 1857 - Hong Kong, 1900) "Portrait of a Philippine woman" Oil on canvas adhered to panel Signed 22,5 x 16,5 cm 6.000 - 9.000 €
PROPERTY FROM THE AMBASSADOR PEDRO CONLU HERNAEZ COLLECTION Juan Luna and His Wife Paz signed (lower right) ca. 1885 - 1886 oil on wood 17 1/4” x 11 3/4” (44 cm x 30 cm) WRITE UPThe Artist and His Muse In a Forest Glade The second work from the Hernaez Collection depicts an artist carrying a tripod over his shoulder. It’s not clear if on its end is an easel or a camera — Juan Luna’s possessions included a “maquina fotografica”, an interest that he may have taken up from his neighbor at Boulevard Arago, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. He was also a fanatic about painting en plaine air, to create immediate and accurate studies. The figure is mopping his face with a kerchief and carries a satchel — carrying brushes and paints or perhaps, equally plausible, photographic plates — across his body. He is seen emerging from the woods. The shape of the face and hair are strikingly that of Juan Luna. There are works in the Grace Luna collection that refer to two paintings with the same title “Une Jour de Mal Heuraux” (A Bad Day.) and it is a tantalizing clue to the somewhat illegible scrawl at the bottom of the work — as well as the circumstances around the painting. A woman, luminescent in a white frock, is stretched out langourously, caught as if about to awake from an afternoon nap. The setting is again reminiscent of the Bois de Boulogne, a former royal hunting ground, then as now a beautiful woodland in the center of Paris. The work illustrates what was Juan Luna’s strongest suit — above his technical virtuosity and outsized imagination — it was, above all, his ability to tell a story and draw the viewer into the painting through the detail and obvious verve captured in each stroke. Presented here is a tale of an artist and his model, for Luna loved to document both; but also a tale of a man and his lady love, in this case Juan Luna and the comely Paz Pardo de Tavera.
PROPERTY FROM THE AMBASSADOR PEDRO CONLU HERNAEZ COLLECTION Study of Paz Picking Flowers in a Garden signed lower right oil on wood 18” x 14 1/2” (46 cm x 37 cm) WRITE UPThe Private Life of Juan Luna Rare Portraits of the Artist and His Wife Paz by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL There is a second work also featured, described as “‘Self-Portrait’ with Luna facing a mirror, holding his palette. He is wearing a bonnet and his face is dark. Behind him is the lighted altar.” The self-portrait is from the year 1885, presumably from the testimony of Grace Luna, when Luna had just arrived in Paris after his triumph at the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid, the biggest art competition in Spain — and its most fiercely contested. Luna would as a result become the most famous artist in the country, winning a gold medal for Spoliarium. It became a tantalizing matter of Spanish national interest (and Filipino honor) that the painting missed not being given the overall accolade, the “Prize of Honor.” The King of Spain Alfonso XII himself took a personal interest in the case that was consuming the public’s appetite and that is said to have dominated the headlines for almost two years with opinions, accusations and conspiracy theories against the Filipino artist. (The king had become acquainted with Luna through their mutual friend, the sculptor Mariano Benlliure and would later decide to make amends by commissioning the Battle of Lepanto to be hung in a place of honor in the Spanish Senate.) All this added to Luna’s reputation and attached a certain glamor and fame to him, making him the most famous artist (of any origin, Spanish or Filipino) in Spain and its prized colony, the Philippines. He would find Madrid too small for his artistic horizons and would move to Paris, the center of the world of art. Juan Luna would set up a studio at No. 65 Boulevard Arago, in the same picturesque enclave of artists in which Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo also lived. It consisted of half-timbered villas surrounded by paths and pretty gardens. There was a huge skylight that would illuminate the photographs of Luna and his friends, including Jose Rizal and the Pardo de Taveras, gamboling among tapestries and paintings and the colorful props for Luna’s historical works. It was plain that it was only a matter of time before he would come into the same orbit as the Pardo de Taveras who were friends of his neighbor Resurreccion Hidalgo from Old Manila. It was through the brothers Trinidad and Felix that he would meet Paz — the article which is based on the recollections of Andres Luna de San Pedro — would report that “Often Luna would be left alone with Paz. That