1272 (Atmosferografias Series) signed and dated 2011 (lower left) acrylic on canvas 78" x 69" (198 cm x 175 cm) Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE: Private collection, Manila WRITE UP: Betsy Westendorp’s atmosferografias, or paintings of the atmosphere, are her philosophical-cumartistic inquiry and exploration into the sublime transcendence and otherworldliness of the vast celestial space. They are "portraits of the spirit," if one may deem it. Westendorp’s love affair with the heavens started in Manila—the Pearl of the Orient overlooking a historic bay known for being the mise en scene of a majestic sunset. In the early 1950s, Westendorp and her husband, Tony, lived at the Ramona Apartment along Dakota Street (now M. Adriatico). “At five o’clock, my husband, Tony, came home from San Miguel,” shares Westendorp in a conversation with art critic Cid Reyes. “Their offices were near Malacañang, in Arlegui. He would pick me up and go to Manila Bay. Take a stroll…enjoy the view and the sunset.” However, Westendorp would only start painting the celestial atmosphere in the 1970s and would continue to do so even after her husband died in 1976, likely a visual eulogy to her departed other half, an allusion to his metamorphosis from the physical world to the spiritual realm. Westendorp would also progress from the Manila Bay atmosferografias to the more hallowed ones— metaphysical inquiries cutting across space and time. It was the Spanish art critic and Westendorp’s dear friend, Elena Flórez, who would christen Westendorp’s sky paintings as “atmosferografias” after a laborious scanning of many Spanish dictionaries of the 19th and 20th centuries. “The manner she interprets it, the originality of the theme, and the absence of previous references moved me to search for the proper explanation so as to bring it to these pages with the purpose of delving into the matter,” Flórez writes in a critique of Westendorp’s works. The monumentality of Westendorp’s atmosferografias evokes an artist’s romantic journey into the spiritual. In these paintings, Westendorp has not only emancipated her emotions but the totality of her being as well. Immersed in an overwhelming, seemingly infinite space, any viewer of Westendorp’s atmosferografias is palpably transported into the sublime, a world so vast and transcendent that all possibilities seem unbounded. As one drifts from one billow of cloud to another and explores the contrasts of heavenly light made possible by the artist's refinement in color, the theatricality of the cosmos takes center stage, and Westendorp’s palette of emotions becomes an earnest revelatory experience. Furthermore, there is an infinite horizon not captured on Westendorp’s canvas, giving visual authority to the viewer on how far they would go to expand their creative horizons and go beyond mere orthodox thinking. Just like the lushness of her trademark floral gardens that evoke beauty in impermanence, Westendorp’s celestial coliseum, engulfed in all its rapturous beauty, offers a cosmic balsam for the lost and wounded soul. (Adrian Maranan)
Puerta de Hierro, Madrid signed, dated and titled 1984 (lower right and verso) oil on board 30" x 30" (76 cm x 76 cm) Accompanied by a certificate issued by Carmen Brias Westendorp confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE: Private collection, Madrid, Spain EXHIBITED: Madrid, Spain, 1984 WRITE UP: Renowned Spanish painter Betsy Westendorp has carved out a distinctive niche in the realm of realism over the course of her extensive career. Throughout decades, Westendorp has been celebrated for her ability to vividly and seamlessly capture subjects, effectively translating her perceptions and memories of both individuals and locations onto canvas. This dual capability extends beyond people to encompass her evocative portrayals of places, showcasing Westendorp's remarkable skill in visually articulating the intersection of personal recollection and artistic expression. In this particular piece, we see Westendorp utilize her ability to unearth the lyricism of everyday life through a depiction of a public monument. Situated in Madrid, the Puerta de Hierro holds a distinctive place in the city's landscape, much like Betsy Westendorp in the realm of art. This architectural landmark, over the years, has become an iconic manifestation of Madrid's history and cultural richness. The Puerta de Hierro, through its enduring presence, encapsulates the essence of the city, serving as a visual narrative of its past and a testament to the architectural grandeur that defines Madrid. Like Westendorp's skill in translating memories onto canvas, the Puerta de Hierro stands as a tangible representation of collective memory, portraying the interconnected tales of the city and its people with remarkable clarity and evocative power. (Jed Daya)
Painting # 334-86 signed and dated 1986 (lower right) oil on canvas 77" x 41" (196 cm x 104 cm) Accompanied by a certificate issued by Galleria Duemilla and signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE: Galleria Duemila WRITE UP: Although the Spanish-born Pintora de Principes was initially renowned for her works in portraiture of Spanish royalty and Manila’s elites, Betsy Westendorp would eventually find her forte in nature painting— particularly becoming preoccupied with subjects of Philippine landscapes and flora. Elena Flores, a Spanish critic and friend of the artist, particularly noted the Philippine orchid as Westendorp’s best subject, through which Betsy would peak in her artistry. In the writings of art critic Cid Reyes, he points out Westendorp’s preference for portraying the “living, ‘breathing’” quality of flowers, as opposed to the ethos of floral vanitas paintings that fixated on symbols of death and the fleetingness of life. Nevertheless, the subject of death is not unbeknownst to the artist whose works would see a sentimental change in artistic direction soon after the passing of Antonio “Tony” Brias in 1976. The latter part of Westendorp’s artistic career was preoccupied with the fleeting image of Philippine sunsets that she often saw with her husband Tony in their Manila Bay walks. “I draw as I paint,” the artist says of her works. It is an ethos that lives and breathes in the moment, and yet acknowledges the sheer passage of time as it seamlessly slips through one’s fingers. Within the dainty, gossamerlike strokes of Betsy’s floral paintings, there is a carefree sense of time embedded within. The flowers breathe life into themselves only by acknowledging their own nature of passage— a blooming towards its own death. (Pie Tiausas)
Painting #1322 - 2013 signed and dated 2013 (lower right) acrylic on canvas 24” x 32” (61 cm x 81 cm) León Gallery wishes to thank Galleria Duemila for confirming the authenticity of this lot WRITE UPA notable motif in Betsy Westendorp’s art is her portrayal of flowers. “I find flowers fascinating. Flowers are for everybody,” she often said. The renowned painter has painted a variety of flowers, such as orchids, poppies, peonies, sunflowers, water lilies, birds of paradise, and milflores – the very flowers present in this painting. In Passages, a catalog authored by Cid Reyes, Westendorp recalled that she was on a summer vacation in northern Spain when she painted milflores for the first time. Returning to Madrid, she began to grow her own milflores garden. “I know the milflores by heart,” she remarked, painting this particular flora until she could render them from memory. As someone who had always explored the gentle extremes of nature, she painted the most natural of still lifes clusters of luxuriant flowers, as if encountered by chance in a mysterious landscape. The meticulous attention to detail in such compositions reveals Westendorp’s ability to focus on small objects. Her atmospheric and realistic renditions come to life with their unique sense of ebullience, brimming with vibrant energy and irresistible charm. This milflores painting is a good example of the intimate world beloved by Westendorp, where tranquility is seamlessly harmonized with the vibrancy of the tones and colors. Fortunately, the absence of flowers in post-war Philippine art was rectified by the Spanish-Filipino artist, and her rich floral oeuvre has left a legacy that will forever be remembered and cherished. (Isabella Romarate)
BETSY WESTENDORP DE BRIAS Madrid 1927-2022 Summer nights in Madrid. 1990 Oil on tablex Signed and dated 1990 Back signed, dated and titled Measurements 17 x 25 cm
Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022) Portrait of Isabel with Ian signed and dated 2007 (lower right) oil on canvas 38" x 50 1/2" (97 cm x 128 cm) Betsy Westendorp’s Portrait of Isabel with Ian is a riveting portrait of the human spirit’s resilience amid grief and loss. It depicts Isabel, Westendorp’s eldest daughter, and her son Ian in his younger years. Isabel holds her son in a loving embrace; Ian’s face radiates such a charming spirit and an innocent smile that only a child can flaunt in sheer virtue. At first glance, one immediately notices the subject of unconditional maternal love. However, Westendorp painted this piece due to the tragic death of Ian in 2006 at the young age of 26 due to sepsis meningococcal. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this condition is caused by bacteria entering and multiplying in the bloodstream, damaging the walls of the blood vessels and causing bleeding into the skin and organs. Westendorp was shattered by the sudden passing of her only grandson, and to cope with the unforgiving pain of losing a loved one, she painted several versions of the work at hand, all endowed with an equally poignant and moving character. *A postscript to this story would be the death of Isabel ten years after Ian’s passing. She died in Madrid due to heart failure; she never recovered from the relentless gush of agonizing pain brought by the death of her only son. In medical terms, this is called “takotsubo cardiomyopathy.” Westendorp could not attend her daughter’s burial, and so she channeled her immense grief into a massive “atmosferografia” titled “Passages,” which symbolized Isabel’s “passage” into the afterlife. The work is now in the collection of the Instituto Cervantes de Manila.* A monumental mural depicting Westendorp’s favorite floral subjects serves as the dramatic background of this piece. In the mural’s lower center portion are delicate lotus flowers, symbolizing resilience—the power to overcome all adversities—and eventual rebirth. Flowers are Westendorp’s favorite subjects, and so they weep in lasting lament with the artist, guiding her towards a regained strength of character. This is the compelling power of art to nourish humanity’s despondent soul. Westendorp’s flowers, with their inherent melancholic beauty, are in eternal bloom, and so is her grandson, who unceasingly endured in the cosmic seas of her heart and memory. Westendorp once described Ian as “the love of her life.” With the artist’s passing in November of last year, we only hope for their tender reunion, together with Isabel, free from all the pains of humanity and the never-ending tribulations of mortality. (Adrian Maranan)
Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022) 1454 signed and dated 2017 (lower left) oil on canvas 38 1/2" x 62 1/2" (98 cm x 159 cm) Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot The beauty and purity of flowers are perfectly captured in the canvases of Betsy Westendorp. As observed in the lot at hand, the flowers are fresh and uncut, not placed in a decorative vase but flourishing in their natural setting. Westendorp often depicted her floral subjects in such a manner because she used to paint flowers en plein air. For instance, if not her first, one of her earliest orchid paintings was done during a visit to Centro de Jardinera Bourguignon, a flower shop in Madrid. She asked permission to paint the orchids inside the greenhouse and was fortunately permitted. “At the beginning, I had to paint on location,” Westendorp said in a conversation with art critic Cid Reyes. “It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” She believed that in order to be acquainted with her floral subjects, she needed to be in their presence. Among the petaled plants Westendorp has painted, the orchid is a particular favorite, to the point that it has become synonymous with her name. Even so, she still painted other flowers, such as milflores, sunflowers, water lilies, and birds of paradise, to name a few. Her earliest floral subjects were roses and carnations, most were gifted to her. Then, her first milflores painting was done in the north of Spain during a summer vacation. For her paintings of hydrangeas, she bought flower pots so she could paint in front of them. In her garden, she also planted sunflowers and, again, painted them on her canvas. “I find flowers fascinating. Flowers are for everybody,” Westendorp once said. (Isabella Romarate)
Painting #989-99 signed and dated 1999 (lower right) oil on board 37 1/2" x 63" (94 cm x 160 cm) PROVENANCE: Galleria Duemila, Inc. EXHIBITED: Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Passages: Celebrating the Artistic Journeys of Betsy Westendorp (A Retrospective Exhibition), Manila, January 29, 2020 - March 15, 2021 LITERATURE: Reyes, Cid. Passages: Celebrating the Artistic Journeys of Betsy Westendorp. Manila: De La Salle Publishing House and The Metropolitan Museum of Manila Foundation, Inc., 2021. Published on the occassion of Betsy Westendorp's 2021 Retrospective of the same name at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Full-color photograph and painting description on page 106. The art of Betsy Westendorp captures the beauty and purity of flowers, fresh and uncut, never placed in a vase but flourishing in their natural setting. Her floras awaken the eyes of its beholder to the wonders of nature. “I find flowers fascinating. Flowers are for everybody,” she once said. Betsy’s earliest floral subjects were roses and carnations, most were gifted to her. Later, she painted her flowers en plein air. Her orchid paintings started when she visited a greenhouse in Madrid called the Centro de Jardinera Bourguignon. She asked permission to paint the orchids inside the greenhouse and was fortunately permitted. The Spanish-born artist believed that in order to be acquainted with her floral subjects, she needed to be in their presence. “At the beginning, I had to paint on location. So, I can get in touch with the orchids,” she said in a conversation with art critic Cid Reyes. “It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” Betsy even painted with a sprig of orchids hanging on a canvas she was working on. As a way to immerse herself in the subject, she acquired a collection of books on orchids, which are kept in her Madrid residence and Makati condominium, as a handy reference since she has memorized even the botanical names of various species of orchids. Westendorp pieces have always found favor with all the succeeding regimes in Malacañang, as several of her works are still displayed in the palace. The Philippine government awarded Betsy Westendorp the second highest honor next to the Order of National Artists, the Presidential Award of Merit for Art and Culture. (P.I.R.)
Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022) Milflores signed and dated 1994 (lower left) oil on canvas 29" x 36 1/2" (74 cm x 92 cm) PROVENANCE Galleria Duemila, Inc. León Gallery, The Asian Cultural Council Auction 2017, Makati City, 2 February 2017, Lot 70 Legend tells us that it was in the service of love that the first painting of flowers was created some twenty-four hundred years ago. During the reign of Alexander, the artist Pausias won the beautiful but unyielding Glycera by painting a superb floral bouquet as evidence of his affection. Innumerable masters have echoed Pausias and the ancients in their fascination with the art of the flower, and yet for many centuries, the classical regard for flowers as artistic subjects in their own right was all but lost. Betsy Westendorp, a prominent painter of natural themes, uses flowers to form an enigmatic study of complementing and contrasting textures. Westendorp manages to infuse decades of painting from nature with understated truths. Westendorp, who has always explored the gentle extremes of nature, paints the most natural of still lifes-clusters of luxuriant flowers discovered, as if by accident, in a landscape, an encounter that urges the viewer to conjure a scenario to explain its mysterious presence. The pale, subtle light brings out the shapes and bright colors of the flowers. We can see the thicker brushstrokes expressing the textures of different types of flowers, and the lighter, transparent brushstrokes that the painter uses for the leaves. The clustering of details reveals Westendorp’s ability to direct her attention to small objects. This painting is a good example of the meditative, intimate world beloved of Westendorp, where tranquility is skilfully harmonized with the liveliness of the tones and colors.
PROPERTY FROM THE LETTY JIMENEZ-MAGSANOC COLLECTION Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022) Poppies and Daisies signed and dated 1983 (lower right) oil on canvas 43 1/4" x 77" (110 cm x 196 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist EXHIBITED Rustan's Gallerie Bleue, Manila, 1983 Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc was a Filipino journalist, and the former editor-in-chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. She was the first woman and the longest serving editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper she co-founded in 1985. Under her leadership, the Inquirer published major scoops, exclusives, and investigative reports that shaped national conversation and inquiry and influenced reform. She was a patriot who made sure nothing stood in the way of democracy, freedom and justice. For Letty, journalism was a vocation, a public good necessary for a robust democracy. She was fearless in exposing leaders who were a threat to democracy, leaders with an insatiable appetite for power and wealth that bred corruption and violence. While she was the editor-in-chief of the Inquirer, the writing style of the newspaper, especially the front page was described by many as “alive.” National Artist Ricky Lee said reading the Inquirer was “as if you were watching television.” She saw to it there was a human face to facts, figures and issues. Profiles surfaced the essence and uniqueness of each subject matter. Letty simplified and contextualized the most abstract, complex issues. She also celebrated positive news in the same fervor as the paper crucified the corrupt. David Briscoe Jr., Manila Bureau Chief of the Associated Press in the 1980s described Letty as “A dear friend and hero of global journalism... Letty Magsanoc of the Philippines was, and is, a shining example (of) the best and boldest journalism can be—anywhere.” She demonstrated what journalism can achieve when journalists stayed true and committed to the truth. In an interview with the Inquirer on its 30th founding anniversary, she reminded journalists “we have to keep our noses clean, so that they cannot throw anything at us...You have to live a scrupulously clean life. I mean, it’s necessary for the job.” Letty said she always wondered why people called her brave. She said she was simply doing her job and there was no overthinking to be done. United Kingdom-based novelist and former Associate Editor of Mr. and Ms. Special Edition Candy Gourlay observed, “When you were there, on the day, to witness Letty doing something courageous...saying things the way they really were and not accepting the safe, easy, convenient, escapist, let- things-be route—you were never aware of the fearlessness or even the danger of the moment. All you knew was what Letty always made clear: It was imperative to tell this story. Some stories just had to be told. Should the consequences stop you from telling it?” Letty had a big heart for her colleagues in media, even from rival media organizations. She mentored and protected them like family. Colleagues would run to her for professional and personal counsel. She was their biggest champion especially when freedom of the press was threatened. Letty never wanted to talk about her vital role in shaping the country’s history and future. She shunned the limelight. She was never comfortable being photographed or interviewed. Candy Gourlay said Letty always reminded journalists that “Writing is never about the writer. We are not the story!” Letty’s life was a living prayer. She was steeped in faith, the source of her strength and courage and firmness of purpose. She heard daily Masses and did daily meditation walks. In 2006, Time International hailed her as one of Asia’s 60 heroes for the celebration of its 60th anniversary. In 1993, she won the Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the University of Missouri. In 1981, she won the Ten Outstanding Women of the New Society. After her death in 2015, the Philippine Senate passed a resolution citing her contribution to the restoration of freedom in the Philippines. In 2016, the Philippine Daily Inquirer named her as 2015 Filipino of the Year. In the same year, the Spirit of EDSA Foundation honored her as one of the fighters for freedom, justice and democracy. The flowers in Betsy Westendorp’s oeuvre evoke ethereal pictures of delicate gardens in which tranquility and freshness abound. Her sublime paintings of different floral species stem from her profound appreciation of her subjects. 101 LEÓN GALLERY In an interview with Cid Reyes and published in the catalog of Westendorp’s 2021 retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, the artist happily remarks: “With flowers, you have to know them also.” Westendorp also revealed that she would paint flowers she had just received. “I find flowers fascinating. Flowers are for everybody,” she adds. In this monumental work from 1983, Westendorp gives us a glimpse of her artistic garden featuring an assemblage of various flowers, such as poppies, azaleas, dandelions, and daisies. Her realistic renderings of the flowers give them a sense of palpability; it is as if one can touch their soft petals and smell their freshness and sweet fragrance. Westendorp’s realism gives tenderness and delicacy to her flowers. But flowers do not live forever. They are living creatures not absolved from the inescapable reality of death. Thus, the delicate elegance of Westendorp’s flowers evokes the Japanese concept of mono no aware, which translates to “the realization of the impermanence of things” and its bittersweet admiration. Westendorp knows this, and she found a simple way for her flowers to sustain their innate beauty. Cid Reyes writes in the same catalog: “[Westendorp] did the thing that would keep her flowers ever fresh and imperishable: she bred them in memory. Like some avid botanist, she had closely studied their physical structure and preserved them not only in her memory bank, impervious to the changing seasons and passage of time. She absorbed their essence, internalized them consciously and subconsciously to fuel her aesthetic engine. Thus, all her flowers are painted from memory, where they are always present and in perpetual bloom.” Realizing and grasping the inescapable fact that things in the world are inherently ephemeral, especially life, is as poignant as the dreaded notion of death itself. But like flowers, the (melancholic) beauty of existence lies in its transience. Impermanence is ever present for us to appreciate the essence and actuality of everything. Flowers are among the most enjoyable things in the world due to their inherent beauty and fragrance. But as the popular cliché says, all things beautiful lead to an ultimate end. In this fast- paced world, this thought is often forgotten until that beautiful, fleeting moment has already faded into the sands of time. Be that as it may, through Westendorp’s sublime works, the beauty of flowers will remain in perpetual bloom, always there for everyone to enjoy. It is a fitting reminder to make each moment count, fueling reflection and instigating creativity in the process. And indeed, that is the celebrated Besty Westendorp’s legacy in Philippine art. Like the eternal bloom of her flowers, Westendorp’s name and artistic contributions will endure in the annals of Philippine art. (A.M.)
Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022) Orchids signed and dated 1980 (lower right) oil on canvas 39 1/2" x 32" (100 cm x 81 cm) PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Spain lowers are a defining theme in the art of Betsy Westendorp. Her paintings capture their beauty and purity, fresh and uncut, never placed in a vase but flourishing in their natural setting. Betsy’s floras awaken the eyes of its beholder to the wonders of nature. “I find flowers fascinating. Flowers are for everybody,” she once said. Westendorp’s earliest floral subjects were roses and carnations, most were gifted to her. Later, she painted her flowers en plein air. Her orchid paintings started when she visited a greenhouse in Madrid called the Centro de Jardinera Bourguignon. She asked permission to paint the orchids inside the greenhouse and was fortunately permitted. The Spanish-born artist believed that in order to be acquainted with her floral subjects, she needed to be in their presence. “At the beginning, I had to paint on location. So, I can get in touch with the orchids,” she said in a conversation with art critic Cid Reyes. “It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” Betsy even painted with a sprig of orchids hanging on a canvas she was working on. As a way to immerse herself in the subject, she acquired a collection of books on orchids, which are kept in her Madrid residence and Makati condominium, as a handy reference since she has memorized even the botanical names of various species of orchids. Westendorp pieces have always found favor with all the succeeding regimes in Malacañang, as several of her works are still displayed in the palace. For Reyes, “perhaps it is the freshness and wholesomeness of her works depicting tropical orchids and Philippine landscapes, viewed by a foreigner’s eyes with genuine affection, that subtly communicates her love of the Philippines.” The Philippine government awarded Betsy Westendorp the second highest honor next to the Order of National Artists, the Presidential Award of Merit for Art and Culture. (P.I.R.)
Betsy Westendorp (1927 - 2022) Casa de Manila signed and dated 1965 (lower left) oil on canvas 21" x 25 1/2" (53 cm x 65 cm) PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Spain The barong-barong (shanty) was one of Betsy Westendorp's earliest themes in Manila. Westendorp first arrived in Manila in the early 1950s after marrying a Spanish-Filipino named Antonio Brias, whom she wedded in Madrid in 1951. In an interview with Cid Reyes for her 2021 retrospective at the Met, Westendorp shares: "At that time [early fifties], we were living in Dakota Street at Ramona Apartments, in front of Assumption [Convent; corner Herran, now Padre Faura St.]. At five o'clock, my husband, Tony, came home from San Miguel. Their offices were near Malacañang, in Arlegui. He would pick me up and go to Manila Bay. Take a stroll…enjoy the view and the sunset." In the early 1950s, at the time of her arrival in the country, Westendorp did not immediately paint. "No, I did not paint—I did not paint for many years," she told Reyes. The 1950s was a decade of rehabilitation from the devastation (both economically and morally) brought by the war. Upon Westendorp's arrival in Manila in the early '50s, she likely encountered rows of ramshackle shanties, which the war-torn people had built as makeshift houses due to the widespread deprivation and indigence in the post-war milieu. Reyes writes in the catalog for the retrospective: "Since the Fifties, in the decade of her first arrival in the country, Betsy went out of her comfort zone to paint the barongbarong in—she still remembers the place—Pasong Tamo, when most of Makati was still grassland and open space, and not a skyscraper in sight." "I'll tell you what, before leaving the Philippines, before I started the portraits, I also started going to Pasong Tamo. At that time, Pasong Tamo was like…little huts and barong-barongs. I would go there to paint the barongbarongs," recalls Westendorp. Betsy and Antonio would eventually settle in their lovely abode in Forbes Park, Makati, where they were blessed with three beautiful daughters: Isabel, Sylvia, and Carmen. One can imagine Westendorp going out of her comfortable urban domain to explore the city's outskirts, where the urban poor dwell. There, she would observe with sensitivity and empathy the plight of the populace in the face of a rapidly changing country. Westendorp might have also mingled with the people. Westendorp's depiction of the barong-barong is as realistic as can be; the house is not brought under excessive romanticization. In the face of post-war optimism, characterized by romantic visions of rising from the ashes of war and progress, Westendorp did not succumb to glossing over the subject, emphasizing actuality rather than the aesthetically pleasing. "In some of her works, one senses a subtle visual narrative at work, extending the interest of her visual images. A mother, crouched on her haunches, doing her laundry, very likely a day's work for a better-off neighbor, is a veritable portrait of hardy living and humble industry, while her little daughter at play is innocence incarnate. Often, a sampayan or clothesline is on view, strung with rows of colorful shirts, lending a spark of brilliance to an otherwise grey and gritty scene," writes Cid Reyes in his book Betsy Westendorp. As a new dweller among the people, Westendorp found empathy with the anguish-ridden populace. Westendorp's depiction of the barong-barong is not just a poignant scene; it is an artist's profound rumination of the destructive consequences of despotic conflict. We see Westendorp as a human imbued with penetrating empathy, endowing humanity and dignity to those who once hoped for abundance but instead experienced its adverse antithesis. As Cid Reyes writes: "But what was put on the line was not her visual prowess but rather, her emotional intelligence. Indeed, this was what Westendorp had brought to bear on a subject which, to others, was so unsightly as to instantly avert their gaze…She has invested her barongbarong works with dignity and has regarded the subject with respect and, in fact, affection." (A.M.)
