{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":5666,"auction_id":8,"set_id":11,"lot_number":"572","artist":"Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932 - 2011)","title":"Lady","starting_price":50000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1974 (upper left)","medium":"watercolor on paper","size":"19 1/2” x 14 1/2” (50 cm x 37 cm)","property":"PROPERTY FROM THE LARRY CRUZ COLLECTION","coa":"León Gallery wishes to thank Mr. Christian Aguilar for confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":null,"exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"Lorenzo “Larry” J. Cruz is best remembered as the\nrenowned Filipino restaurateur who pioneered concept\nrestaurants in the Philippines, the man who “shaped\nPhilippine café society,” according to Thelma Sioson San Juan. He\nfounded the LJC Restaurant Group, the company operating some\nof the country’s beloved and iconic restaurants, including Café\nAdriatico (which transformed Malate into the hippest district of its\ntime), Abé, Café Havana, Bistro Remedios, and Fely J’s Kitchen. He\nwas born to artist, writer, art critic, and gourmet bon vivant Emilio\nAguilar “Abe” Cruz and short story writer Felicidad de JesusCruz, both of whom hailed from the country’s culinary capital,\nPampanga.
\n\nDue to his parent’s artistic background, it is no surprise that Cruz\ninherited their artistic relish. He was the man behind two other\nMalate icons, ABC Gallery and antique shop Koleksyon, both\nfounded in the ‘70s. Cruz also founded Metro Magazine in the\n1980s, which pioneered the glossy magazine and is now the\ncountry’s premier fashion lifestyle magazine.
\nAlfred Yuson writes in the book Malate, A Matter of Taste: “Larry\nCruz, with painter-architect Agustin Goy, gave the first Good\nHousekeeping seal for a business establishment’s use of old\nwood, antique motifs, santos, quaint lamps, stained glass, which\nwe now see embellishing most homes of Filipinos taking pride in\nancestry and unique identity.”
\nThese pieces from Cruz’s collection encapsulate the man’s refined\nand cultivated taste. The three painters behind these works all\nmounted exhibitions at Cruz’s ABC Galleries (Mendoza in 1974\nand Alcuaz in 1976). Interestingly, Mendoza and Malang were\ngood friends with Cruz’s father, whose collection also included\nAlcuaz’s works. Through these works, the memory of Larry Cruz\nas a connoisseur of the finest will forever be enshrined. (A.M.)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932 - 2011) Lady signed and dated 1974 (upper left) watercolor on paper 19 1/2” x 14 1/2” (50 cm x 37 cm)