started the love between them. Both lonely, they talked about the native country and all its nostalgic memories. They apparently found a common understanding, and on December 8, 1886, Luna and Paz got married, the bridegroom, thirty, the bride twenty-one.” The Study of Paz Picking Flowers in a Garden can be viewed as the first part of a series that would include The Study of Paz and a Friend Picking Flowers in a Garden. Both have the loose brushstrokes and lighting that would distinguish the winds of Impressionism that would blow through Paris in the 1860s with the works of Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir. It would have been impossible for Luna not to take notice of this artistic revolution; and despite his being knee-deep in the world of academic painting, his private works not intended for salon competitions reflected this. Impressionist works, at the time, were routinely accused of being ‘studies’ or preparatory works but this ‘Studio’ as Luna would term it can easily stand on its own. It fit into the new pre-occupation of the art world away from scenes of historical importance to those that captured everyday life in the city of Paris. The location would have been in the Paris park, the Bois de Boulogne, which was a few blocks from the Pardo de Tavera home in posh Villa Dupont. There are photographs of the entire flock of ilustrados roosting in its woods, Juan Luna, Paz, Jose Rizal and other worthies, enjoying al fresco luncheons. The depiction of Paz in the womanly pursuit of gathering blossoms was perhaps part of his courtship ritual of the attractive heiress who would have been flattered by the focus one needed to paint a portrait. The Study shows how Luna was experimenting with compositions — using the strong silhouette of the tree to divide the work — and with the treatment of light and dark in the distant treeline that would be more polished, as seen in the other works from the same period, also at the National Museum and shown here. Later, the same vignette would become the basis of the highly polished “Picnic in Normandy”, now in the collection of the Jorge Vargas Museum of the University of the Philippines. It is a view of a field with women in various poses, looking out to the distance, enjoying the fresh air, and yes, gathering wild flowers.On the 100th year of Juan Luna’s birth — October 25, 1857 — This Week Magazine published an entire issue in his honor. Dubbing him ‘painter, patriot, and propagandist’, it produced a comprehensive report on his ‘life and times’ as well as a “representative collection of his works.” Two of those works, from the Grace Luna de San Pedro collection, shine a spotlight on a side of Luna not seen in his heroic works such as ‘Spoliarium’ or the “Blood Compact” nor his lyrical Roman opus ‘Hymen oh Hymenee.’ Under the heading of ‘He Liked to Paint Portraits of His Family’ is one (of several) works that captures his bride, the heiress Paz Pardo de Tavera. It is captioned “Study of Paz (sitting) and a friend picking flowers in a garden was painted by Luna in Europe.” That work is now in the Philippine National Museum, part of that trove acquired from Grace Luna and donated to it. It was part of a series of his private home life that was included in those pages, explained as follows, “Wife, Paz Pardo de Tavera, was a favorite subject of Luna. Many times, he would ask her to pose for him when he was in low spirits,” the article said. “Luna would paint her as she lay in bed after giving birth to their son Andres as he lay in the decorated crib beside her. In the same bed, she modeled for his Ensueños de Amor (Dreams of Love.)…(at left) is a portrait of Paz in a dimly lit room, the light coming from the single window behind her.
Portrait of a Woman in a White Dress, watercolor, 9 x 5 in in (22.9 x 12.7 cm), framed 17 1/2 x 13 1/2 in (44.6 x 34.5 cm), signed lower right, PROVENANCE: Private collection Long Island, NY
Juan Luna (1875-1899) Three Studies signed (lower right) pencil on paper 6” x 10 1/2” (15 cm x 27 cm) Aside from his large, academic paintings, Juan Luna did many small, more intimate works, including portraits. A number of Luna’s works show spontaneity and an elusive, ‘spur of the moment’ quality. Ramon Villegas once wrote that: “These quick sketches and close-in reviews of his world were done to satisfy only his own standards, to see if what he saw in his mind was as pleasing as what his brush could paint, and what his eyes could see.” The same can be said about these pencil on paper sketches. Luna’s growing reputation as an artist led to a pensionado (pension) scholarship at 600 pesos annually through the Ayuntamiento of Manila. He famously won the first Gold Medal in the 1884 Madrid Art Exhibition for ‘The Spoliarium.’