a) Painting No. 634 signed and dated 1993 (lower right) acrylic on canson paper 39 3/4" x 38" (101 cm x 97 cm) b) Untitled (Flowers) signed and dated 1992 (lower le ft) acrylic on canson paper 39" x 38" (99 cm x 97 cm) PROVENANCE Galleria Duemila, Inc. A discussion on Filipina visual artists is lacking if one falls short of acquiring a profound understanding of their distinctive style and treatment of the subject matter. For instance, Pacita Abad cast her trademark on her trapunto works and Anita Magsaysay-Ho on her depiction of the beauty and resilience of the Filipino working women. Such is also the case for Betsy Westendorp. Specifically, she pursued her passion for painting orchids as if they were her lifeblood. Cid Reyes wrote: “Indeed, it is the orchid, with its wild delicacy and seductive surprise, that has become the starting point for a Westendorp trademark style.” In an interview with Reyes, Westendorp narrated how her lifelong passion for painting orchids began. The artist shared: “And the orchids— there is a place in Madrid, a greenhouse called Bourguignon. It’s a very famous flower shop. They have a greenhouse where they raise orchids. So, I asked, “Will you allow me to paint these orchids?” And they said yes. I painted there— right inside the greenhouse. “In Manila, there were friends of mine, Tonette and Linda Lagdameo, who were very involved with the Orchid Society. They had a magazine to come out. They asked me to do an orchid painting in their house. That was my first orchid painting here. And for that issue, BenCab also painted an orchid for them. And that started my relationship with the orchid.” It would not be an exaggeration if one would say that Betsy Westendorp treats flowers as if they were real humans. Westendorp said: “At the beginning, I had to paint on location so I can be in touch with the orchids. It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” Westendorp captures the character and mood that emanates from the orchid. When gazing at Westendorp’s orchids, we are treated to a harmoniously executed pageant of colors, forms, and patterns. The work transforms into a physical stimulus that stirs up our sensory perception. One can perceive the calm wind seemingly caressing the petals; the vividly colored corollas and the cascading floral showers set against an azure backdrop resembling an unclouded sky, thus forming a visual spectacle; and the delightfully sweet fragrance that stirs up both nostalgia and optimism for better days. (A.M.)
PROPERTY FROM THE RODOLFO PARAS- PEREZ COLLECTI ON Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) a) Painting No. 792 signed and dated 1994 (lower right and ve rso) oil on board 11 1/2" x 15 1/4" (29 cm x 39 cm) b) Painting No. 770 signed and dated 1994 (lower left and verso) oil on board 11 1/2" x 15 3/4" (29 cm x 40 cm) c) Painting No. 796 signed and dated 1994 (lower right and ve rso) oil on board 11 1/2" x 15 1/4" (29 cm x 39 cm) d) Painting No. 771 signed and dated 1994 (lower right and ve rso) oil on board 11 3/4" x 15 3/4" (30 cm x 40 cm) PROVENANCE Galleria Duemila, Inc.. Elena Flórez, one of the pioneering professional women art critics in Spain, notes that Betsy Westendorp’s atmosferografia paintings are in a class by themselves. In her remarkable critique of Westendorp’s works, Flórez writes: “It is true that in the study of the heavens, the skies, with poetic intent, we have sublime examples of open-air compositions of the artists of all times and styles, although there is a considerable number of them in the 17th century, especially the Dutch. Hobbems, Ruysdael, Van de Vekde, Van Goyen, Rembrandt, Cuyp, and others have brought to their paintings all that can be found in a landscape: houses, figures, hills and mountains, aerial views, as well as the English and Spanish landscape artists, without forgetting the seascapes. But none of them has chosen exclusively the view of the sky as selectively as Betsy Westendorp.” Westendorp’s atmosferografias, with their seemingly infinite horizons, offer an unbridled spectacle of the sublime heavens. Transformative in essence, the heavens in Westendorp’s canvases reflect our unspoken yearnings for the actualization of fullness in spirit. Whether it be capturing the fleeting magnificence of the Philippine sunrise or sunset or simply depicting the enigmatic character of clouds, Westendorp’s painterly brilliance in rendering what Flórez describes as “dazzling contrasts of light” evokes intimate journeys from the corporeal to the spiritual, in which our passionate desires toward “being and becoming” are brought into consummate realization. (A.M.)
PROPERTY FROM THE LLITA TORRALBA LOGARTA COLLECTION Painting No. 590 (White Orchids) signed and dated 1992 (lower right and verso) acrylic liquitex on canson paper 10" x 8" (25 cm x 20 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist EXHIBITED Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring Street, Pasay City, Metro Manila, 1992 Betsy Westendorp believes that to be truly familiar with her floral subjects, she needs to be in their presence. Her first orchid paintings occurred when she visited a greenhouse in Madrid, the Bourguignon. She painted the orchids inside the greenhouse, and there was even a time when she painted with a sprig of orchids hanging on a canvas she was working on. Betsy owns a collection of books on orchids, which are kept in her Madrid residence and Makati condominium, as a reference since she’s learned the botanical names of the different species of her favorite flora. (P.I.R.)
PROPERTY FROM THE LLITA TORRALBA LOGARTA COLLECTION Painting No. 767 (Milflores) signed and dated 1994 (lower right and verso) oil on board 13 1/4" x 16 1/4" (34 cm x 41 cm) PROVENANCE A gift from the artist; accompanied by a handwritten note from Betsy Westendorp to Mrs. Logarta EXHIBITED Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring Street, Pasay City, Metro Manila, 1994 A notable motif in Betsy Westendorp’s art is her flowers. Her earliest subjects were the roses and carnations that were gifted to her. She painted her flowers en plein air, outdoors and on the spot. As recalled in a catalog authored by Cid Reyes, Betsy was on a summer vacation in northern Spain when she painted her first milflores. Returning to Madrid, she began to grow her own milflores garden. “I know the milflores by heart,” she once said, painting this particular flora until she could paint them without visual reference. Made in 1994, this milflores painting was gifted by Betsy to Llita Torralba Logarta, an artist who was also fond of flowers. (P.I.R.)
Untitled (Flowers) signed and dated 1996 (lower right and verso) each oil on board 5" x 7" (13 cm x 18 cm) each “I find flowers fascinating. Flowers are for everybody,” said Betsy Westendorp. The Spanish-Filipino artist has painted a variety of flowers, such as orchids, poppies, peonies, sunflowers, water lilies, birds of paradise, and milflores — the flora present in these two oil paintings. However, most post-war artists kept their distance from the subject of flowers. Cid Reyes recounts an interview with Arturo Luz, enquiring if floras will ever find a place in the National Artist’s abstract canvas. “Oh no! I wouldn’t touch flowers!” Luz exclaimed. Yet, a lot of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists exalted at the thought of it. Claude Monet: “I must have flowers, always, and always!” Vincent Van Gogh: “I am working on it every morning from sunrise on, for the flowers fade so soon, and the thing is to do the whole in a rush.” Henri Matisse: “I think that nothing is more difficult for a true painter than to paint a rose, since before he can do so, he has to forget all the roses that were ever painted.” Fortunately, the absence of flowers in Philippine art was redeemed by Westendorp, and her rich floral oeuvre has inspired the younger generation of Filipino artists. (P.I.R.)
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Untitled signed and dated 2020 with the artist’s fingerprint (verso) print on canvas, 15/25 24” x 46 1/2” (61 cm x 118 cm) LITERATURE Reyes, Cid. Betsy Westendorp (Vol. 1). De La Salle University Publishing House. 2017. p. 342.
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Untitled signed and dated 2020 with the artist’s fingerprint (verso) print on canvas, 15/25 24” x 46 1/2” (61 cm x 118 cm) LITERATURE Reyes, Cid. Betsy Westendorp (Vol. 1). De La Salle University Publishing House. 2017. p. 342.
