MAKATI CITY — The Yuchengco Museum has opened a thought-provoking new exhibition that places some of the Philippines’ most celebrated artists in conversation with luxury fashion and design. “The Art of Worth,” curated by Joel Wijangco under the museum’s Curators Lab, runs through January 2027 at the 3F Cone Room Gallery. It brings together six works from the YGC Permanent Collection by Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Ang Kiukok, Julie Lluch, Cesar Buenaventura, and Jose Joya, alongside pieces that blur the line between art and commerce. The exhibition invites visitors to consider what gives an object value—whether artistic merit, craftsmanship, rarity, or reputation.
Five Filipino Masters, One Enduring Question
Anita Magsaysay-Ho is widely regarded as a pioneering Filipina modernist, known for her genre scenes featuring angular figures and depictions of women at work in markets and fields. Her paintings often celebrate the quiet strength and labor of Filipino women, rendered in tempera or oils with a distinctive modernist sensibility. Ang Kiukok, a National Artist for Visual Arts, brought a raw, expressionist energy to Philippine art. His works frequently depict figures in states of anguish or contemplation, fusing cubist, surrealist, and expressionist influences into a style that continues to provoke and move viewers. Together, these two painters represent distinct but equally influential paths in Philippine modernism. Julie Lluch is the foremost Filipina artist working with terracotta, known for her life-size clay portraits that carry a strong feminist stance. A philosophy graduate from the University of Santo Tomas and largely self-taught, Lluch uses her sculptures to articulate women’s roles in society, drawing from personal experience and social observation. Cesar Buenaventura, an impressionist painter active from the 1940s until his death in 1983, is celebrated for his landscapes and genre scenes that capture the Philippine countryside with warmth and vitality. Jose Joya, another National Artist, was an abstract expressionist whose harmonious color fields were inspired by Philippine landscapes, particularly green rice terraces. His work during the 1960s and 1970s established an authentic Filipino abstract idiom that transcended foreign influences.
Beyond the Canvas: Art in Dialogue With Design
The exhibition pairs these works from the YGC collection with luxury fashion and design pieces, transforming the gallery into a space of inquiry. Visitors are encouraged to question the hierarchies that traditionally separate fine art from commercial objects and to consider how context, scarcity, and cultural narrative shape perceptions of worth. “The Art of Worth” is open daily from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM except Sundays, with free admission to the Ground Floor and Second Floor galleries. It is a rare opportunity to encounter works by five Filipino masters while reflecting on the forces that determine what we value—and why.
