How the Bangko Sentral Built an Art Collection

(STOP.ph) Stepping into the five-level Brutalist building that holds the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) offices in Roxas Boulevard is like stepping into a different time. Much like entering its neighboring iconic buildings done in the same style and the same era—the 1970s—the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the PICC. With their sprawling lobbies and hallways, their pensive corners and rigid, serious facades, it’s no wonder they maintain some of the most formidable art collections in the country: They need something to lift things up.

“It’s one of the perks of working here,” says Jay Edward Amatong, Director of Corporate Affairs, as he walks us thru a hallway on one of the higher floors. If a BSP employee like Amatong still gets a thrill from being amongst these works on the daily, an art-loving first-time visitor would no doubt stop every few steps just to catch his breath—not from the walking but to marvel at, say, an Alcuaz hanging from a white wall, or a Juan Luna painting of a desolate beach scene peeking from a meeting room.

On the ground floor alone, just after the entrance, there’s a large Carlos “Botong” Francisco from 1962 called “The Wedding”—splashed on a wall just before one reaches the elevators. Take a few steps and there’s another work by Botong called “Barikan,” a mural also of a celebratory theme, depicting farmers drinking, unwinding. Turn your head and there’s another National Artist’s work: Vicente Manansala’s “Paraphrase of Luna’s Blood Compact” from 1979, done in the great Mang Enteng’s signature transparent cubism. A few floors up, a black and white version of it, from 1966, said to be a study, is displayed atop a glass case showcasing the modes of exchange during the Galleon Trade—a nice touch and subtle reminder to the viewer of the institution that houses the artwork.

According to Jaime Laya, former Central Bank governor—because the BSP was called Central Bank of the Philippines back in the day—it was Gregorio Licaros, who assumed the governorship in 1967, that started the art collection. This after moving its headquarters from the Intendencia Building in Intramuros to what was once the Philippine Navy compound at Fort San Antonio Abad in Malate. The earliest acquisitions were displayed in the public areas, the Executive Lounge, conference rooms, and senior executive offices. “Senior officers were also given a budget to acquire art work for their respective offices,” Laya tells SPOT.ph.

“As I recall, the Executive Lounge had a large Jose Blanco and a 5th floor waiting area had an Angelito Antonio. Offices of the Governor, Senior Deputy Governor, and the Deputy Governors had works that they acquired according to their respective tastes. Some were top works, including a Nena Saguil and a Fernando Zobel but some were relatively minor works from Mabini tourist shops.” 

Laya had been serving as Deputy Governor for Supervision and Examination in the institution for a few years when he was appointed Central Bank Governor in January 1981. “At some point, Governor Licaros asked me to recommend works for acquisition. I proposed and he approved the purchase of a couple of Ang Kiukoks.” 

When asked what he considers to be the major additions to the collection during his time, Laya names Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s “La Banca de Aqueronte” and “Las Virgenes Christianas Expuestas al Populacho” among the most important (the latter won silver at the 1884 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid), alongside Jose Honorato Lozano’s “Vista Parcial de Angono”; Simon Flores de la Rosa’s “Portrait of a Quiason Family”; and Fernando Amorsolo’s “Bathers,” this last one currently prominently displayed in the office of incumbent Governor Eli Remolona, Jr., a nice complement to the joyful, golden Jose Joya abstract behind his desk and office chair.

How were the art works acquired during Laya’s time? “I just passed the word around that the Central Bank was adding to its collection with emphasis on 19th and early 20th century works,” recalls Laya, known in the art world for his unerring eye when it comes to the visual arts. “That encouraged people including galleries, dealers, agents, collectors, and even old families to search for and offer works that may be of interest.”

Did the BSP reach out to artists or galleries? Were there pieces offered or donated by the artists themselves? “I don’t remember that any artist offered his or her work. However, some individuals on their own initiative, offered to donate works to the Central Bank. An American lady donated the beautiful Amorsolo portrait of her mother, for example.”

While Laya has worn many hats over the decades— among them Budget Secretary, UP Dean, Minister of Education, Culture and Sports, and for the past few years President and Director of Philtrust Bank—it is the role of Central Bank Governor that’s been most attached to the guy, alongside the work he did building the financial institution’s art collection during his tenure in the early 1980s.

