Art, Furniture from Geny Lopez Collection Up for Bids

(SPOT.ph) If you’ve been following the Leon Gallery auctions the last few years, you’d know that some of the best art and antique pieces have been coming from the collection of the late media titan Eugenio Lopez Jr. The well-loved former president of ABS-CBN possessed a sophisticated eye when it came to art. He knew how to spot not only what’s beautiful but also what’s important and what would become forever cool. 

Pieces from the Geny Lopez collection started showing up at Leon Gallery auctions back in 2020, affording art aficionados a chance to see rare works from masters like Fabian dela Rosa and modernists Lee Aguinaldo and Juan Arellano, and for collectors to own them. The art works ran the gamut from the traditional impressionist paintings to very modern gems. Just last March, for the auction that benefited the Asian Cultural Council (which gives grants to deserving Filipino artists going on residencies abroad), among the biggest sellers included a signed Ben Cabrera from 2008 which sold for P24M, a spectacular Jose Joya from 1961 which sold for P24M as well, and an example of a Transparent-Cubism work by Vicente Manansala from 1968 for P19.2M. All from the collection of El Kapitan.

Also read: This Man Can Sell Millions of Art in One Afternoon—What's His Secret?

Prices of artworks in the Geny Lopez collection

Those who would like to own a work from the Geny Lopez collection but don’t have the kind of millions yet to splurge on big ticket pieces should check out this weekend’s online auction, Leon Gallery’s 31st. If you think all of the pieces from Lopez’s art stash are tagged with prohibitive starting prices, you’d be glad to know there are art works in this sale that are below P1M and even lots that are in the P20,000 to P30,000 range. 

If you ask us, we’d seriously consider the 1968 work by Joya done in colored marking ink (starting price is P160K), or the BenCab nude from 2007, oil pastel on paper (starts at P550K), or a Cesar Legaspi charcoal on paper nude from 1971 (starts at P80K). 

But the bulk of the Geny Lopez lots in the online auction are furniture pieces, from a mesa altar in the Batangas style (made of balayong with bone and lanite inlay, P400K starting) to a B&B Italia sectional sofa by Antonio Citterio. An exquisite 19th century Continental Chinoiserie divider consisting of six leather panel screens is also on sale at a P200K starting price. 

How to bid online

To bid online, you need only to create an account on Leon's bidding platform leonexchange.com (you're only going to be asked for your name and contact info; no need to divulge credit card details). Next, check out the entire catalogue and keep track of the lots that have caught your fancy—just click on the Track Your Lots link. Step 3: On the day of the auction, just click Bid Online on leonexchange.com to start bidding. After the auction, expect an invoice containing info on your “payment, pickup and logistics.” If you’re a registered user, you can place your bids in advance. “Simply enter the amount you wish to bid and hit Place Bid," the Leon Gallery Instagram says. 

The online auction this weekend covers two days: Saturday, April 20, is for art, or The Collectors' Vault; Sunday, April 21, is dedicated to Heiresses' Homes and Tables. Both begin at 11AM.