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Milflores signed and dated 1992 (lower left) oil on canvas 51 1/2" x 64" (131 cm x 163 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist Prewar Manila was a vibrant city filled with grand visions and ambitions. Philippine Independence was in the air. It was second only to Shanghai, China in terms of modernity, progress, and glamour. Throughout the city, public parks were aplenty, fountains gurgled, great trees arched over the avenues, and the people had reasons to enjoy the outdoors. Many new buildings were being constructed. All kinds of American and European luxury goods were available at the Escolta. Everyone was well–dressed, be they businessmen or vendors. Cleanliness was everywhere. Optimism was the norm. It was peaceful, disciplined, and progressive. Manila was a beautiful city that could compare to the world capitals. Social gatherings were frequent, and famous ladies like Angela Calvo Olgado–Zóbel, Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, and the young Madrigal–Paterno sisters Macaria (“Nena”), Paz (“Pacita”), Josefina (“Pinang”), and Consuelo (“Chito”) gave parties left and right (Maria Luisa “Ising” was too young). It was a world of affluence, traditions, elegance, refinement, principles, and manners. And it was in that golden world where Nene Tuason–Quimson was born. Nene recalled comically that her nickname should have been Nena, although there was little difference between the two. Her parents Pindong and Nening were expecting a baby boy to be a younger brother to their elder son Boy (Jose Ramon), but a baby girl came out. As an odd compromise, she was named Nene instead of Nena. She and her three siblings Lita, Boy, and Boling grew up in the prewar residence of her parents Pindong and Nening on Santol street in Santa Mesa, on land that had long belonged to the very old Tuason clan. The area was dotted with handsome prewar residences of Tuason relatives and other prominent Manila families. The Tuason–del Rosario house was in the 1930s Modern style that could have been designed by Juan Nakpil or Pablo Antonio. In 1959, her father Pindong Tuason transferred his family to the postwar La Vista development in Quezon city, on land that was also ancestral Tuason. It was a modern residence that had sloping gardens and pleasant views of the Marikina valley where, yes, there was also ancestral Tuason land. Pindong’s and Nening’s youngest daughter was educated at the exclusive Saint Scholastica’s College operated by Belgian and German Benedictine nuns in Manila. The all–girls school had a sterling reputation for producing intelligent, diligent, and hardworking young ladies. After graduating from high school, Nene and younger sister Boling were taken by their parents Pindong and Nening abroad for 18 months/1 ½ years; 8 months were spent in New York city for Pindong’s eye operation and recovery. In 1953, fresh out of high school at only 17 years old, Nene married her beau John (Juan Tuason Quimson), who was ten years older than she. They would be together for 35 years until John’s passing in 1988. Among the Tuason cousins, Nene was closest to her first cousin Chuchay (Carmen Dos Remedios Tuason), the onetime Miss Philippines, daughter of Pindong’s younger brother Celso Zaragoza Tuason and Rosario Dos Remedios. Nene’s close friends were invariably DBF “de buena familia” daughters: Menchu de las Alas–Concepcion, Judy Araneta–Roxas, Marilen Espiritu, Buda de Leon, Maridol Sy–Quia – Mabanta, Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, Nelly Tionko Lacson– Gonzalez, and Chito Paterno Madrigal. (Nelly Tionko Lacson was Mrs Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] ); Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] was Juan Tuason Quimson’s [“John”] maternal first cousin, their mothers Paz Gonzalez Tuason–Gonzalez [“Paching”] and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas [“Tutung”] were sisters). After the 1986 Revolution, President Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco–Aquino appointed John Tuason Quimson as Ambassador to the Court of Saint James in London. It was an appropriate and laudable decision by Cory, as social position, high education, and personal elegance were qualities frankly valued by the conservative British establishment. John was a perfect choice for the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, two and a half years into his tenure in 1988, John passed away. After her husband John’s untimely passing on 12 November 1988, with all her children grown with their own families, and an “empty nest,” Nene the widow finally decided that she would just enjoy life, have more time with friends, travel, and spend more time at her favorite places. It was at that time that she set up bases in Chelsea, London, Ascot, New York, and Boca Raton. Those early widowhood years had Nene constantly on the move, and it would be her way of life for the next thirty years. Nene was a lady who took pride in her homes and gardens. She was “house proud” and consequently had high standards regarding domestic upkeep. She had a loyal core staff whom she deployed wherever needed. What was interesting was that, as she deployed her local staff abroad, conversely, she employed her foreign staff in Manila. A Tuason granddaughter once comically described the Tuason way of life as: “Popeye y comer, comer y Popeye!” meaning “Smoke and eat, eat and smoke!” or “Tobacco and food, food and tobacco!” (Popeye referring to Popeye the Sailor Man the 1929 cartoon character perennially smoking a pipe and eating a can of spinach). Nene went much further than her Tuason elders and laid her tables not only with wonderful food but also beautiful chinaware, glassware, silverware, and linens. She said she liked to cook, or better yet, she liked to supervise the cooking. While her breakfast tables were informal even casual, her lunch and dinner tables were invariably formal and set in the English style with layered chinaware and an array of silverware and glassware per place setting. Like her father Pindong Tuason, who liked to take his “La Quadra” (The Square) a group of four (often more, so it was also “La Cuadra” The Horse Stable) Wack–Wack golf buddies who were mostly his family and Tuason–Legarda–Prieto– Valdes relatives to travel everywhere (his younger brother Toto [Severo Zaragoza Tuason] and his first cousins Manoling and Chino [Manuel and Jose Mariano Legarda Valdes], the equally generous and gallant Nene took her friends, relatives, and family on several trips for company and fun as well. (Like many Filipinos, Pindong and his brothers Nicasio, Celso, Toto, and sister Lulu [elder sister Carmencita passed away young] enjoyed many happy times postwar from the 1950s–60s. They started dying off in the 1970s. Pindong passed away in 1982.) Golf was an inherited passion. Nene recalled: “My siblings and I practically grew up on a golf course, as my parents (Pindong and Nening) were always playing it.” During their younger years (1960s–70s), John and Nene used to play golf everyday at the MGC Manila Golf Club with Chito Madrigal and friends. It was a nice group. They would play in the daytime and there were wonderful dinners given nightly by various members of the group. Same group, different houses. Nene played golf for forty–three years of her young life but stopped when John died in 1988; she played from the age of 10 all the way to 53. She used to do brisk walking seven miles a day on and off the golf course. That was the reason for her slim figure. Bridge (or Contract Bridge), a trick–taking card game of skill, risk, and luck, was another inherited passion. “As a child of parents who played bridge, I also learned to play it.” Nene reminisced. Pindong and Nening Tuason were avid bridge players and their Philippine Bridge Club was headquartered at their JMT building. Nene continued: “My husband played it for twenty–three years (1988 – 23 = 1965) but I did not play due to my other commitments. But now, I guess I am taking it quite seriously. Our bridge team participated in the Pacific Open and Beijing Olympics followed by the first International Mind Sports Game tournament. It was a stiff competition and we did our best.” “Bridge, for me, is a kind of therapy. Isn’t it well–known that those who play bridge seldom get Alzheimer’s disease?” She was hoping that the 2012 Olympics in London would have a Bridge tournament and that she would be invited to represent the Philippines. Bridge took Nene everywhere. At a tournament of the Philippine Bridge Club in Medina, Seattle, she was introduced by her good friend, an English Lord, to none other than THE Bill Gates who was then a newbie at bridge. Like all Tuason women, she was good with her hands. She liked crafting: she did sewing, embroidery, crochet, needlework, and petit–point embroidery. As with everything Nene, her crafting hobbies took on a perceptibly royal air, as they were the very same pastimes of royal and aristocratic ladies in Europe and rich women in the United States. Like a true Tuason, she liked music. She liked playing the piano. When in New York, she frequently attended classical music and opera performances at the Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. She even attended pop music concerts. The music of Michael Jackson and Madonna were not alien to her. She liked dancing. Disco music was not alien to her. She liked cooking. But she didn’t do it herself. She would instruct other people to do it for her, following her recipes. Nene’s principal philanthropy was The FWA – UK Filipina Women’s Association – United Kingdom, the charitable organization that she established with London–based Filipina friends in 1988. “It was the knowledge that there was no Philippine women’s organization in the UK and that it was time there was one, with the avowed aim of raising funds for the education of the underprivileged but deserving children in the Philippines, and of course, to uplift the image of the Filipino woman.” Nene explained. At that time, Filipina women in the UK were disparaged as mere domestic helpers of the Arabs and there was little regard for Filipina professionals. As the wife of the Philippine Ambassador, Nene sought to uplift the reputation and improve the general perception of all the Filipina women in the UK. And she succeeded beyond measure. “Education is the most important thing to give to the young people.” Nene declared about one of her charities. She was a donor to the Asian Cultural Council in New York. Not known to many, she supported many Filipino musical scholars quietly for many years. Among them, Hiyas Hila. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason (“Nene,” o 02 August 1935 – + 27 November 2021) was the youngest daughter of Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong”) of the patrician Tuason family and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening”) of the industrialist family that spawned the PHINMA conglomerate. Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong,” +1982) and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening,” +1968) had four children: Julia (“Lita”) passed away at 10 years old; Jose Ramon (“Boy”) married Mercedes Reinares Arrastia; Consuelo (“Boling”) married (1) Angel Heredia (2) Vicente Reyes; Maria de los Angeles (“Nene”) married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John”). Pindong Tuason was an entrepreneur extraordinaire, an excellent lawyer–businessman who inherited the legendary Tuason nose for business. At a time when many of his social peers were still managing and relying on their inherited haciendas, the forward–looking Pindong liquidated his inherited agricultural lands and real estate properties and invested the proceeds in corporate assets. As a direct result, he had seats on the boards of the country’s major corporations. An astute investor, Pindong was always on the lookout for the next best thing (Doubtless, he would have been fascinated by Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk). A visionary, “JMT” (Jose Maria Tuason) was a force to reckon with in Philippine business. Even Pindong’s maternal first cousin, Salvador Zaragoza Araneta, himself a highly successful man, admired Pindong’s business savvy. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John,” o 26 July 1925 – + 12 November 1988) on 11 February 1953 and they had six children: Consuelo (“Wito”), John (“Baby John”), Angeles (“Lita”), Ana Maria (“Annette”), Enrique, Jose Luis (“Joey”). Juan Tuason Quimson was the eldest son of Luis S Quimson (the first Filipino pilot) and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason (“Tutung,” daughter of Pindong’s elder brother Juan Jose Tuason y de la Paz [“Tintong”] and Rosario Gonzalez [“Lolai”] of Cadiz, Spain). Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas (“Tutung”) was the one who built the first structure of the Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong city in the late 1940s for her second husband Dr Carlos Casas and she later donated it to the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS). Nene’s eldest daughter Wito reminisces: “She was heaven and earth, fire and rain, yin and yang. At times. she was hard to figure out, hard to get on with. At other times she was a joy to be with and super fun, discoing with us as teenagers in Regine’s. Although she professed to be black and white in her beliefs she herself was a multi coloured rainbow - in personality, in fashion, in her choice of varied friends and in her many interests. Tiny though she was, she was a bigger than life figure and dominated my entire life landscape. She married at 17 yo and had me at 18 she was still a child herself barely an adult. And although like most mothers and daughters, we had our ups and downs she was my best friend, she was my phone pal we would talk to each other even 4 times a day, my chismis partner, my critic and my mentor. Mum I promise you it will surely be difficult to envision the future without someone like you by my side.” Nene’s elder son John remembers: “Mom was old school and there was a certain formality to her, a certain distance. One could not be a ‘cozy friend’ with her, she just wasn’t the kind. Even we kids couldn’t approach her out of the blue… there was a certain way that that had to be done. I guess she belonged to that conservative generation. You know, the perfect manners and distance and all. “She was always well–groomed and well–dressed as soon as she was out of her room, even in “pambahay” houseclothes at home. All the more whenever she was partying in town. “Life at home with Mom was organized. Breakfast was a casual affair with everything on the table or on the long cabinet at the side and pretty much ‘serve yourself.’ However, lunch and dinner were formal, dressy ones. You know, all those plates and glasses and cutlery and staff to move everything. That was how we lived everyday with Mom. “However, despite all the formalities, we kids knew she loved all of us unconditionally.” Nene Tuason–Quimson was among the very last of the patrician grandes dames of Manila. Nene Tuason–Quimson with her resources and style joined the likes of lawyer–businesswoman Chito Paterno Madrigal, the swanlike sylph Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, the impossibly chic Baby Araneta–Fores, and a very few others in the pantheon of the all–time great Filipina ladies (from prewar: Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes, Conching Chuidian Sunico). As the esteemed social columnist Maurice Arcache liked to say: “Beauty, Brains, Breeding, and Bucks!!!” It’s one thing to have an inheritance and it’s entirely another thing to have style. (Many heiresses and socialites do not have style.) But to have both is an amazing privilege granted to very few. It is not enough to marry into a fortune, one must be born to it, and then, one must develop the style commensurate to one’s resources in order to be regarded as one of the “social greats.” Tall order. There is no style where there are no resources, after all. And then the requisite heart of gold: Nene was a generous giver and had many charities but in true patrician fashion kept them mostly to herself. As Carolina Tuason y Gil de Sola de Zaragoza, another Tuason grande dame (daughter of Gonzalo Tuason y Patino and Isabel Gil de Sola, illegitimate daughter of Reina Isabel II de Espana), used to advise family members: “You know what you have, others don’t have to know.” In those respects, there were essentially no differences between the American legends Marjorie Merriweather Post and Doris Duke and the Filipinas Chito Paterno Madrigal and Nene Tuason–Quimson. A discussion on Filipina visual artists is lacking if one falls short of acquiring a profound understanding of their distinctive style and treatment of the subject matter. For instance, Pacita Abad cast her trademark on her trapunto works and Anita Magsaysay-Ho on her depiction of the beauty and resilience of the Filipino working women. Such is also the case for Betsy Westendorp. Specifically, she pursued her passion for painting orchids as if they were her lifeblood. Cid Reyes wrote: “Indeed, it is the orchid, with its wild delicacy and seductive surprise, that has become the starting point for a Westendorp trademark style.” In an interview with Reyes, Westendorp narrated how her lifelong passion for painting orchids began. The artist shared: “And the orchids— there is a place in Madrid, a greenhouse called Bourguignon. It’s a very famous flower shop. They have a greenhouse where they raise orchids. So, I asked, “Will you allow me to paint these orchids?” And they said yes. I painted there— right inside the greenhouse. “In Manila, there were friends of mine, Tonette and Linda Lagdameo, who were very involved with the Orchid Society. They had a magazine to come out. They asked me to do an orchid painting in their house. That was my first orchid painting here. And for that issue, BenCab also painted an orchid for them. And that started my relationship with the orchid.” It would not be an exaggeration if one would say that Betsy Westendorp treats flowers as if they were real humans. Westendorp said: “At the beginning, I had to paint on location so I can be in touch with the orchids. It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” Westendorp captures the character and mood that emanates from the orchid. When gazing at Westendorp’s orchids, we are treated to a harmoniously executed pageant of colors, forms, and patterns. The work transforms into a physical stimulus that stirs up our sensory perception. One can perceive the calm wind seemingly caressing the petals; the vividly colored corollas and the cascading floral showers set against an azure backdrop resembling an unclouded sky, thus forming a visual spectacle; and the delightfully sweet fragrance that stirs up both nostalgia and optimism for better days. (A.M.) Westendorp’s works have exhibited much detail in creating scenes in classical and realist depictions of landscapes, portraits, and flora. This particular artwork of hers is an example of Westendorp’s style of adapting her influences into a beautiful rendition of English primroses. She focuses much on these details to emphasize the beauty of the flowers as they stand out from much of the canvas. The scene is almost melancholic, as the colors of the flowers blend with the background. Through her fine brushing techniques and detailed coloring dynamic, Westendorp creates this scene of a balance of fine details of beauty and sadness with her style of classical and realist elements to emphasize the subtle meaning behind the art piece. With intricate detail and skillful painting, Betsy Westendorp brings out the beauty of flora and fauna. Trained under a portrait painter at a young age, she would paint anything that caught her eye, starting with painting portraits of her family members. She later discovered that she had a fascination with working with portraits, which led her to painting for powerful and wealthy figures. Westendrop then grew a passion for painting landscapes and nature. This would bloom into being known for her work for painting the sunsets of Manila Bay and a variety of flowers. Westendorp awakes the sights and senses of the viewer with the rawness of the display of flowers. With that, the beauty of the flowers and her intrinsic painting methods is what she showcases and focuses on. Like this artwork, behind the blue background is the luscious blooms of pink, white and purple. (M.D.V.)
