Connecting the dots with Nena Saguil

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AN EXHIBIT featuring rare and representative works from every decade of artist Nena Saguil’s career will be shown from Sept. 26 to 28 at the Discovery Primea hotel.

The exhibit, titled saliNlahi: Connecting The Dots with Nena Saguil, is presented by the Art House in collaboration with the Nena Saguil estate.

“It’s really to showcase Nena Saguil as a very iconic Filipino female artist in the current day,” said Art House founder Carlo Pineda in a speech during a press conference at the Discovery Primea hotel on Sept. 16. Earlier this year, Art House also mounted a Nena Saguil exhibit. “We believe that there’s a lot more to understand about her practice, the different eras of her pieces, and the discipline that she put in her practice.”

Artist Marika Constantino, collaborating with Art House as the curator of the exhibit, said, “Salinlahi is an exhibition that bridges the different decades of Nena Saguil’s life. From the ’50s to the ’90s, we have representative artworks that will be featured in the show.”

CHANGES THROUGH THE YEARS
Nena Saguil (1914-1994) studied Art at the University of the Philippines under Fernando Amorsolo, thus influencing her own more figurative work during her early period. In time, she would come to be one of the pioneers of the Filipino Modernist school, counting among her contemporaries National Artists Vicente Manansala and Arturo Luz. Ms. Saguil was posthumously granted the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2006.

“We also find out how all these different decades are actually representations of her different styles and techniques, or manner, thinking, or even her health,” Ms. Constantino said, pointing at some pieces produced in the ’90s, during a period of failing eyesight before the artist died in Paris in 1994.

Her brother Ben Saguil, present at the press conference, said in a statement, “There were several phases in her artistic journey starting from the early years. In the mid ’40s and ’50s, she created figurative works influenced by her professors in the University of the Philippines. Nena made a few off-tangent works that were shaped by Picasso and Matisse. The latter part of the ’50s was an experimental and exploratory phase, which produced many of her abstract works. She then began to develop her style using spheres, circles, space and pointillism until the ’70s.”

“You could see how her work evolved,” he said in a speech. From the ’50s, ’60s, and the very different strokes which are not available in the market are those that were done from 1991 to 1994.

“What defines her more are the circles; that pointillist art that she focused on for about 20 years” he said, specifically the late 1960s to the 1980s.

DIGITAL DATABASE
Mr. Saguil said that they have been working on a digital database to prevent any forged artworks from appearing in the market, a problem they faced five to 10 years ago. “We totally blocked them from the market, because of the way we authenticate,” he said. From now on, all the Certificates of Authenticity from the Saguil estate will come with a unique QR Code that should match with what the estate has in their database.

The press conference also served to launch a line of tableware and linens printed with Nena Saguil’s work. “We are also looking to connect with the next generation, which is why we are also developing a merchandise collection that features works by Nena Saguil,” said Mr. Pineda in a statement.

“We want her work to transcend generations. For us, we see her as a Philippine master,” said Mr. Pineda.

Connected to what Mr. Saguil said, Art House will be the exclusive dealer of the late Ms. Saguil’s work, with the support of her estate. “We will be able to manage the flow and distribution of the works,” he told ����ý. “Access point will be us, but authentication and provenance would come from them.”

The exhibit saliNlahi: Connecting the Dots opens on Sept. 26 and will run until Sept. 28 at the Discovery Primea Hotel, Ayala Ave., Makati. — Joseph L. Garcia