EDITORIAL - Let’s better secure our artworks

The recent brouhaha over the stolen Boljoon pulpit panels as well as the vandalism in several sites during the recent Gabii sa Kabilin in Cebu City called attention to the vulnerabilities of our museums, heritage sites, and other places of interest when it comes to those who merely want to do a little defacing or, worse, actually make off with a little bit of history.

Now it seems we have another case of this with the theft of a painting by national artist Fernando Amorsolo from a private museum in Silay City, Negros Oriental.

In a Facebook post last Friday, Silay Heritage reported the theft of Amorsolo’s Mango Harvesters (1936) from the Hofileña Museum.

As of this writing the investigation continues. Unlike the saga of the Boljoon pulpit panels which will likely see a semi-happy ending with the return of four of the five stolen panels, we are not sure how this will turn out.

But then again we should dare to hope. Not all is lost when it comes to stolen art. After all, the acknowledged most famous painting in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, was stolen in 1911 then recovered in 1913. Edvard Munch’s surreal “The Scream” was stolen twice, first in 1994 recovered that same year, and again in 2004 and recovered in 2006.

But, as with everything else, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Without any intent of victim shaming, we say better measures must be taken to secure our precious works of art. We should learn from what happened in Boljoon. We should learn from what happened during the Gabii sa Kabilin. We should learn from what happened at the Hofileña Museum.

The years a painting disappears equals the years it cannot be appreciated by the public. Who knows? During that time an aspiring painter could have seen it and been inspired by it, and as a result he or she may eventually rise to prominence in talent, maybe even become a national artist someday?