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) English Primroses signed and dated 1984 (lower right) oil on canvas 50" x 64" (127 cm x 163 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist Prewar Manila was a vibrant city filled with grand visions and ambitions. Philippine Independence was in the air. It was second only to Shanghai, China in terms of modernity, progress, and glamour. Throughout the city, public parks were aplenty, fountains gurgled, great trees arched over the avenues, and the people had reasons to enjoy the outdoors. Many new buildings were being constructed. All kinds of American and European luxury goods were available at the Escolta. Everyone was well–dressed, be they businessmen or vendors. Cleanliness was everywhere. Optimism was the norm. It was peaceful, disciplined, and progressive. Manila was a beautiful city that could compare to the world capitals. Social gatherings were frequent, and famous ladies like Angela Calvo Olgado–Zóbel, Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, and the young Madrigal–Paterno sisters Macaria (“Nena”), Paz (“Pacita”), Josefina (“Pinang”), and Consuelo (“Chito”) gave parties left and right (Maria Luisa “Ising” was too young). It was a world of affluence, traditions, elegance, refinement, principles, and manners. And it was in that golden world where Nene Tuason–Quimson was born. Nene recalled comically that her nickname should have been Nena, although there was little difference between the two. Her parents Pindong and Nening were expecting a baby boy to be a younger brother to their elder son Boy (Jose Ramon), but a baby girl came out. As an odd compromise, she was named Nene instead of Nena. She and her three siblings Lita, Boy, and Boling grew up in the prewar residence of her parents Pindong and Nening on Santol street in Santa Mesa, on land that had long belonged to the very old Tuason clan. The area was dotted with handsome prewar residences of Tuason relatives and other prominent Manila families. The Tuason–del Rosario house was in the 1930s Modern style that could have been designed by Juan Nakpil or Pablo Antonio. In 1959, her father Pindong Tuason transferred his family to the postwar La Vista development in Quezon city, on land that was also ancestral Tuason. It was a modern residence that had sloping gardens and pleasant views of the Marikina valley where, yes, there was also ancestral Tuason land. Pindong’s and Nening’s youngest daughter was educated at the exclusive Saint Scholastica’s College operated by Belgian and German Benedictine nuns in Manila. The all–girls school had a sterling reputation for producing intelligent, diligent, and hardworking young ladies. After graduating from high school, Nene and younger sister Boling were taken by their parents Pindong and Nening abroad for 18 months/1 ½ years; 8 months were spent in New York city for Pindong’s eye operation and recovery. In 1953, fresh out of high school at only 17 years old, Nene married her beau John (Juan Tuason Quimson), who was ten years older than she. They would be together for 35 years until John’s passing in 1988. Among the Tuason cousins, Nene was closest to her first cousin Chuchay (Carmen Dos Remedios Tuason), the onetime Miss Philippines, daughter of Pindong’s younger brother Celso Zaragoza Tuason and Rosario Dos Remedios. Nene’s close friends were invariably DBF “de buena familia” daughters: Menchu de las Alas–Concepcion, Judy Araneta–Roxas, Marilen Espiritu, Buda de Leon, Maridol Sy–Quia – Mabanta, Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, Nelly Tionko Lacson– Gonzalez, and Chito Paterno Madrigal. (Nelly Tionko Lacson was Mrs Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] ); Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] was Juan Tuason Quimson’s [“John”] maternal first cousin, their mothers Paz Gonzalez Tuason–Gonzalez [“Paching”] and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas [“Tutung”] were sisters). After the 1986 Revolution, President Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco–Aquino appointed John Tuason Quimson as Ambassador to the Court of Saint James in London. It was an appropriate and laudable decision by Cory, as social position, high education, and personal elegance were qualities frankly valued by the conservative British establishment. John was a perfect choice for the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, two and a half years into his tenure in 1988, John passed away. After her husband John’s untimely passing on 12 November 1988, with all her children grown with their own families, and an “empty nest,” Nene the widow finally decided that she would just enjoy life, have more time with friends, travel, and spend more time at her favorite places. It was at that time that she set up bases in Chelsea, London, Ascot, New York, and Boca Raton. Those early widowhood years had Nene constantly on the move, and it would be her way of life for the next thirty years. Nene was a lady who took pride in her homes and gardens. She was “house proud” and consequently had high standards regarding domestic upkeep. She had a loyal core staff whom she deployed wherever needed. What was interesting was that, as she deployed her local staff abroad, conversely, she employed her foreign staff in Manila. A Tuason granddaughter once comically described the Tuason way of life as: “Popeye y comer, comer y Popeye!” meaning “Smoke and eat, eat and smoke!” or “Tobacco and food, food and tobacco!” (Popeye referring to Popeye the Sailor Man the 1929 cartoon character perennially smoking a pipe and eating a can of spinach). Nene went much further than her Tuason elders and laid her tables not only with wonderful food but also beautiful chinaware, glassware, silverware, and linens. She said she liked to cook, or better yet, she liked to supervise the cooking. While her breakfast tables were informal even casual, her lunch and dinner tables were invariably formal and set in the English style with layered chinaware and an array of silverware and glassware per place setting. Like her father Pindong Tuason, who liked to take his “La Quadra” (The Square) a group of four (often more, so it was also “La Cuadra” The Horse Stable) Wack–Wack golf buddies who were mostly his family and Tuason–Legarda–Prieto– Valdes relatives to travel everywhere (his younger brother Toto [Severo Zaragoza Tuason] and his first cousins Manoling and Chino [Manuel and Jose Mariano Legarda Valdes], the equally generous and gallant Nene took her friends, relatives, and family on several trips for company and fun as well. (Like many Filipinos, Pindong and his brothers Nicasio, Celso, Toto, and sister Lulu [elder sister Carmencita passed away young] enjoyed many happy times postwar from the 1950s–60s. They started dying off in the 1970s. Pindong passed away in 1982.) Golf was an inherited passion. Nene recalled: “My siblings and I practically grew up on a golf course, as my parents (Pindong and Nening) were always playing it.” During their younger years (1960s–70s), John and Nene used to play golf everyday at the MGC Manila Golf Club with Chito Madrigal and friends. It was a nice group. They would play in the daytime and there were wonderful dinners given nightly by various members of the group. Same group, different houses. Nene played golf for forty–three years of her young life but stopped when John died in 1988; she played from the age of 10 all the way to 53. She used to do brisk walking seven miles a day on and off the golf course. That was the reason for her slim figure. Bridge (or Contract Bridge), a trick–taking card game of skill, risk, and luck, was another inherited passion. “As a child of parents who played bridge, I also learned to play it.” Nene reminisced. Pindong and Nening Tuason were avid bridge players and their Philippine Bridge Club was headquartered at their JMT building. Nene continued: “My husband played it for twenty–three years (1988 – 23 = 1965) but I did not play due to my other commitments. But now, I guess I am taking it quite seriously. Our bridge team participated in the Pacific Open and Beijing Olympics followed by the first International Mind Sports Game tournament. It was a stiff competition and we did our best.” “Bridge, for me, is a kind of therapy. Isn’t it well–known that those who play bridge seldom get Alzheimer’s disease?” She was hoping that the 2012 Olympics in London would have a Bridge tournament and that she would be invited to represent the Philippines. Bridge took Nene everywhere. At a tournament of the Philippine Bridge Club in Medina, Seattle, she was introduced by her good friend, an English Lord, to none other than THE Bill Gates who was then a newbie at bridge. Like all Tuason women, she was good with her hands. She liked crafting: she did sewing, embroidery, crochet, needlework, and petit–point embroidery. As with everything Nene, her crafting hobbies took on a perceptibly royal air, as they were the very same pastimes of royal and aristocratic ladies in Europe and rich women in the United States. Like a true Tuason, she liked music. She liked playing the piano. When in New York, she frequently attended classical music and opera performances at the Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. She even attended pop music concerts. The music of Michael Jackson and Madonna were not alien to her. She liked dancing. Disco music was not alien to her. She liked cooking. But she didn’t do it herself. She would instruct other people to do it for her, following her recipes. Nene’s principal philanthropy was The FWA – UK Filipina Women’s Association – United Kingdom, the charitable organization that she established with London–based Filipina friends in 1988. “It was the knowledge that there was no Philippine women’s organization in the UK and that it was time there was one, with the avowed aim of raising funds for the education of the underprivileged but deserving children in the Philippines, and of course, to uplift the image of the Filipino woman.” Nene explained. At that time, Filipina women in the UK were disparaged as mere domestic helpers of the Arabs and there was little regard for Filipina professionals. As the wife of the Philippine Ambassador, Nene sought to uplift the reputation and improve the general perception of all the Filipina women in the UK. And she succeeded beyond measure. “Education is the most important thing to give to the young people.” Nene declared about one of her charities. She was a donor to the Asian Cultural Council in New York. Not known to many, she supported many Filipino musical scholars quietly for many years. Among them, Hiyas Hila. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason (“Nene,” o 02 August 1935 – + 27 November 2021) was the youngest daughter of Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong”) of the patrician Tuason family and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening”) of the industrialist family that spawned the PHINMA conglomerate. Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong,” +1982) and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening,” +1968) had four children: Julia (“Lita”) passed away at 10 years old; Jose Ramon (“Boy”) married Mercedes Reinares Arrastia; Consuelo (“Boling”) married (1) Angel Heredia (2) Vicente Reyes; Maria de los Angeles (“Nene”) married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John”). Pindong Tuason was an entrepreneur extraordinaire, an excellent lawyer–businessman who inherited the legendary Tuason nose for business. At a time when many of his social peers were still managing and relying on their inherited haciendas, the forward–looking Pindong liquidated his inherited agricultural lands and real estate properties and invested the proceeds in corporate assets. As a direct result, he had seats on the boards of the country’s major corporations. An astute investor, Pindong was always on the lookout for the next best thing (Doubtless, he would have been fascinated by Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk). A visionary, “JMT” (Jose Maria Tuason) was a force to reckon with in Philippine business. Even Pindong’s maternal first cousin, Salvador Zaragoza Araneta, himself a highly successful man, admired Pindong’s business savvy. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John,” o 26 July 1925 – + 12 November 1988) on 11 February 1953 and they had six children: Consuelo (“Wito”), John (“Baby John”), Angeles (“Lita”), Ana Maria (“Annette”), Enrique, Jose Luis (“Joey”). Juan Tuason Quimson was the eldest son of Luis S Quimson (the first Filipino pilot) and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason (“Tutung,” daughter of Pindong’s elder brother Juan Jose Tuason y de la Paz [“Tintong”] and Rosario Gonzalez [“Lolai”] of Cadiz, Spain). Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas (“Tutung”) was the one who built the first structure of the Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong city in the late 1940s for her second husband Dr Carlos Casas and she later donated it to the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS). Nene’s eldest daughter Wito reminisces: “She was heaven and earth, fire and rain, yin and yang. At times. she was hard to figure out, hard to get on with. At other times she was a joy to be with and super fun, discoing with us as teenagers in Regine’s. Although she professed to be black and white in her beliefs she herself was a multi coloured rainbow - in personality, in fashion, in her choice of varied friends and in her many interests. Tiny though she was, she was a bigger than life figure and dominated my entire life landscape. She married at 17 yo and had me at 18 she was still a child herself barely an adult. And although like most mothers and daughters, we had our ups and downs she was my best friend, she was my phone pal we would talk to each other even 4 times a day, my chismis partner, my critic and my mentor. Mum I promise you it will surely be difficult to envision the future without someone like you by my side.” Nene’s elder son John remembers: “Mom was old school and there was a certain formality to her, a certain distance. One could not be a ‘cozy friend’ with her, she just wasn’t the kind. Even we kids couldn’t approach her out of the blue… there was a certain way that that had to be done. I guess she belonged to that conservative generation. You know, the perfect manners and distance and all. “She was always well–groomed and well–dressed as soon as she was out of her room, even in “pambahay” houseclothes at home. All the more whenever she was partying in town. “Life at home with Mom was organized. Breakfast was a casual affair with everything on the table or on the long cabinet at the side and pretty much ‘serve yourself.’ However, lunch and dinner were formal, dressy ones. You know, all those plates and glasses and cutlery and staff to move everything. That was how we lived everyday with Mom. “However, despite all the formalities, we kids knew she loved all of us unconditionally.” Nene Tuason–Quimson was among the very last of the patrician grandes dames of Manila. Nene Tuason–Quimson with her resources and style joined the likes of lawyer–businesswoman Chito Paterno Madrigal, the swanlike sylph Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, the impossibly chic Baby Araneta–Fores, and a very few others in the pantheon of the all–time great Filipina ladies (from prewar: Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes, Conching Chuidian Sunico). As the esteemed social columnist Maurice Arcache liked to say: “Beauty, Brains, Breeding, and Bucks!!!” It’s one thing to have an inheritance and it’s entirely another thing to have style. (Many heiresses and socialites do not have style.) But to have both is an amazing privilege granted to very few. It is not enough to marry into a fortune, one must be born to it, and then, one must develop the style commensurate to one’s resources in order to be regarded as one of the “social greats.” Tall order. There is no style where there are no resources, after all. And then the requisite heart of gold: Nene was a generous giver and had many charities but in true patrician fashion kept them mostly to herself. As Carolina Tuason y Gil de Sola de Zaragoza, another Tuason grande dame (daughter of Gonzalo Tuason y Patino and Isabel Gil de Sola, illegitimate daughter of Reina Isabel II de Espana), used to advise family members: “You know what you have, others don’t have to know.” In those respects, there were essentially no differences between the American legends Marjorie Merriweather Post and Doris Duke and the Filipinas Chito Paterno Madrigal and Nene Tuason–Quimson. A discussion on Filipina visual artists is lacking if one falls short of acquiring a profound understanding of their distinctive style and treatment of the subject matter. For instance, Pacita Abad cast her trademark on her trapunto works and Anita Magsaysay-Ho on her depiction of the beauty and resilience of the Filipino working women. Such is also the case for Betsy Westendorp. Specifically, she pursued her passion for painting orchids as if they were her lifeblood. Cid Reyes wrote: “Indeed, it is the orchid, with its wild delicacy and seductive surprise, that has become the starting point for a Westendorp trademark style.” In an interview with Reyes, Westendorp narrated how her lifelong passion for painting orchids began. The artist shared: “And the orchids— there is a place in Madrid, a greenhouse called Bourguignon. It’s a very famous flower shop. They have a greenhouse where they raise orchids. So, I asked, “Will you allow me to paint these orchids?” And they said yes. I painted there— right inside the greenhouse. “In Manila, there were friends of mine, Tonette and Linda Lagdameo, who were very involved with the Orchid Society. They had a magazine to come out. They asked me to do an orchid painting in their house. That was my first orchid painting here. And for that issue, BenCab also painted an orchid for them. And that started my relationship with the orchid.” It would not be an exaggeration if one would say that Betsy Westendorp treats flowers as if they were real humans. Westendorp said: “At the beginning, I had to paint on location so I can be in touch with the orchids. It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” Westendorp captures the character and mood that emanates from the orchid. When gazing at Westendorp’s orchids, we are treated to a harmoniously executed pageant of colors, forms, and patterns. The work transforms into a physical stimulus that stirs up our sensory perception. One can perceive the calm wind seemingly caressing the petals; the vividly colored corollas and the cascading floral showers set against an azure backdrop resembling an unclouded sky, thus forming a visual spectacle; and the delightfully sweet fragrance that stirs up both nostalgia and optimism for better days. (A.M.) Westendorp’s works have exhibited much detail in creating scenes in classical and realist depictions of landscapes, portraits, and flora. This particular artwork of hers is an example of Westendorp’s style of adapting her influences into a beautiful rendition of English primroses. She focuses much on these details to emphasize the beauty of the flowers as they stand out from much of the canvas. The scene is almost melancholic, as the colors of the flowers blend with the background. Through her fine brushing techniques and detailed coloring dynamic, Westendorp creates this scene of a balance of fine details of beauty and sadness with her style of classical and realist elements to emphasize the subtle meaning behind the art piece. With intricate detail and skillful painting, Betsy Westendorp brings out the beauty of flora and fauna. Trained under a portrait painter at a young age, she would paint anything that caught her eye, starting with painting portraits of her family members. She later discovered that she had a fascination with working with portraits, which led her to painting for powerful and wealthy figures. Westendrop then grew a passion for painting landscapes and nature. This would bloom into being known for her work for painting the sunsets of Manila Bay and a variety of flowers. Westendorp awakes the sights and senses of the viewer with the rawness of the display of flowers. With that, the beauty of the flowers and her intrinsic painting methods is what she showcases and focuses on. Like this artwork, behind the blue background is the luscious blooms of pink, white and purple. (M.D.V.)
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) A Cascade of Orchids signed and dated 1991 (lower left) oil on canvas 51 1/2" x 64" (131 cm x 163 cm) PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist Prewar Manila was a vibrant city filled with grand visions and ambitions. Philippine Independence was in the air. It was second only to Shanghai, China in terms of modernity, progress, and glamour. Throughout the city, public parks were aplenty, fountains gurgled, great trees arched over the avenues, and the people had reasons to enjoy the outdoors. Many new buildings were being constructed. All kinds of American and European luxury goods were available at the Escolta. Everyone was well–dressed, be they businessmen or vendors. Cleanliness was everywhere. Optimism was the norm. It was peaceful, disciplined, and progressive. Manila was a beautiful city that could compare to the world capitals. Social gatherings were frequent, and famous ladies like Angela Calvo Olgado–Zóbel, Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, and the young Madrigal–Paterno sisters Macaria (“Nena”), Paz (“Pacita”), Josefina (“Pinang”), and Consuelo (“Chito”) gave parties left and right (Maria Luisa “Ising” was too young). It was a world of affluence, traditions, elegance, refinement, principles, and manners. And it was in that golden world where Nene Tuason–Quimson was born. Nene recalled comically that her nickname should have been Nena, although there was little difference between the two. Her parents Pindong and Nening were expecting a baby boy to be a younger brother to their elder son Boy (Jose Ramon), but a baby girl came out. As an odd compromise, she was named Nene instead of Nena. She and her three siblings Lita, Boy, and Boling grew up in the prewar residence of her parents Pindong and Nening on Santol street in Santa Mesa, on land that had long belonged to the very old Tuason clan. The area was dotted with handsome prewar residences of Tuason relatives and other prominent Manila families. The Tuason–del Rosario house was in the 1930s Modern style that could have been designed by Juan Nakpil or Pablo Antonio. In 1959, her father Pindong Tuason transferred his family to the postwar La Vista development in Quezon city, on land that was also ancestral Tuason. It was a modern residence that had sloping gardens and pleasant views of the Marikina valley where, yes, there was also ancestral Tuason land. Pindong’s and Nening’s youngest daughter was educated at the exclusive Saint Scholastica’s College operated by Belgian and German Benedictine nuns in Manila. The all–girls school had a sterling reputation for producing intelligent, diligent, and hardworking young ladies. After graduating from high school, Nene and younger sister Boling were taken by their parents Pindong and Nening abroad for 18 months/1 ½ years; 8 months were spent in New York city for Pindong’s eye operation and recovery. In 1953, fresh out of high school at only 17 years old, Nene married her beau John (Juan Tuason Quimson), who was ten years older than she. They would be together for 35 years until John’s passing in 1988. Among the Tuason cousins, Nene was closest to her first cousin Chuchay (Carmen Dos Remedios Tuason), the onetime Miss Philippines, daughter of Pindong’s younger brother Celso Zaragoza Tuason and Rosario Dos Remedios. Nene’s close friends were invariably DBF “de buena familia” daughters: Menchu de las Alas–Concepcion, Judy Araneta–Roxas, Marilen Espiritu, Buda de Leon, Maridol Sy–Quia – Mabanta, Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, Nelly Tionko Lacson– Gonzalez, and Chito Paterno Madrigal. (Nelly Tionko Lacson was Mrs Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] ); Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] was Juan Tuason Quimson’s [“John”] maternal first cousin, their mothers Paz Gonzalez Tuason–Gonzalez [“Paching”] and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas [“Tutung”] were sisters). After the 1986 Revolution, President Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco–Aquino appointed John Tuason Quimson as Ambassador to the Court of Saint James in London. It was an appropriate and laudable decision by Cory, as social position, high education, and personal elegance were qualities frankly valued by the conservative British establishment. John was a perfect choice for the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, two and a half years into his tenure in 1988, John passed away. After her husband John’s untimely passing on 12 November 1988, with all her children grown with their own families, and an “empty nest,” Nene the widow finally decided that she would just enjoy life, have more time with friends, travel, and spend more time at her favorite places. It was at that time that she set up bases in Chelsea, London, Ascot, New York, and Boca Raton. Those early widowhood years had Nene constantly on the move, and it would be her way of life for the next thirty years. Nene was a lady who took pride in her homes and gardens. She was “house proud” and consequently had high standards regarding domestic upkeep. She had a loyal core staff whom she deployed wherever needed. What was interesting was that, as she deployed her local staff abroad, conversely, she employed her foreign staff in Manila. A Tuason granddaughter once comically described the Tuason way of life as: “Popeye y comer, comer y Popeye!” meaning “Smoke and eat, eat and smoke!” or “Tobacco and food, food and tobacco!” (Popeye referring to Popeye the Sailor Man the 1929 cartoon character perennially smoking a pipe and eating a can of spinach). Nene went much further than her Tuason elders and laid her tables not only with wonderful food but also beautiful chinaware, glassware, silverware, and linens. She said she liked to cook, or better yet, she liked to supervise the cooking. While her breakfast tables were informal even casual, her lunch and dinner tables were invariably formal and set in the English style with layered chinaware and an array of silverware and glassware per place setting. Like her father Pindong Tuason, who liked to take his “La Quadra” (The Square) a group of four (often more, so it was also “La Cuadra” The Horse Stable) Wack–Wack golf buddies who were mostly his family and Tuason–Legarda–Prieto– Valdes relatives to travel everywhere (his younger brother Toto [Severo Zaragoza Tuason] and his first cousins Manoling and Chino [Manuel and Jose Mariano Legarda Valdes], the equally generous and gallant Nene took her friends, relatives, and family on several trips for company and fun as well. (Like many Filipinos, Pindong and his brothers Nicasio, Celso, Toto, and sister Lulu [elder sister Carmencita passed away young] enjoyed many happy times postwar from the 1950s–60s. They started dying off in the 1970s. Pindong passed away in 1982.) Golf was an