León Gallery once again opens another art-filled year with its traditional annual partnership with The Asian Cultural Council to commemorate and celebrate the visionary artistry of the Filipino.
ACC Philippines Chairman Ernest L. Escaler remarked that León Gallery and the Asian Cultural Council have, for the past eleven years, “have stood side by side in a shared vision—to champion the arts as a force that transcends borders, sparks dialogue, and shapes cultural leadership.”
“This year’s benefit art auction is held on Valentine’s Day as an ode to love in its most enduring form: love for the arts, love for generosity, and love for helping others realize their creative potential,” Escaler said.
Meanwhile, Leon Gallery Director Jaime Ponce de Leon shared, “The spirit of collaboration and partnership runs deep in this year’s edition of the Asian Cultural Council Auction. This year, we are celebrating 11 years of our fruitful partnership with a foundation that has always remained committed to championing the virtuoso of the Filipino artist by allowing him to spread his creative wings on foreign shores.”
“Our major highlights for this year’s ACC auction underscore the remarkable collaborations between our esteemed Filipino artists,” added Ponce de Leon.
Paglaom Padayon is a monumental mural-sized painting created by the Sanggawa group, an artists’ collective that was composed by former Salingpusa group members and now influential forces in the contemporary art scene: Elmer Borlongan, Mark Justiniani, Joy Mallari, Karen Flores, and Federico Sievert. The title is a Cebuano phrase that translates to “move forward with hope” and is a modern-day homage to Botong Francisco’s iconic 1964 mural Filipino Struggles Through History. Paglaom Padayon encapsulates the Filipino people’s collective power, fueled by a shared vision and hope for the nation’s advancement.
Another collaborative mural-sized painting is Mauro Malang Santos’ collaboration with his two beloved sons, Soler and Steve. Painted in 2000, the new millennium, the colossal work marked Malang’s 72nd birthday and his four-decades in the art scene.
Patricio Gaston O’Farrell, the favorite student of the great Juan Luna, graces this auction with a copy of his mentor’s now-lost 1887 masterpiece, titled Portrait of Christ, depicting the weary Jesus as he is presented to Pontius Pilate for his trial. Portrait of Christ serves as a surviving memento of Luna’s lost work, which he painted four months after his marriage to Paz Pardo de Tavera in order to prove his religious piety to her wife.
Another work by O’Farrell, Sumbungan, depicts the betrayal of the Katipunan by a katipunero, Teodoro Patiño, who divulged the existence of the revolutionary group to Fr. Mariano Gil, then the parish priest of Tondo. The painting is one of O’Farrell’s last works, painted a year before he died in 1942. Both Portrait of Christ and Sumbungan came from the collection of Gaston O’Farrell’s daughter, Edith.
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo’s Bois de Boulogne immortalizes the esteemed ilustrado’s favorite urban refuge during his 17-year Parisian period, one that captured and witnessed the melancholies of his heart and soul. On the other hand, Fernando Amorsolo’s Site of U.P. Diliman, painted in 1947, captures the then-countryside expanse of what would become the future location of the country’s prestigious national university. When Amorsolo painted this work, he was serving as the director of the UP School of Fine Arts. Another important Amorsolo painting is the 1933 work Marikina, acquired by Alex Frieder, who persuaded President Manuel Quezon to create a safe haven for Jews fleeing the Holocaust in Europe. The result was the establishment of the Jewish Refugee Committee of the Philippine Islands in the late 1930s, which was responsible for saving the lives of more than a thousand Jews from Germany and Austria.
Anita Magsaysay-Ho and her quaint Barrio Scene is one of her first paintings as a newlywed woman, marrying the Chinese magnate Robert Ho, and thus, one of her first works signed with the iconic “Anita Magsaysay-Ho.” It was acquired by Paul H. Woods, once the president of the influential American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and also a former president of the Philippine subsidiary of the International Harvesters Company, an American manufacturer of agricultural equipment, machinery, and tractors.
Also an important work is Danilo Dalena’s America, which is a surviving work for an intended series, the Port Authority Series that would have embodied his satirical impressions of the United States he visited and witnessed in the 80s. The Filipino iconoclast and provocateur Manuel Ocampo stands out with his 1990 mixed media masterpiece, Murio la Verdad.
A portion of the proceeds from this annual auction will help fund various ACC grants for Filipino and other Asian artists and arts-based practitioners.
Escaler eagerly invites everyone to participate in this momentous occasion, “On this day of love, we invite you to be part of a collective effort that strengthens our cultural ecosystem and affirms the lasting power of art to inspire, connect, and transform.”
G/F Eurovilla 1, Rufino corner, Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City, Philippines
Office: +632 856 2781 / +63 928 507 0445 | Web: info@leon-gallery.com / www.leon-gallery.com
The Asian Cultural Council Auction is happening this February 14, 2026, 2 PM, at Eurovilla 1, Rufino corner Legazpi Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City. Preview week is from February 7 to 13, 2026, 9 AM to 7 PM. For further inquiries, email info@leon-gallery.com or contact +632 8856-27-81. To browse the catalog, visit www.leon-gallery.com.
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