Magsaysay-Ho's ‘Water Carriers’ sells for P60M, Amorsolo's 'The Burning of Manila' fetches P36M at Leon Gallery Auction

The modernist used the egg tempera technique, where the paint is created by mixing egg yolk with powdered pigments and a little water. Magsaysay-Ho's Water Carriers is only her third egg tempera work among 20 others, making the painting one of the rarest and most coveted of them all.

Another highlight of the auction was Fernando Amorsolo’s The Burning of Manila, which set a new record for a wartime piece by the artist after it was sold for P36,048,000.

The piece, which shows a grim scenery of bombing and burning of the Philippine capital on New Year’s Day in 1942, was previously acquired by Don Jacobo Zóbel de Ayala y Roxas from Amorsolo himself during the Japanese occupation.

According to the gallery, The Burning of Manila is “one of the largest Amorsolo paintings to enter the market” It had been leased to the National Museum of the Philippines and remained there for a decade, but the family of Don Enrique recently decided it was time to pass it on to its new owner.

Additionally, an official copy of the Malolos Constitution also made waves at the auction when it was sold for P2,643,520.

The document, which gave birth to the Philippines as the first democratic republic in Asia, was initially part of the collection of Filipino historian and academic Ambeth Ocampo.

Other significant pieces that were sold in the auction were Fernando Zobel’s Version en Toledo painting at P28,838,400, Juan Luna’s Claro de Luna en la Laguna de Venecia painting at P14,419,200, Vicente Manansala’s Fruit Market painting at P36,048,000, and Arturo Luz’s Self-Portrait at P15,620,800.

Leon Gallery’s auction took place on June 7 and featured 166 works ranging from paintings, books, maps, sculptures, objet d'art, and furniture.