inherited passion. Nene recalled: “My siblings and I practically grew up on a golf course, as my parents (Pindong and Nening) were always playing it.” During their younger years (1960s–70s), John and Nene used to play golf everyday at the MGC Manila Golf Club with Chito Madrigal and friends. It was a nice group. They would play in the daytime and there were wonderful dinners given nightly by various members of the group. Same group, different houses. Nene played golf for forty–three years of her young life but stopped when John died in 1988; she played from the age of 10 all the way to 53. She used to do brisk walking seven miles a day on and off the golf course. That was the reason for her slim figure. Bridge (or Contract Bridge), a trick–taking card game of skill, risk, and luck, was another inherited passion. “As a child of parents who played bridge, I also learned to play it.” Nene reminisced. Pindong and Nening Tuason were avid bridge players and their Philippine Bridge Club was headquartered at their JMT building. Nene continued: “My husband played it for twenty–three years (1988 – 23 = 1965) but I did not play due to my other commitments. But now, I guess I am taking it quite seriously. Our bridge team participated in the Pacific Open and Beijing Olympics followed by the first International Mind Sports Game tournament. It was a stiff competition and we did our best.” “Bridge, for me, is a kind of therapy. Isn’t it well–known that those who play bridge seldom get Alzheimer’s disease?” She was hoping that the 2012 Olympics in London would have a Bridge tournament and that she would be invited to represent the Philippines. Bridge took Nene everywhere. At a tournament of the Philippine Bridge Club in Medina, Seattle, she was introduced by her good friend, an English Lord, to none other than THE Bill Gates who was then a newbie at bridge. Like all Tuason women, she was good with her hands. She liked crafting: she did sewing, embroidery, crochet, needlework, and petit–point embroidery. As with everything Nene, her crafting hobbies took on a perceptibly royal air, as they were the very same pastimes of royal and aristocratic ladies in Europe and rich women in the United States. Like a true Tuason, she liked music. She liked playing the piano. When in New York, she frequently attended classical music and opera performances at the Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. She even attended pop music concerts. The music of Michael Jackson and Madonna were not alien to her. She liked dancing. Disco music was not alien to her. She liked cooking. But she didn’t do it herself. She would instruct other people to do it for her, following her recipes. Nene’s principal philanthropy was The FWA – UK Filipina Women’s Association – United Kingdom, the charitable organization that she established with London–based Filipina friends in 1988. “It was the knowledge that there was no Philippine women’s organization in the UK and that it was time there was one, with the avowed aim of raising funds for the education of the underprivileged but deserving children in the Philippines, and of course, to uplift the image of the Filipino woman.” Nene explained. At that time, Filipina women in the UK were disparaged as mere domestic helpers of the Arabs and there was little regard for Filipina professionals. As the wife of the Philippine Ambassador, Nene sought to uplift the reputation and improve the general perception of all the Filipina women in the UK. And she succeeded beyond measure. “Education is the most important thing to give to the young people.” Nene declared about one of her charities. She was a donor to the Asian Cultural Council in New York. Not known to many, she supported many Filipino musical scholars quietly for many years. Among them, Hiyas Hila. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason (“Nene,” o 02 August 1935 – + 27 November 2021) was the youngest daughter of Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong”) of the patrician Tuason family and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening”) of the industrialist family that spawned the PHINMA conglomerate. Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong,” +1982) and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening,” +1968) had four children: Julia (“Lita”) passed away at 10 years old; Jose Ramon (“Boy”) married Mercedes Reinares Arrastia; Consuelo (“Boling”) married (1) Angel Heredia (2) Vicente Reyes; Maria de los Angeles (“Nene”) married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John”). Pindong Tuason was an entrepreneur extraordinaire, an excellent lawyer–businessman who inherited the legendary Tuason nose for business. At a time when many of his social peers were still managing and relying on their inherited haciendas, the forward–looking Pindong liquidated his inherited agricultural lands and real estate properties and invested the proceeds in corporate assets. As a direct result, he had seats on the boards of the country’s major corporations. An astute investor, Pindong was always on the lookout for the next best thing (Doubtless, he would have been fascinated by Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk). A visionary, “JMT” (Jose Maria Tuason) was a force to reckon with in Philippine business. Even Pindong’s maternal first cousin, Salvador Zaragoza Araneta, himself a highly successful man, admired Pindong’s business savvy. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John,” o 26 July 1925 – + 12 November 1988) on 11 February 1953 and they had six children: Consuelo (“Wito”), John (“Baby John”), Angeles (“Lita”), Ana Maria (“Annette”), Enrique, Jose Luis (“Joey”). Juan Tuason Quimson was the eldest son of Luis S Quimson (the first Filipino pilot) and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason (“Tutung,” daughter of Pindong’s elder brother Juan Jose Tuason y de la Paz [“Tintong”] and Rosario Gonzalez [“Lolai”] of Cadiz, Spain). Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas (“Tutung”) was the one who built the first structure of the Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong city in the late 1940s for her second husband Dr Carlos Casas and she later donated it to the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS). Nene’s eldest daughter Wito reminisces: “She was heaven and earth, fire and rain, yin and yang. At times. she was hard to figure out, hard to get on with. At other times she was a joy to be with and super fun, discoing with us as teenagers in Regine’s. Although she professed to be black and white in her beliefs she herself was a multi coloured rainbow - in personality, in fashion, in her choice of varied friends and in her many interests. Tiny though she was, she was a bigger than life figure and dominated my entire life landscape. She married at 17 yo and had me at 18 she was still a child herself barely an adult. And although like most mothers and daughters, we had our ups and downs she was my best friend, she was my phone pal we would talk to each other even 4 times a day, my chismis partner, my critic and my mentor. Mum I promise you it will surely be difficult to envision the future without someone like you by my side.” Nene’s elder son John remembers: “Mom was old school and there was a certain formality to her, a certain distance. One could not be a ‘cozy friend’ with her, she just wasn’t the kind. Even we kids couldn’t approach her out of the blue… there was a certain way that that had to be done. I guess she belonged to that conservative generation. You know, the perfect manners and distance and all. “She was always well–groomed and well–dressed as soon as she was out of her room, even in “pambahay” houseclothes at home. All the more whenever she was partying in town. “Life at home with Mom was organized. Breakfast was a casual affair with everything on the table or on the long cabinet at the side and pretty much ‘serve yourself.’ However, lunch and dinner were formal, dressy ones. You know, all those plates and glasses and cutlery and staff to move everything. That was how we lived everyday with Mom. “However, despite all the formalities, we kids knew she loved all of us unconditionally.” Nene Tuason–Quimson was among the very last of the patrician grandes dames of Manila. Nene Tuason–Quimson with her resources and style joined the likes of lawyer–businesswoman Chito Paterno Madrigal, the swanlike sylph Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, the impossibly chic Baby Araneta–Fores, and a very few others in the pantheon of the all–time great Filipina ladies (from prewar: Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes, Conching Chuidian Sunico). As the esteemed social columnist Maurice Arcache liked to say: “Beauty, Brains, Breeding, and Bucks!!!” It’s one thing to have an inheritance and it’s entirely another thing to have style. (Many heiresses and socialites do not have style.) But to have both is an amazing privilege granted to very few. It is not enough to marry into a fortune, one must be born to it, and then, one must develop the style commensurate to one’s resources in order to be regarded as one of the “social greats.” Tall order. There is no style where there are no resources, after all. And then the requisite heart of gold: Nene was a generous giver and had many charities but in true patrician fashion kept them mostly to herself. As Carolina Tuason y Gil de Sola de Zaragoza, another Tuason grande dame (daughter of Gonzalo Tuason y Patino and Isabel Gil de Sola, illegitimate daughter of Reina Isabel II de Espana), used to advise family members: “You know what you have, others don’t have to know.” In those respects, there were essentially no differences between the American legends Marjorie Merriweather Post and Doris Duke and the Filipinas Chito Paterno Madrigal and Nene Tuason–Quimson. A discussion on Filipina visual artists is lacking if one falls short of acquiring a profound understanding of their distinctive style and treatment of the subject matter. For instance, Pacita Abad cast her trademark on her trapunto works and Anita Magsaysay-Ho on her depiction of the beauty and resilience of the Filipino working women. Such is also the case for Betsy Westendorp. Specifically, she pursued her passion for painting orchids as if they were her lifeblood. Cid Reyes wrote: “Indeed, it is the orchid, with its wild delicacy and seductive surprise, that has become the starting point for a Westendorp trademark style.” In an interview with Reyes, Westendorp narrated how her lifelong passion for painting orchids began. The artist shared: “And the orchids— there is a place in Madrid, a greenhouse called Bourguignon. It’s a very famous flower shop. They have a greenhouse where they raise orchids. So, I asked, “Will you allow me to paint these orchids?” And they said yes. I painted there— right inside the greenhouse. “In Manila, there were friends of mine, Tonette and Linda Lagdameo, who were very involved with the Orchid Society. They had a magazine to come out. They asked me to do an orchid painting in their house. That was my first orchid painting here. And for that issue, BenCab also painted an orchid for them. And that started my relationship with the orchid.” It would not be an exaggeration if one would say that Betsy Westendorp treats flowers as if they were real humans. Westendorp said: “At the beginning, I had to paint on location so I can be in touch with the orchids. It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” Westendorp captures the character and mood that emanates from the orchid. When gazing at Westendorp’s orchids, we are treated to a harmoniously executed pageant of colors, forms, and patterns. The work transforms into a physical stimulus that stirs up our sensory perception. One can perceive the calm wind seemingly caressing the petals; the vividly colored corollas and the cascading floral showers set against an azure backdrop resembling an unclouded sky, thus forming a visual spectacle; and the delightfully sweet fragrance that stirs up both nostalgia and optimism for better days. (A.M.) Westendorp’s works have exhibited much detail in creating scenes in classical and realist depictions of landscapes, portraits, and flora. This particular artwork of hers is an example of Westendorp’s style of adapting her influences into a beautiful rendition of English primroses. She focuses much on these details to emphasize the beauty of the flowers as they stand out from much of the canvas. The scene is almost melancholic, as the colors of the flowers blend with the background. Through her fine brushing techniques and detailed coloring dynamic, Westendorp creates this scene of a balance of fine details of beauty and sadness with her style of classical and realist elements to emphasize the subtle meaning behind the art piece. With intricate detail and skillful painting, Betsy Westendorp brings out the beauty of flora and fauna. Trained under a portrait painter at a young age, she would paint anything that caught her eye, starting with painting portraits of her family members. She later discovered that she had a fascination with working with portraits, which led her to painting for powerful and wealthy figures. Westendrop then grew a passion for painting landscapes and nature. This would bloom into being known for her work for painting the sunsets of Manila Bay and a variety of flowers. Westendorp awakes the sights and senses of the viewer with the rawness of the display of flowers. With that, the beauty of the flowers and her intrinsic painting methods is what she showcases and focuses on. Like this artwork, behind the blue background is the luscious blooms of pink, white and purple. (M.D.V.)
