Sharon Cuneta mulls lending Juan Luna painting to Ayala Museum
MANILA, Philippines — “Megastar” Sharon Cuneta toured last Friday the “Splendor” exhibition showing National Artist Juan Luna’s long-lost painting, “Hymén, oh Hyménée” or “Roman Wedding,” at Ayala Museum.
While admiring “Splendor” and the museum’s other exhibits, Sharon asked questions about the artworks from their family friend, Ateneo University professor and acclaimed historian Ambeth Ocampo.
As an owner of artworks including those by Luna and by another National Artist for Visual Arts, Fernando Amorsolo, Sharon said she is planning to also lend her Luna to Ayala Museum for a public exhibition.
The tour came after Sharon and daughter Miel Pangilinan’s press launch as new endorsers of Filipino insurance company InLife (Insular Life).
Nina Aguas, InLife Executive Chairperson, said that since the company was once part of the Ayala Group, it has also been a patron of the arts like the corporation that owns the Ayala Museum. InLife also had a theater that used to be the home of theater company Repertory Philippines.
As the company that reportedly sent Amorsolo to school, InLife also has its own Amorsolo collection, and many of which the company saved from a Makati fire, said Aguas.
Likewise, Sharon and Miel, said Aguas, are the “perfect” faces for the brand since Miel is an artist, while Sharon’s works touch the arts – from film, to music and theater.
“Art is the backbone of the Philippines,” Aguas vouched. “So we should support all generations of artists and all forms of art.”
