Amid the impressive art and antiques up for bid that fill the dramatically-lit Eurovilla I display rooms, it’s hard not to miss the personalities who regularly attend such affairs: bold-faced names in society, business, culture, art and antique collecting as they mingle with the hush-hush and under-the-radar crowd.
Not bad indeed for the eponymous firm founded in 2010 by the affable yet keenly astute Jaime Ponce de Leon. From a modest art and antique dealership housed at the ground floor of the Corinthian Plaza in Makati where it currently maintains an expanded space for changing art exhibitions, León Gallery got its foot in the auction business almost serendipitously three years later.
A serendipitous start
In 2013 the Insurance Commission (IC) ordered the liquidation of the Alba family’s PrudentiaLife Plans Inc., which like similar pre-need industry players had collapsed unceremoniously.
“A lawyer-friend dropped by casually and asked if we could help dispose of the 54 paintings in their [PrudentiaLife] collection,” recounts the Dumagete-born Ponce de Leon. “We offered to broker the pieces, which included works by Amorsolo and Joya, but the company mandate was to auction.”
The León Gallery director readily admits that he had zero knowledge in auctions but, taking the plunge, said yes anyway. “If I don’t take it, somebody else will.”
Emboldened by the success of this initial effort with all lots sold, Jaime pursued art and antique auctions in earnest, which were then-held at the AIM Conference Center, conveniently located within walking distance of Corinthian Plaza.
“When we were already doing auctions I wanted León to be the place where collectors and families could entrust their prized art pieces,” says Jaime of his early vision.
He also took up short courses at Sotheby’s and Christie's and most recently, at the Harvard Business School to deepen his knowledge. His frequent travels overseas also help him stay abreast with trends and styles, which he says is crucial.
Mounting estate sales
Aggressively building on his vision, León Gallery has since carved and cemented its niche by mounting estate sales from prominent individuals, akin to Christie’s 2017 auction, “Betsy Bloomingdale: A Life in Style” or Sotheby’s “The William K. du Pont Collection: A Holy Grail of Americana” two years ago.
“I think we were able to expand in this area as happy and satisfied clients became our ‘prophets’ in the business,” says Jaime.
Among the prominent personages whose collections León has handled were that of Doña Nene Tuason-Quimson, Doña Margarita Zobel de Ayala, Don Benito Legarda Jr., Joe and Nene Guevarra -- an enviable who’s who in various fields of endeavor.
Auctioning historical pieces
And then there are the historical documents (such as the last letter of Bonifacio which was included in a previous auction) and artifacts (a sculpture of Josephine Bracken by Jose Rizal which will be auctioned on Nov. 30, 2024) which have drawn equal amounts of attention and, as expected, much controversy.
Explains Jaime: “The good thing with auctions is that it encourages collectors who possess historical documents to sell due to the outstanding prices achieved. At auction, the images and details are all made available publicly hence historians could peruse the letters which sometimes fill the missing portions of our history.”
(An “Extremely Rare and Historically Important Letter from Andres Bonifacio to Emilio Jacinto” dated 24 April 1897 was sold for P5.6 million in 2018)
With historians like Ambeth Ocampo and Xiao Chua lending their voices and expertise to such efforts, Ponce de Leon further says that if these documents are sold privately between dealers and collectors, the public will not have the opportunity to know of their existence.
Of romance, trust
Auctions are very romantic, declares Ponce de Leon, and as a means to “tell stories of pieces that need to be told,” León Gallery invests in producing videos that he hopes are informative and engaging. “We try to tell them as best we can.”
But beyond romance, there’s trust, and Jaime is proud to say that “no one has questioned our integrity in handling auctions.”
Toward this end, León Gallery consults respective experts for certain artists like Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo for Fernando Amorsolo and Christian Aguilar for Federico Aguilar-Alcuaz. Otherwise, they rely on seasoned collectors or artists familiar with the works of deceased artists for verification.
This due diligence can perhaps explain how, for example, Amorsolo’s “Under the Mango Tree” (1929) set a new auction record having been sold at P57, 676,800 during the previous Magnificent September Auction.
Ultimately, says Jaime, all the efforts and resources that León Gallery pours into its auctions is not only for the purpose of staying ahead of competition, but to ensure that trust, confidence, and integrity is maintained among clients amidst a volatile global art market.
“Because they can trust us, we try our best to be consistent in everything we do.”
León Gallery’s Kingly Treasures Auction will be held on Nov. 30, 2024 at 2 p.m. at the G/F, Eurovilla 1, VA Rufino cor. Legazpi Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City.
Features Reporter