Juan Luna y Novicio (Filipino, 1857-1899) study of a male nude from the back, in black and white chalk (?) on paper, signed lower right. [Art: 24" H x 15" W; Frame: 32" H x 24" W]. Water damage upper left.
Juan Luna y Novicio (Badoc, Philippines, 1857 - Hong Kong, 1899) “Lady with a hat” Oil on panel Signed and dated in Rome in 1882 39 x 29,5 cm 10.000 - 15.000 €
Juan Luna, 1857–1899 König Alphonso XII. von Spanien Öl auf Holz unten rechts signiert LUNA 65 x 43,5 cm *For this lot VAT of 7,7% will also be charged on the hammer price.
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) a) King Alfonso XII of Spain b) A Spanish Soldier on Horseback c) The Horseman King Alfonso XII d) King Alfonso XII on Horseback signed (lower right) each watercolor on paper 10 1/2” x 8” (27 cm x 20 cm) each Each piece is accompanied by a certificate issued by Mr. Alfonso Ompod Jr. confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE A gift from Ms. Ruth Francis to Mr. Alfonso Ompod, Jr.
PROPERTY FROM THE ZAFFY LEDESMA COLLECTION Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) Estudio de Hombre signed (lower right) charcoal on paper 11 1/2” x 15 1/2” (29 cm x 39 cm)
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) King Alfonso XII - Study 5 signed (lower right) watercolor on paper 11” x 6 1/2” (28 cm x 17 cm) Accompanied by a certificate issued by Ms. Ruth
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) King Alfonso XII of Spain signed (lower left) watercolor on paper 11” x 7” (28 cm x 18 cm) Accompanied by a certificate issu ed by Ms. Ruth Francis confirming the authenticity of this lot
Juan Luna Novicio (Badoc, Filipinas, 1857- Hong-Kong, 1899) Jarrón con flores. Óleo sobre lienzo. Firmado. Adjunta fotografía de la obra con escrito de Matilde León Avilés, sobrina de Ángel Avilés Merino anterior propietario, confirmando la autoría del cuadro en el momento de su venta en 1954. Procedencia: Colección privada Ángel Avilés Merino, Córdoba. Colección privada, Madrid. 130 x 95,4 cm.
Juan Luna 1857–1899 Beim Spazierengehen Öl auf Holz unten rechts bezeichnet und signiert A Me du Bousquet LUNA 23 x 14 cm *For this lot VAT of 7,7% will also be charged on the hammer price.
Juan Luna Novicio (Badoc, Filipinas, 1857- Hong-Kong, 1899) Jarrón con flores. Óleo sobre lienzo. Firmado. Adjunta fotografía de la obra con escrito de Matilde León Avilés, sobrina de Ángel Avilés Merino anterior propietario, confirmando la autoría del cuadro en el momento de su venta en 1954. Procedencia: Colección particular Ángel Avilés Merino, Córdoba. Colección privada, Madrid. 130 x 95,4 cm.