During that brief period, he focused on acquiring 19th century pieces and other early Filipino works, having observed that there were only a few of the kind accessible to the public, “creating a gap in general awareness of the wealth of Philippine art and culture.” He was also concerned we might be losing important early works. “There was a possibility of the loss of fragile old works from deterioration or outright destruction,” he says, citing these examples: “A Simon de la Rosa painting had a hole and various scratches that had to be restored. The Damian Domingo painting on panel of a Saint had silver appliques that had been pried off and the missing paint and holes had to be put to order. Other works had grime or discolored varnish that had to be removed.” 

With preservation and conservation in mind as the driving forces for focusing on early Filipino art, it also didn’t hurt that at that time, “older works were generally as costly, often even cheaper, than newer works,” says Laya, and because there are always more contemporary works available anyway, compared to the early ones. The BSP can always acquire contemporary works later on to add to the collection.

“The National Museum had little or no acquisition funds and the Central Bank, with its own revenues, could appropriate a small part of its income for art work,” Laya explains. “The only other government offices that I knew had worthwhile works were Malacañang, TESDA, Development Academy of the Philippines, and Intramuros Administration (that I also headed). In my mind, as long as important works are in the public sector, whether a national or local government unit or a government owned or controlled corporation, these can be readily be exhibited and appreciated by the public.

“This is precisely what is happening now that many BSP works are on long term loan and several dozen on temporary exhibit with the National Museum and the Museum branch in Davao City.” 

Indeed, the BSP has been airing out select pieces from its vaults recently. And it sounds like—fingers crossed—it’s going to be a sustained, continuing effort. This past August, it opened a show at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila called “Kultura. Kapital. Kasalukuyan: Contemporary Art from the BSP Collection,” lending to the cultural institution paintings and sculptures from some of the most important names in art from the past half century, from Antonio Austria who is known for his Philippine-themed images (jeepneys, jukeboxes, planting rice, et al), to the avant garde art star of the 1980s, Cesare A.X. Syujco. The show, which will run up to November 2027, occupies two galleries in the museum. And while that may sound like a lot, that’s only 35 large works, a minuscule fraction really of the vast art collection of the BSP. Additionally, over a hundred pieces from its masters and classics collection are spread across the museum’s different exhibitions.

We can only imagine how many more treasures like this can be showcased in upcoming BSP shows. At the gala opening, Laya spoke very positively of the National Museum and BSP collaboration as leading “the way towards a more vibrant artistic environment, one that encourages appreciation, creation and patronage,” he said. “Removing works from their original places and assembling them elsewhere benefits the latter but deprives the former. Temporary loans for a special and defined show for an agreed period benefits the borrower and encourages and motivates the lender.” 

Of course it would be a dream if the BSP itself builds its own art museum and opens it to the public, something we would wager has been suggested to its leaders many times over the years. 

With Laya’s exit from the BSP in 1984, following his appointment as Minister of Education, Culture and Sports, the acquisition of artworks would also cease within the institution. It will resume only in 2005 when Amando Tetangco, Jr would become Governor. He assembled a committee that will advise the BSP on acquiring additions to the art collection. In charge of the group was then Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo and members included Laya, former National Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Manila president Cora Alvina, former Alliance Francais president Deanna Ongpin, and art critic Cid Reyes.

“On the Committee’s recommendation, the BSP acquired contemporary works including a commission to National Artist Benjamin Cabrera who was previously unrepresented. Many of these additions are in the ongoing exhibit of BSP works in the National Museum,” Laya tells Spot.

The Kultura. Kapital. Kasalukuyan show is divided into two parts: Pagmulat is very social realist, composed of powerful works that depict the plight of the working Filipino and how artists have responded to the changing times; while Pagtanaw embodies the post-80s artistic expression, more diverse and introspective, free to explore uncharted territory. Included in the latter are works by Riel Hilario, Geraldine Javier, Elaine Navas, Marina Cruz, Patricia Perez Eustaqio, and in the former, works by Danilo Dalena, Antonio Austria, and yes, BenCab who is represented by a work of etching and ink on paper from 1977, depicting a pair of lovely Filipinas in traditional garb.

“It occurs to me that artists and central bank economists are not all that different,” said Governor Remollona in his speech during the gala opening of the National Museum exhibition. “Both build new worlds, maybe imagined worlds. Both challenge norms and both imagine the future. The artist constructs these worlds through brushstrokes or found objects, such as a toilet seat—like Marcel Duchamp. Economists will do it through complicated equations or mathematical models. This is why I love both. I love both art and economics.”