Parisian Life valuable for being a great artist’s work

Okay, so we did stir up a hornet’s nest, especially in the plush offices of the Ayala Corporation, when we wrote that article last Friday, wherein we said that we should not be looking only at movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) as a potential presidential contender for the 2004 elections. We suggested that we should also look for someone in the caliber of Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Jaza), who revealed a very rare talent in seeing something very positive in what most political pundits or politicians considered as our nation’s biggest negative... that our nation’s diaspora was a huge economic advantage to the Philippines because of the $8 billion remitted to our country annually, and best of all... we don’t have any serious competition in this industry.

I’d like to point out that this was something I cooked up myself... no one from the Ayala Group ever talked to me, nor suggested to me anything of this sort. It just so happened that quite coincidentally, former President Fidel V. Ramos was headlined in The STAR as looking for a young standard bearer and what do you know, Jaza came up with that unexpected speech (yes, I said it sounded like a State of the Nation Address) and voila! That gave me an idea! Allow me to quote Bobby Kennedy who once quipped, "Some people see things as they are and ask, why? I see things as they should and ask... why not?

When a bunch of nobodies took the opportunity to launch the FPJ for President Movement during the Sinulog, I asked myself "why FPJ"? Well, the following day, I read in The STAR what Jaza said about our OFWs and something clicked in my head asking... why not Jaza? As they say, for evil to flourish, good men simply just do nothing! Well, I’m doing something, okay?

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I was the last person in Shoemart to see Juan Luna’s "Parisian Life" last Tuesday because when I got there, the guards were already shutting the doors down as they were preparing to pack it for shipment back to Manila. As you know, this painting caused many mini-debates for or against its purchase.

Now, I’ve seen a lot of paintings in numerous museums, from the Vatican to the Museum of Natural History in New York. So if you ask my humble opinion on what I think of this painting, let me tell it to you straight... it wasn’t a great painting and mediocre paintings such as these should never have created such a ruckus in the first place! Honestly, I’ve met many local artists who could paint a better one than that. During the exhibit, the "Parisian Life" was the only painting hanging on the wall... hence it didn’t have to compete with other paintings for comparison’s sake.

If there’s any painting that made Juan Luna a great artist, it’s his "Spolarium," which is undoubtedly a great painting. Now if he only came up with his "Parisian Life," I doubt if there’d even be a street named after him. Hence, the value of "Parisian Life" is not because it is a great work of art, but rather, because it was done by a great artist and since he is already dead... there’s no other painting like this one even if it’s just a mediocre painting.

As the old saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I’m sure that there are those who believe that "Parisian Life" is even a greater painting than the "Spolarium." It’s akin to watching clouds in the sky. Some people see different images in the clouds. Some think it looks like a nuclear explosion mushroom, others see a face of a man, while others see nothing but clouds.

For me, the only real value of the "Parisian Life" is that Juan Luna painted it. As an example, certain drawings scribbled by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael or Michangelo have become priceless treasures... even if these were just simple drawings of works that they were intending to do. So if you’re lucky enough to find something that Juan Luna may have scribbled... that might just fetch you a hefty sum, the way "Parisian Life" did.

But now that GSIS General Manager Winston Garcia has allowed Cebuanos a taste of the work of Juan Luna by displaying the "Parisian Life," I believe he owes the Cebuanos to show us the famous "Spolarium," Juan Luna’s greatest painting, for display here in Cebu. The last time I saw this painting, it was hanging at the National Museum. Now to answer the most controversial question whether it was worth buying the "Parisian Life"... as a work of art, my answer is a big fat no! But since this was one of the works of Juan Luna, then I agree it should be together with our other national treasures.

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Finally, after more than a month, the five men belonging to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who figured in the Dec. 13th near massacre found their tongues and officially said that what happened last Dec. 13th to the unfortunate employees of Plantation Bay Resort was an "honest mistake!" Came now, if they where really honest about this mistake, why did it take them so long to say or admit it? Well, honest or not, the least that these NBI agents, including those terminated "confidential agents," would be liable of is attempted homicide through reckless imprudence.

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Last Thursdays, former New People’s Army (NPA) chief Romulo "Rolly" Kintanar, who is related to the Kintanars of Cebu, 2nd District Rep. Simeon "Sim" Kintanar, Cebu City Councilor Vicente Kintanar and Gen. Galileo Kintanar, was gunnned down at the Kamameshi House Japanese restaurant in Quezon City by two unidentified men who pumped 10 bullets of .45 caliber pistol into his body. Rolly who died on the spot. Who could have killed Rolly who spent 25 years of his life as a communist rebel?

While we shouldn’t jump into conclusions, we can only reckon that since, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Chairman Jose Maria Sison openly declared him a traitor to their cause back in 1994 and the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) sentenced him to death, his killing could have been ordered by Joma and the ABB. This happened to Popoy Lagman and anyone who leaves the communist movement. So, who’s next in this NPA purge? Whoever said that the Communists wants peace? They just want to kill people, that’s what!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected] Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8 p.m.