Oil on canvas, first known version of the famous painting "Spoliarium" by Juan Luna Novicio, dated 1881. Certificate by José María Quesada Valera available. Canvas size: 75 x 138. Framed size: 117 x 183 cm. Provenance: formerly in a noble collection, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Exceptional discovery, possibly the original version dated 1881 of the famous work "Spoliarium" made by Juan Luna Novicio (Badoc, Philippines, October 23, 1857 - Hong-Kong, December 7, 1899) in 1884. "Spoliarium" is a painting, considered a National Treasure and currently kept at the National Museum of the Philippines measuring 400 × 700 cm. It was first exhibited in the 1884 National Fine Arts Exposition, winning the first class medal. In 1886, it was sold to the Diputación Provincial de Barcelona for 20,000 pesetas. Taking advantage of the fact that the painting had been sent to Madrid to be restored, General Francisco Franco donated it to the government of the Philippines. It is currently on display at the National Museum of the Philippines. Only one sketch of Spoliarium is known, of later date, sold at auction in the Philippines in 2018 (Salcedo Auctions, September 22, 2018, lot 152). The work before us, dated 1881, can be considered the first version of "Spoliarium", and may be the original work exhibited in the Philippine Room of the Historical-Natural and Ethnographic Exhibition of Madrid in 1893. Juan Luna de San Pedro, of Malaysian ethnicity, was the son of Joaquín Luna de San Pedro and Laureana Novicio y Ancheta. With Jesuit training, he studied at the Ateneo Municipal, although from a young age he did not sympathize much with the religious environment and used his free time as much as possible to learn about painting. While studying, he trained as a pilot at the naval school in Manila, working as a sailor and making several trips. During his travels he visited Singapore, Jakarta and Hong Kong, among other cities. Although he never abandoned his pictorial training during his free time, he began to collaborate with the studio of the Spanish painter Agustín Sáez Glanadell, who was active in Manila. Upon his arrival in Spain he enrolled in the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. There he met Eduardo Rosales. After Eduardo's death he made contact with Alejo Vera, and went to Rome, where he painted his most famous painting, "Spoliarium", preserved in the National Museum of the Philippines. In Rome, he dedicated his time to deepen his knowledge of the Renaissance masters and also painted "The Death of Cleopatra", acquired by the Spanish government for 5000 pesetas, a very high amount of money at that time. His success was fulgurant in Spain and the Philippines. References: "Breve noticia de la Exposición Histórico-Natural y Etnográfica de Madrid: planta entresuelo (1893). Madrid: Est. Tipográfico Sucesores de Rivadeneyra" ; "Ossorio y Bernard, Manuel, Galería biográfica de artistas españoles del siglo XIX [1883-1884], Madrid, Giner, 1975, p. 395" ; "Covelo López, Juan Manuel, El Pintor Juan de Luna y Novicio, El Lejano Oriente Español: Filipinas (s. XIX), Actas de las VII Jornadas Nacionales de Historia Militar, Sevilla, 1997, pgs. 865 - 872".
Odalisca (Odalisque) signed and dated Roma 1882 (lower right) watercolor on paper 25 1/2" x 36 1/2" (65 cm x 93 cm) PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION THE SULTAN AND THE SUBVERSIVE JUAN LUNA AND JOSÉ RIZAL by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL I f there was one man who seemed to be destined for greatness in 1882, it was not José Rizal who would spring to mind between the two. It would have been rightly Juan Luna who seemed to have been favored by both fate and circumstance. Discharged from the Manila Academy of Art under tantalizingly unknown circumstances in 1876, Luna was nevertheless taken under the wing of the gentle but skillful teacher Lorenzo Guerrero. It was Guerrero who convinced his parents to allow the young Juan Luna to accept a government grant and propelled him to set sail for Madrid to continue his artistic education. By 1877, he was enrolled in the Royal Academy of San Fernando and with the impetuousness and ambition that would distinguish his life, Luna would decide to move to Rome the very next year with a new mentor, Don Alejo Vera who he had convinced to take him along as his manchador or painting assistant. Don Alejo would eventually return to Madrid and leave Luna to “shift for himself”; but it was not long before Luna had found a room in an artists’ colony on the Via Margutta, where he would fall into the company of the Benlliure brothers, also students from Spain. In 1881, he would complete “The Death of Cleopatra” which was exhibited in the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid and which received a silver medal. (Late last year, it took its rightful place on display at the Prado, the national museum of Spain.) The ‘Cleopatra’ would set Juan Luna firmly on the course of an upward trajectory and it was the fertile period in Rome to thank for that. His fellow pensionados, Miguel Zaragoza and Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, would both soon arrive in Rome in 1882 to spend their scholarship’s last year in the Italian capital. They would be accompanied by the flamboyant Pedro Paterno, who unlike the starving artists was a certified heir to millions back in Manila. They would all drink in the exotic, electric atmosphere of the Italian capital and its obsession with the voluptuous mysteries of the Orient that is expressed in the painting ‘Odalisca’ or ‘Odalisque.’ It was in this year that he would paint a beauty from the sultan’s harem serenaded by an African servant. It’s a heady depiction of a favorite European trope of the East: a pale beauty lounges provocatively on the overstuffed velvet cushions of an ornate couch. Her head and arms are thinly veiled, her wrists weighed down with gold bracelets. There is a flash of pink flesh revealed by a half-open singlet. A richly dressed Nubian seems to be almost leering, obviously enthralled. The painting would situate Luna squarely in the cusp of his own destiny, for Zaragoza, who would win a fresh grant to stay two more years, would report that in the next months, Luna would be working mysteriously on “a huge canvas.” That would certainly be none other than the landmark ‘Spoliarium’ which would bring Luna — and the Philippines — for the first time to international renown — by winning the first of the gold medals at the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes of 1884 in Madrid. It would take the capital by storm and would become the most talked about painting for the next two years. Jose Rizal, a student of medicine at the time but already recognized as one of the most eloquent of the Filipino ilustrados, would toast his achievement at a dinner organized by Pedro Paterno. It was a time ready for change — Rizal would complete and publish his first novel Noli Me Tangere in 1887, a work that would alter the course of Filipino history — and Rizal’s own destiny. By writing this searing commentary, he would create powerful enemies in the Catholic church who would eventually engineer his exile to Dapitan. (Was his exile and subsequently imposed silence a trade-off for the freedom of his family?) The letters presented in this same auction — that record his last few months on earth — give us an insight into not merely the fate of this hero but also the impending battle for the Filipino soul. LUNA IN ROME THE AGE OF ‘CLEOPATRA’, THE ‘SPOLIARIUM’, AND THE ‘ODALISQUE” by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL Rome would prove to be the most fertile ground for Luna’s successes in the Madrid salons. It would produce the ‘Death of Cleopatra’ and the ‘Spoliarium’ that would book-end his career in Spain. Juan Luna would arrive in Rome under the tutelage of the Spanish painting master Don Alejo Vera in 1878 and work with him till 1881 on his various commissions. After Alejo’s return to Madrid, Luna would next move into a warren of some 40 artist studios on the Via Margutta, peopled by other pensionados of the Spanish Academy in Rome. He would share his living quarters and studio with the Benlliure who would become famous artists in their own right. (Mariano Benlliure’s bust of Arthur Ferguson, a high-ranking colonial official under the American regime, now shares the same hall where Luna’s Spoliairium is displayed.) Carlos da Silva, executive director of the Juan Luna Centennial, would detail some of the paintings from this period — including those in watercolor, a medium in which Luna would have acute mastery, making them appear almost undistinguishable from his oil works. In 1880 to 1881, Luna created several pieces, including the ‘Death of Cleopatra’ which was “presented, entered, and exhibited” at the Exposicion General de las Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1881. It would, says da Silva, be awarded a ‘Silver Medal (2nd Class)’ and was subsequently purchased by the Spanish government. Luna would begin work on what Miguel Zaragoza, a comrade-in-arms and fellow pensionado, would describe as “a huge canvas.” That would almost certainly be the“Spoliarium” on which he toiled, beginning in 1883. This masterpiece would receive a Gold Medal (1st Class) at the extremely important Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid, a kind of Olympics but in the fine arts, in 1884. Odalisca’ or ‘Odalisque’ — which was painted in between both works in 1882 — is a secret look at the Juan Luna dressed like a Roman emperor with fellow ilustrados, Pedro Paterno and his brother are seated in the foreground. THE ASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL AUCTION 2022 9 0 most closely guarded inner sanctum of the sultan’s palace — the harem. It would be a European obsession with the mysteries of the Orient, its unimaginable wealth, beauties held in captivity, and intoxicating decadence; and it is plain that Luna became enamored of it himself while steeped in the legendary capital of the caesars. The word ‘harem’ itself means both the forbidden and the sacred and refers to the living quarters of the pasha’s women, his wives and daughters but also his concubines and female slaves. Only eunuchs (or men who had been castrated) were the only males allowed to serve; and they did so, following a strict color line. White eunuchs were permitted outside the palace; but only black eunuchs had access to the harem, the most private area of the seraglio. In Luna’s ‘Odalisca’ he is depicted as a minstrel serenading one of the sultan’s mistresses as she falls smiling into sleep’s embrace. The carefully guarded creatures of the harem were also delicately pampered, as glimpsed in the opulent furnishings of the room that Luna has painted: There are stately columns and intricately tiled walls. It appears to be a terrace that overlooks a lush garden. There are brass decorations (including a Moroccan filigree lamp) and rich carpets. The ‘Odalisca’ lounges provocatively on a long chaise, dressed in silk and velvet. She strikes a pose that Luna would repeat in various portraits of the wanton woman, including the work of 1885, famous for being in the Don Luis Araneta collection. This tantalizing masterpiece completes Luna’s dreams of the Orient with this heady triumvirate of ‘Cleopatra’, Spoliarium’ and the ‘Odalisca” — which may even have been the first of its name. It is certainly a record of an age that would make Juan Luna rightly famous and put the Philippines and Filipinos as the equal if not better than anyone on the world stage.
