Philippine paintings featured in London Art Week

MANILA, Philippines — Drawings and paintings of various Philippine scenes from the 19th and 20th centuries were among artworks exhibited during the London Art Week earlier this month.

Twenty-six paintings depicting scenes from the country were included in the “The Philippines and South-East Asia” exhibit at the Martyn Gregory Gallery held from June 28 to July 5 in time with London Art Week, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The exhibit, which included 69 artworks, covers the period from 1800 to 1950.

The featured works include those done by early Western artists who traveled to the East, as well Eastern artists who worked in the ‘Western manner’ to cater for the tastes of Westerners in the Orient.

Among the artists whose works were featured are British portrait and miniature painter Charles Andrews; French artist Auguste Borget, famous for his sketches of various Asian destinations; and Filipino artist Justiniano Asuncion, one of the leading Filipino portrait artists of the 19th century.

“It is an honor for the Philippines to be featured prominently in a major exhibition by one of the world’s most prestigious art galleries,” said Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo.

“The range of artworks on display shows how the Philippines served as a wellspring of inspiration among some of the 19th century’s most talented artists and most intrepid explorers,” Lagdameo added.

According to the DFA, the gallery is one of the world’s leading authorities in topographical artwork depicting various sceneries across Asia.

It also an authority on British painting and watercolors from the 18th and 19th centuries, handling the works of artists who shaped British art such as Thomas Gainsborough, John Linnel, Richard Parkes Bonington and John Sell Cotman.

Some of the gallery’s collections may be viewed in other institutions such as in the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Guangdong Museum of Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Houston and The Yale Center for British Art.