Metrobank offers a rare peek at Philippine art history

For the first time in Metrobank’s more than 50-year history, the Metrobank Platinum Mastercard presents Masterpieces from The Metrobank Collection, an exhibit of 14 masterpieces from the bank’s much vaunted art collection, currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

On display –— many for the first time – are paintings from some of the most revered names in Philippine art history, including Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo, Vicente Manansala, Ang Kiukok, H. R. Ocampo, Jose Joya, Cesar Legaspi, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Mauro Malang, Federico Alcuaz, Diosdado Lorenzo and Victorio Edades.

A Long Love Affair With Philippine Art

With the publicity generated by the eight-figure hammer prices of artworks by Luna, Manansala and Magsaysay-Ho at recent international auction houses, there has been a surge in the popularity of Filipino paintings. Art is now a part of today’s lifestyles. Nowadays, many local magazines identify art pieces in featured homes, a practice that was absent a few years ago. Long before the interest in art, Metrobank has been building a its collection since the 1970s, when the bank foresaw the potential of fine art as sound investment. The collection covers a wide selection of artists, including recognized names such as Luna, Amorsolo and Manansala, but also relatively high-risk investments – at that time – like Edades and his approach to Filipino rural life that was removed from Amorsolo’s style and the then- relative-unknown Ang Kiukok who was considered extremely avant-garde 30 years ago. It is a credit to Metrobank’s foresight that these investments have paid off more than a hundred times over.

The Masterpieces

The pieces in the Met show, spanning from the late 19th century, as embodied by Luna, to the modern masters, like Kiukok and Magsaysay-Ho, were culled from Metrobank’s extensive collection of over 1,000 pieces by Met director Ino Manalo, with the assistance of Metrobank’s Angie Dy Buncio and Aloysius Alday Jr. The team selected noteworthy paintings distinctive of each artist’s style and body of work, representative of the past century of Philippine art and those that offer an interpretation of a broad spectrum of genres.

Archetypal works from the most significant artists of the past century are included, except for Botong Francisco and Felix R. Hidalgo because the Met’s conservators advised against moving the selected works from Metrobank’s collection. The Hidalgo was deemed too fragile to be moved, while the mural-sized Botong was too big to be transferred safely and would put a strain on the painting, not to mention the need to dismantle the door and, perhaps, part of the wall of the Metrobank conference room where it is currently installed.

In terms of genre, figurative pieces range from the European-influenced work of Luna and Amorsolo’s very Filipino depiction of rural life to Manansala’s cubist figures and Magsaysay-Ho’s modern and chiseled female form. Abstractions are well represented by the traditional approach of Joya, the geometric shapes of Ocampo and the mechanical qualities of Kiukok. Rounding out the collection are a still life by Malang and landscapes representing Amorsolo’s cityscape, Kiukok’s junkscape and Manansala’s traffic scenes. The showpieces were intelligently selected not just for aesthetic appeal but also for their wide representation of Philippine art along numerous lines of distinction.

Corporate Responsibility To The Arts

Perhaps more significant than the bank’s storied history with Philippine art or even the collection itself is the generosity, commitment and acknowledgement of corporate responsibility by Metrobank’s management.

One of the problems encountered by individuals who thirst for an art education is the difficulty of personally experiencing great Filipino art as so many of the pieces are in private collections never to be seen in public. This makes Metrobank’s munificence even more impressive as so few private corporations or individuals are willing to lend their collections to galleries or museums for viewing.

This generosity and support extends as far back as 1984, when the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence Awards for painting, sculpture and interior design were inaugurated. These awards were partly instituted to give people something to be hopeful for in reaction to the despair and despondence of the time following the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. The awards have since been given every year, becoming one of the most prestigious awards given to Filipino artists and a good indicator of future masters of Philippine art.

With such commitment to the arts, Metrobank sets the bar and will hopefully help fuel a culture of corporate and private lending. At the very least, Masterpieces from The Metrobank Collection will go a long way in public art education and will hopefully be just the first in a string of regular exhibitions that give a rare opportunity to enjoy one of the preeminent collections of Philippine art anywhere in the world.

Masterpieces from The Metrobank Collection runs until Dec. 21 at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Blvd., Manila. For inquiries, call 521-1517 and 523-0613 or e-mail art4all@info.com.ph. For inquiries on the Metrobank Platinum Mastercard, call 870-0707.

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