Portrait of a Woman pen and ink on paper 9 1/2" x 5" (24 cm x 13 cm) PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION Aside from his large, academic paintings, Luna did many small, more intimate works, including portraits. A number of Luna’s works show spontaneity and an elusive, ‘spur of the moment’ quality. Ramon Villegas once wrote that: “These quick sketches and close-in reviews of his world were done to satisfy only his own standards, to see if what he saw in his mind was as pleasing as what his brush could paint, and what his eyes could see.” The same can be said about these pencil on paper sketches. The casual sketchy qualities of the fleeting moment, which the Impressionists sought to capture on canvas are discernible in Luna’s sketches. They also invite a more lasting acquaintance with the artist than other mediums allow. Here, interest in the “unfinished” qualities of a good sketch complete with impromptu vitality is what the informal side of Luna shares with the Impressionists, but nothing else. The informality is balanced by the decisiveness of line and casual assurance of the resulting anonymous portrait. Luna’s mastery of using pen and ink show the spontaneity and spur-ofthe-moment quality of oil sketches. In its size, erudite detailing, and happily unapologetic academism, Luna’s portraiture of everyday people are as much a chronicle of the European zeitgeist as it is a work of art.
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) Untitled signed (lower right) charcoal on paper 11 1/2” x 18 1/4” (29 cm x 46 cm) PROPERTY FORMERLY FROM THE ALEJANDRO R. ROCES COLLECTION PROVENANCE Leon Gallery, The Kingly Treasures Auction, Makati City, 7 December 2013, Lot 26
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) a) Portrait of Maria de La Paz, nicknamed "Bibi" watercolor on paper 5 x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm) b) Portrait of Andres, nicknamed "Luling" signed (lower right) watercolor on paper 4" x 3" (10 cm x 8 cm) Juan Luna would be one of the Philippines’ greatest painters of the 19th century. Alongside Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo he would capture the imagination of his compatriots — who, by their example, would allow to dream of a world where Filipinos stood equal to any Westerner — and thus galvanize a nation. Luna’s greatest achievement was to capture the highest honors for the Spoliarium at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884 in Madrid. He would become the toast of two continents and the object of admiration of Jose Rizal as well as of the rest of his country. He would have a star-crossed marriage with Paz Pardo de Tavera and would have two children, portrayed in these charming watercolors. The first was Andres, nicknamed ‘Luling’, born in 1887 or after the couple’s marriage in Paris. The second was a daughter, named Maria de la Paz after her mother, and nicknamed , nicknamed ‘Bibi’. Bibi would unfortunately perish at just three years old — adding further strain to the tenuous marriage. Luna would reportedly be tormented by her passing and would become upset that Paz gave up her mourning clothes too soon. Andres would become one of Manila’s most celebrated architects. (Don Telesforo Antonio Chuidian, whose revolutionary saber is offered also in this auction, was a godfather.) These mementoes of happy days were part of the Andres and Grace Luna de San Pedro papers that were re-discovered in New York and brought back to their home country.
