Jose Rizal's 'Josephine Sleeping' sculpture sells for a record P31.2 million

Jose Rizal’s sculpture of his last love, Josephine Bracken, fetched P31.2 million, breaking the world record for the most expensive work of art by the national hero. 

Josephine Sleeping, which was made during the last years of Rizal’s exile in Dapitan, set the record at the recently concluded “The Kingly Treasures Auction” held on Nov. 30.  

“The Josephine sculpture was Rizal’s ‘Mona Lisa.’ It showed the most sensual and personal depiction of Josephine—the very love that lasted to the end.” Leon Gallery director Jaime Ponce de Leon said. “Perhaps for Rizal, she was the torch bearer of all he represents.” 

Rizal met his last love, Josephine Bracken, in early 1895, during his four-year exile (1892-1896). They married two hours before his execution in Bagumbayan.  

Historian Leon Ma. Guerrero also noted in his book, The First Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal, that Bracken was  “the one woman with whom [Rizal] shared that most jealously prized of all his possessions, his name, and also his heart’s intimacies.”  

Josephine Sleeping surpassed the previous record of Rizal’s bas-relief work in the same timeline dubbed The Filipino, which fetched P17.5 million at Leon Gallery in June 2018. 

Other noteworthy pieces

Some other notable works by renowned artists also broke a record last weekend. Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco’s 1964 masterpiece, Tinikling No. 2 was sold at P55.3 million. The art piece, which came from the private collection of Estefania Aldaba-Lim, was one of the few Botong’s masterpieces left in private collections after his untimely death in 1969. 

Napoleon Abueva, known as the “Father of Philippine Modern Sculpture” also made history for his work Chastity Belt after being sold at P3.8 million. Contemporary artist Nicole Coson also sold her Untitled work for 3.4 million.

Fernando Zóbel, who was recently celebrated for his birth centenary, also made a record for his two works namely the 1959 Azul sobre pardo (Saeta 258 / Blue on Brown), one of only nine blue Saetas ever made by him, which secured more than P36 million, while Orilla 69, en Amarillo y Griz from his Las Orillas series fetched at P22.8 million. 

Philippines’ first National Artist Fernando Amorsolo also achieved a record-breaking sale of his Under the Mango Tree last September. Meanwhile, his 1945 painting Market Scene, which was made in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, fetched P20.4 million, a very impressive result considering that the work only measures 15 ½ by 20 ½ inches.  

Additionally, Anita Magsaysay-Ho's 1934 painting Lavanderas by the Stream, an early work influenced by Amorsolo, fetched P8.4 million at auction.

Vicente Manansala’s Neo-Realist Pangguinge, featuring the alpha Neo-Realists of the 1950s—Manansala, HR Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, Victor Oteyza, and Arturo Luz—brought in P8.4 million, a significant increase from its starting price of P800,000.  

Alfonso Ossorio’s 1958 Untitled work, the last of his rare, large-scale mixed-media panels in private hands and influenced by his friend, American painter Jackson Pollock, yielded P26.4 million.

Also a highlight of the auction is the collection by Ambeth R. Ocampo. Guillermo Tolentino’s Bust of Andres Bonifacio, a plaster of Paris bust cast from the original Bonifacio figure of the artist’s iconic Monumento, was sold for P1.9 million. 

Felix Resureccion Hidalgo’s head study for the now-lost masterpiece Per Pacem et Libertatem was sold for P5.05 million. His 1980 portrait of Raimunda Chuidian y de Roxas, older sister to Telesforo Chuidian who was once the Philippines’ richest man, was auctioned at P19.2 million, making it the most expensive Hidalgo portrait, dethroning his portrait of Luisa Piñeyro y Merino (Lady on a Bamboo Chair), sold by Leon Gallery in August 2022.  

Felix Resureccion Hidalgo's head study for Per Pacem et Libertatem sold for P5.05 million. His 1980 portrait of Raimunda Chuidian y de Roxas fetched P19.2 million, becoming the most expensive Hidalgo portrait ever sold. 

Meanwhile, the lots sold to benefit the International School of Manila Filipino Scholars Program also yielded remarkable sales. It was led by Jigger Cruz’s Sudden Flesh in a Fountain of Blues, which secured PHP 2.6 million. Also among the highlights are Leo Valledor’s Lull which fetched P3.6 million, and Nena Saguil’s Still Life with Flowers which was sold for P2.04 million. 

Check out the masterpieces below: