{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":22366,"auction_id":25,"set_id":44,"lot_number":"106","artist":"Lee Aguinaldo (1933 - 2007)","title":"Crazy No. 1 ","starting_price":600000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1983 (verso) ","medium":"image transfer, paper collage \nand acrylic on plywood ","size":"12.4” x 11.4” (31.5 cm x 29 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":null,"exhibited":"Herrera, Ma. Victoria, et al. The Life and Art of\nLee Aguinaldo. Vibal Foundation, Inc. and Ateneo\nArt Gallery. Quezon City. 2011. p. 117.","literature":null,"write_up":"Melba Arribas met Lee Aguinaldo in 1977 before she\nwent to the United States for her modeling stint,\nhaving no clue that the one she encountered was\nan artist. Melba came back to The Philippines in 1980, and in a\nsudden twist of fate, crossed paths with the esteemed artist at\na party at the Hobbit House. The two eventually developed an\nintimate connection, fell in love, and were never separated since\nthen. After Aguinaldo’s heart surgery and their “carefree and\nturbulent moments,” Melba lived a more structured and sensible\nrelationship with the artist.
\nMelba never thought that the day would come when she would\nhave to eventually let go of his lover’s masterpieces. It was only\nuntil after some enlightenment from close friends that she said\nto herself — it is time.
\nTechie Ysmael-Bilbao and her brothers, Louie and Ramoncito,\nwere great friends of Lee (as what Melba called the renowned\nvirtuoso) and his brothers, Norman and Victor. Tita Chona,\nthe former’s mother always accompanied the artist’s parents\nduring yachting excursions. One afternoon, she said to Melba\nto consider entrusting to León Gallery the very private and\nmost cherished works of Aguinaldo during their time together.\nHaving reestablished a connection with Techie and reminisced\ntheir splendid fashion moments that represented a glorious\nperiod in their lives, Melba decided to relinquish other offers and\nbestowed to León Gallery “with much trust, confidence, and\nadmiration” her beloved’s renowned works of art.\nLee Aguinaldo belonged to the first generation of Philippine abstractionists in\nthe 1950s. Recognized for his gestural, minimalist hard-edged, and color field\npaintings, he revitalized the Philippine modern abstract movement. He also\nbecame one of the pioneers of pop art in the local art scene, incorporating images\nfrom fashion magazines into his works. Although he never received any formal\ntraining in the arts, he nevertheless developed his skills and artistry, stylistically\nimitating the works of the artists he admired such as Rembrandt, Jackson Pollock,\nJohannes Vermeer, and Mark Rothko.
\nIn 1973, Cid Reyes once asked Aguinaldo the question of how paramount it is to\nhave an idiosyncratic Philippine view in art, in which he answered: “I don’t think\nit is really that important. The important thing is for Filipinos to create an art that\ncan hold its own – in quality – to the art of all other countries.” From emulating\nother artists, he eventually created the Galumph series. According to him, this\nwas inspired by Robert Motherwell and integrated magazine images and pages\nfrom Harper’s Bazaar magazine with transient hues with gestural brushstrokes,\nusing mostly acrylic on wood. Aguinaldo was credited for bringing the acrylic\nmethod into the professional artist’s technique, with this particular art piece as\na fine example of his utilization of acrylic as a medium. He emerged as one of\nthe sought-after artists of the 1950s to 1990s for his avant-garde, linear lines,\nand drip-style paintings. Along with his friends and contemporaries Arturo Luz,\nRoberto Chabet, and Fernando Zóbel who acted as his mentor, his artistry was\nhighly regarded as esoteric and structured.","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Lee Aguinaldo (1933 - 2007) Crazy No. 1 signed and dated 1983 (verso) image transfer, paper collage and acrylic on plywood 12.4” x 11.4” (31.5 cm x 29 cm)