Juan Luna Novicio (Badoc, Filipinas, 1857-Hong-Kong, 1899) Jarrón con flores. Óleo sobre lienzo. Firmado y localizado en París. Anotación manuscrita de Teresa Maldonado Chavarri, hija de Fernando Salabert Conde de Villagonzalo, indicando que la obra fue encargada al pintor filipino por Mª Cristina Fernández Brunetti Galloso de los Cobos, Duquesa de Mandas y Villanueva, en París en 1891 en la embajada española de dicha ciudad. Posteriormente fue regalado por la familia del embajador Don Fermin de Losada y Galloso a Don Fernando Salabert. Juan Luna fue discípulo de Lorenzo Guerrero en la Academia de Bellas Artes de la capital filipina. Se trasladó a Madrid para ampliar sus estudios en la Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, fue discípulo de Alejo Vera con el cual marcha a Roma donde estudia a los maestros del Renacimiento. Su obra está influida por el realismo plástico y por la obra de Eduardo Rosales. Posteriormente se instaló en París donde orienta su obra hacia un mundo cotidiano y más contemporáneo. 55,5 x 38 cm.
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) Portrait of a Young Lady signed (lower right) ca. 1886 oil on canvas 11 1/2" x 13 1/2" (29 cm x 34 cm) P 600,000 provenance Private Collection, Barcelona, Spain Art historians often muse : What would Juan Luna have become had his Parisian life not been stopped by his personal tragedy in September 1892. One of his most devoted biographers, E. Aguilar Cruz, wrote “When Luna arrived in Paris in 1885, the French Salon was dying; Impressionism had already passed its zenith, and Neo-Impressionism, its offshoot, was gathering force. From this, one might expect that Luna — already showing signs of discontent with Academism and with the limitations of Grand Manner painting — might have joined ranks with the Impressionists.” He continues, “In the crosscurrents of the different schools which competed for the distinction of representing the spirit of those times, painters like Luna were notable for maintaining their independence from the extremes of academic and anti-academic art. It was such that Luna made his mark as an artist worthy of the best.” By 1886, Luna was on his way to becoming a celebrity, not only among his fellow Filipinos who basked in the reflected glory of his triumph with the bemedalled Spoliarium but with the greater circle of European artists and critics. He had been toasted by José Rizal, was a friend of ilustrados such as Pedro Paterno and married the heiress Paz Pardo de Tavera. With his wife, he had two capacious villas on Rue Pergolese in Paris, one of them used only as his studio. As Aguilar Cruz would remark, ‘Some days, he would pack up his oils and brushes for painting holidays in the fashionable bathing resorts on the Channel coast.” There are works of his done in en plein aire of Noisy-le-Grand as well as of Brittany. This pocket portrait may have been created during one such expedition, painted on the fly, one of “the casual oil sketches” that Aguilar Cruz said “cannot conceal the vigor of his style as a realist.”
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) a) Portrait Study of a Gentleman b) Five Portrait Studies in Various Stages c) Untitled charcoal on paper a-b.) 7 1/2” x 4 1/2” (19 cm x 11 cm) c.) 4 1/2” x 7 1/2” (11 cm x 19 cm)
Juan Luna y Novicio (Badoc, Filipinas, 1857-Hong-Kong, 1899) "Figuras".Dos dibujos a carboncillo sobre papel en anverso y reverso. Firmado. 17 x 23 cm.
Juan Luna (1857 - 1899) View of Mariquina ca. 1895 signed (lower right) oil on canvas PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN On his way back to the Philippines, in Hong Kong, he died from a heart attack. Today, his remains are in a niche at the Crypt of the San Agustin Chur ch in the Philippines. This particular landscape piece featuring a Marikina view belongs to Luna’s homecoming period. It reveals his virtuosity in oil painting and his penchant for brown and bluish-gray hues as well as the use of browns over blue-greens. In View of Mariquina, readily seen is his masterful distinct brushwork, choice of dramatic color palette, and Romantic perspective. Luna was exposed to Renaissance painters in Rome. Rizal and Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Luna’s close friends, described his paintings as influenced by Rembrandt, Daumier, and Delacroix, dramatic and vibrant with visual qualities of Romanticism. Luna’s oeuvre was influenced by foreign academic classical canons, but it is significant to note that he has championed the greatness of the Filipino through his world-class art. - From the Archives of Ramon N. V illegas Estimate in USD $48000-$62400
