Our national treasures (6)

A Princely Gift to the Nation: The Far East Bank Luna Collection consisting of 33 oil paintings and sketches by Juan Luna (with eight painted on two sides) and one portrait of Luna by equally famous painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo.

This collection is perhaps the only basis for our estimation of the total worth of Luna’s paintings, because of the decades that have elapsed and the turbulence of his family life that no exact amount can be derived to determine the exact worth of his works he left for his countrymen to inherit.

“The Masters’ Hall of the National Museum in the old Congress has never looked better. Walls covered in dark green brocade, a fresh coat of paint on the Corinthian columns and elegant flooring.

“Dead ahead, as it were, is the enormous Spoliarium, Juan Luna’s 1894 Madrid prizewinner of fallen gladiators being dragged to the crematorium.”

“Wonderful it is — a large hall with a faintly Victorian look that so nicely complements the paintings that glitter like jewels (through the latest in the halogen lamps) against a dark green background. Unlike most art exhibits, a brochure is helpfully available to guide viewers.”

“Still and all, Far East’s is a princely gift to the nation. It has enriched the National Museum and has done art scholars a service, preserving in one place much of what Luna’s studio contained when he passed away.”

“Painter Juan Luna had put the PhilIppines on the European art map by besting their best with his prize-winning Spoliarium. Having shot and killed in a jealous rage his wife and, for good measure, his mother in law, Luna returned to Manila.”

“How the Luna paintings reached the Master’s Hall as the ‘FEBTC Bequest’ is a fascinating story, one of those multi-installment mysteries on which art and history buffs thrive.”

Now to arrive at our layman’s view on the total worth of the “Far East Bequest,” here is how to my understanding the expert, Dr. Laya himself, presented it.

“The price first quoted is a long way away from the P45 million that Far East is rumored to have paid for whatever it was that it got, the P58 million that the National Museum is to have valued now on display, and the P135 million tax valuation that the museum is supposed to have placed on the entire collection.”

“Ignoring the time value of money and such esoterica, if Far East charges to expense a P135 million donation, then it saved P47 million in taxes (P135 million times the corporate income tax rate of 35 percent). If the bank indeed paid P45 million for the collection, spent P2 million for restoration (as it is also rumored) and saved P47 million in taxes, then the bank got the donation effectively for free, the entire cost being borne by government in the form of taxes foregone.”

“No point in envying all the profit made by the intermediaries (P45 million less $300 thousand plus proceeds from items squirreled) and bewailing taxes foregone. The important thing is that Manilans now have more paintings to enjoy, thanks to Far East Bank.”

Culture and development, the qualitative and the quantitative artists and managers, together they work to achieve common goals.

Resistance to change is common in a business and arts setting alike. Managers therefore have to make sure that major changes are well understood by all that any explanations and training are undertaken prior to and during implementation.

Change in budget allocation for example can result in culture shock all around, but all sides if quickly adjusted and rediscovered that most problems can be solved and harmony achieved with good will, understanding and old fashioned give and take. Artists and managers are different from drummers as they move to the same goal, like letters and figures that combined become letras y figuras, a creative and splendid work of art.