León Gallery opened its doors recently to one of its annual highlights, The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction 2025. This marks their 15th year of successfully curating and celebrating Filipino art! Not missing an opportunity to see these pieces up close, I excitedly joined the preview cocktails event with a room full of art aficionados and dear friends.

This year’s works include some of the stunning and sought-after pieces by Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Fernando Amorsolo, and a rare set of Retana’s Archivo del Bibliófilo Filipino, among others. I was also drawn to the cubist works of National Artist Vicente Manansala, specifically From the Market (1975), which was his iconic self-portrait with his wife Hilda Diaz. He was a master of his craft, indeed. This gorgeous piece sold for over P36 million, I believe! Every piece was precious, all worth thousands to millions of pesos — a testament to our culture’s craft excellence.

I look forward to the next curation of pieces. As always, a splendid job to the team behind León Gallery for keeping these pieces in pristine condition and preserving our artists’ legacy. Cheers!