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Portrait of Doña Nene Quimson signed and dated 1976 (lower left) oil on canvas 62" x 46" (157 cm x 117 cm) "PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist" Prewar Manila was a vibrant city filled with grand visions and ambitions. Philippine Independence was in the air. It was second only to Shanghai, China in terms of modernity, progress, and glamour. Throughout the city, public parks were aplenty, fountains gurgled, great trees arched over the avenues, and the people had reasons to enjoy the outdoors. Many new buildings were being constructed. All kinds of American and European luxury goods were available at the Escolta. Everyone was well–dressed, be they businessmen or vendors. Cleanliness was everywhere. Optimism was the norm. It was peaceful, disciplined, and progressive. Manila was a beautiful city that could compare to the world capitals. Social gatherings were frequent, and famous ladies like Angela Calvo Olgado–Zóbel, Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, and the young Madrigal–Paterno sisters Macaria (“Nena”), Paz (“Pacita”), Josefina (“Pinang”), and Consuelo (“Chito”) gave parties left and right (Maria Luisa “Ising” was too young). It was a world of affluence, traditions, elegance, refinement, principles, and manners. And it was in that golden world where Nene Tuason–Quimson was born. Nene recalled comically that her nickname should have been Nena, although there was little difference between the two. Her parents Pindong and Nening were expecting a baby boy to be a younger brother to their elder son Boy (Jose Ramon), but a baby girl came out. As an odd compromise, she was named Nene instead of Nena. She and her three siblings Lita, Boy, and Boling grew up in the prewar residence of her parents Pindong and Nening on Santol street in Santa Mesa, on land that had long belonged to the very old Tuason clan. The area was dotted with handsome prewar residences of Tuason relatives and other prominent Manila families. The Tuason–del Rosario house was in the 1930s Modern style that could have been designed by Juan Nakpil or Pablo Antonio. In 1959, her father Pindong Tuason transferred his family to the postwar La Vista development in Quezon city, on land that was also ancestral Tuason. It was a modern residence that had sloping gardens and pleasant views of the Marikina valley where, yes, there was also ancestral Tuason land. Pindong’s and Nening’s youngest daughter was educated at the exclusive Saint Scholastica’s College operated by Belgian and German Benedictine nuns in Manila. The all–girls school had a sterling reputation for producing intelligent, diligent, and hardworking young ladies. After graduating from high school, Nene and younger sister Boling were taken by their parents Pindong and Nening abroad for 18 months/1 ½ years; 8 months were spent in New York city for Pindong’s eye operation and recovery. In 1953, fresh out of high school at only 17 years old, Nene married her beau John (Juan Tuason Quimson), who was ten years older than she. They would be together for 35 years until John’s passing in 1988. Among the Tuason cousins, Nene was closest to her first cousin Chuchay (Carmen Dos Remedios Tuason), the onetime Miss Philippines, daughter of Pindong’s younger brother Celso Zaragoza Tuason and Rosario Dos Remedios. Nene’s close friends were invariably DBF “de buena familia” daughters: Menchu de las Alas–Concepcion, Judy Araneta–Roxas, Marilen Espiritu, Buda de Leon, Maridol Sy–Quia – Mabanta, Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, Nelly Tionko Lacson– Gonzalez, and Chito Paterno Madrigal. (Nelly Tionko Lacson was Mrs Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] ); Manuel Juan Tuason Gonzalez [“Dindo”] was Juan Tuason Quimson’s [“John”] maternal first cousin, their mothers Paz Gonzalez Tuason–Gonzalez [“Paching”] and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas [“Tutung”] were sisters). After the 1986 Revolution, President Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco–Aquino appointed John Tuason Quimson as Ambassador to the Court of Saint James in London. It was an appropriate and laudable decision by Cory, as social position, high education, and personal elegance were qualities frankly valued by the conservative British establishment. John was a perfect choice for the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, two and a half years into his tenure in 1988, John passed away. After her husband John’s untimely passing on 12 November 1988, with all her children grown with their own families, and an “empty nest,” Nene the widow finally decided that she would just enjoy life, have more time with friends, travel, and spend more time at her favorite places. It was at that time that she set up bases in Chelsea, London, Ascot, New York, and Boca Raton. Those early widowhood years had Nene constantly on the move, and it would be her way of life for the next thirty years. Nene was a lady who took pride in her homes and gardens. She was “house proud” and consequently had high standards regarding domestic upkeep. She had a loyal core staff whom she deployed wherever needed. What was interesting was that, as she deployed her local staff abroad, conversely, she employed her foreign staff in Manila. A Tuason granddaughter once comically described the Tuason way of life as: “Popeye y comer, comer y Popeye!” meaning “Smoke and eat, eat and smoke!” or “Tobacco and food, food and tobacco!” (Popeye referring to Popeye the Sailor Man the 1929 cartoon character perennially smoking a pipe and eating a can of spinach). Nene went much further than her Tuason elders and laid her tables not only with wonderful food but also beautiful chinaware, glassware, silverware, and linens. She said she liked to cook, or better yet, she liked to supervise the cooking. While her breakfast tables were informal even casual, her lunch and dinner tables were invariably formal and set in the English style with layered chinaware and an array of silverware and glassware per place setting. Like her father Pindong Tuason, who liked to take his “La Quadra” (The Square) a group of four (often more, so it was also “La Cuadra” The Horse Stable) Wack–Wack golf buddies who were mostly his family and Tuason–Legarda–Prieto– Valdes relatives to travel everywhere (his younger brother Toto [Severo Zaragoza Tuason] and his first cousins Manoling and Chino [Manuel and Jose Mariano Legarda Valdes], the equally generous and gallant Nene took her friends, relatives, and family on several trips for company and fun as well. (Like many Filipinos, Pindong and his brothers Nicasio, Celso, Toto, and sister Lulu [elder sister Carmencita passed away young] enjoyed many happy times postwar from the 1950s–60s. They started dying off in the 1970s. Pindong passed away in 1982.) Golf was an inherited passion. Nene recalled: “My siblings and I practically grew up on a golf course, as my parents (Pindong and Nening) were always playing it.” During their younger years (1960s–70s), John and Nene used to play golf everyday at the MGC Manila Golf Club with Chito Madrigal and friends. It was a nice group. They would play in the daytime and there were wonderful dinners given nightly by various members of the group. Same group, different houses. Nene played golf for forty–three years of her young life but stopped when John died in 1988; she played from the age of 10 all the way to 53. She used to do brisk walking seven miles a day on and off the golf course. That was the reason for her slim figure. Bridge (or Contract Bridge), a trick–taking card game of skill, risk, and luck, was another inherited passion. “As a child of parents who played bridge, I also learned to play it.” Nene reminisced. Pindong and Nening Tuason were avid bridge players and their Philippine Bridge Club was headquartered at their JMT building. Nene continued: “My husband played it for twenty–three years (1988 – 23 = 1965) but I did not play due to my other commitments. But now, I guess I am taking it quite seriously. Our bridge team participated in the Pacific Open and Beijing Olympics followed by the first International Mind Sports Game tournament. It was a stiff competition and we did our best.” “Bridge, for me, is a kind of therapy. Isn’t it well–known that those who play bridge seldom get Alzheimer’s disease?” She was hoping that the 2012 Olympics in London would have a Bridge tournament and that she would be invited to represent the Philippines. Bridge took Nene everywhere. At a tournament of the Philippine Bridge Club in Medina, Seattle, she was introduced by her good friend, an English Lord, to none other than THE Bill Gates who was then a newbie at bridge. Like all Tuason women, she was good with her hands. She liked crafting: she did sewing, embroidery, crochet, needlework, and petit–point embroidery. As with everything Nene, her crafting hobbies took on a perceptibly royal air, as they were the very same pastimes of royal and aristocratic ladies in Europe and rich women in the United States. Like a true Tuason, she liked music. She liked playing the piano. When in New York, she frequently attended classical music and opera performances at the Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. She even attended pop music concerts. The music of Michael Jackson and Madonna were not alien to her. She liked dancing. Disco music was not alien to her. She liked cooking. But she didn’t do it herself. She would instruct other people to do it for her, following her recipes. Nene’s principal philanthropy was The FWA – UK Filipina Women’s Association – United Kingdom, the charitable organization that she established with London–based Filipina friends in 1988. “It was the knowledge that there was no Philippine women’s organization in the UK and that it was time there was one, with the avowed aim of raising funds for the education of the underprivileged but deserving children in the Philippines, and of course, to uplift the image of the Filipino woman.” Nene explained. At that time, Filipina women in the UK were disparaged as mere domestic helpers of the Arabs and there was little regard for Filipina professionals. As the wife of the Philippine Ambassador, Nene sought to uplift the reputation and improve the general perception of all the Filipina women in the UK. And she succeeded beyond measure. “Education is the most important thing to give to the young people.” Nene declared about one of her charities. She was a donor to the Asian Cultural Council in New York. Not known to many, she supported many Filipino musical scholars quietly for many years. Among them, Hiyas Hila. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason (“Nene,” o 02 August 1935 – + 27 November 2021) was the youngest daughter of Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong”) of the patrician Tuason family and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening”) of the industrialist family that spawned the PHINMA conglomerate. Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong,” +1982) and Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening,” +1968) had four children: Julia (“Lita”) passed away at 10 years old; Jose Ramon (“Boy”) married Mercedes Reinares Arrastia; Consuelo (“Boling”) married (1) Angel Heredia (2) Vicente Reyes; Maria de los Angeles (“Nene”) married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John”). Pindong Tuason was an entrepreneur extraordinaire, an excellent lawyer–businessman who inherited the legendary Tuason nose for business. At a time when many of his social peers were still managing and relying on their inherited haciendas, the forward–looking Pindong liquidated his inherited agricultural lands and real estate properties and invested the proceeds in corporate assets. As a direct result, he had seats on the boards of the country’s major corporations. An astute investor, Pindong was always on the lookout for the next best thing (Doubtless, he would have been fascinated by Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk). A visionary, “JMT” (Jose Maria Tuason) was a force to reckon with in Philippine business. Even Pindong’s maternal first cousin, Salvador Zaragoza Araneta, himself a highly successful man, admired Pindong’s business savvy. Maria de los Angeles del Rosario Tuason married Juan Tuason Quimson (“John,” o 26 July 1925 – + 12 November 1988) on 11 February 1953 and they had six children: Consuelo (“Wito”), John (“Baby John”), Angeles (“Lita”), Ana Maria (“Annette”), Enrique, Jose Luis (“Joey”). Juan Tuason Quimson was the eldest son of Luis S Quimson (the first Filipino pilot) and Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason (“Tutung,” daughter of Pindong’s elder brother Juan Jose Tuason y de la Paz [“Tintong”] and Rosario Gonzalez [“Lolai”] of Cadiz, Spain). Consuelo Gonzalez Tuason–Quimson–Casas (“Tutung”) was the one who built the first structure of the Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong city in the late 1940s for her second husband Dr Carlos Casas and she later donated it to the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS). Nene’s eldest daughter Wito reminisces: “She was heaven and earth, fire and rain, yin and yang. At times. she was hard to figure out, hard to get on with. At other times she was a joy to be with and super fun, discoing with us as teenagers in Regine’s. Although she professed to be black and white in her beliefs she herself was a multi coloured rainbow - in personality, in fashion, in her choice of varied friends and in her many interests. Tiny though she was, she was a bigger than life figure and dominated my entire life landscape. She married at 17 yo and had me at 18 she was still a child herself barely an adult. And although like most mothers and daughters, we had our ups and downs she was my best friend, she was my phone pal we would talk to each other even 4 times a day, my chismis partner, my critic and my mentor. Mum I promise you it will surely be difficult to envision the future without someone like you by my side.” Nene’s elder son John remembers: “Mom was old school and there was a certain formality to her, a certain distance. One could not be a ‘cozy friend’ with her, she just wasn’t the kind. Even we kids couldn’t approach her out of the blue… there was a certain way that that had to be done. I guess she belonged to that conservative generation. You know, the perfect manners and distance and all. “She was always well–groomed and well–dressed as soon as she was out of her room, even in “pambahay” houseclothes at home. All the more whenever she was partying in town. “Life at home with Mom was organized. Breakfast was a casual affair with everything on the table or on the long cabinet at the side and pretty much ‘serve yourself.’ However, lunch and dinner were formal, dressy ones. You know, all those plates and glasses and cutlery and staff to move everything. That was how we lived everyday with Mom. “However, despite all the formalities, we kids knew she loved all of us unconditionally.” Nene Tuason–Quimson was among the very last of the patrician grandes dames of Manila. Nene Tuason–Quimson with her resources and style joined the likes of lawyer–businesswoman Chito Paterno Madrigal, the swanlike sylph Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, the impossibly chic Baby Araneta–Fores, and a very few others in the pantheon of the all–time great Filipina ladies (from prewar: Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes, Conching Chuidian Sunico). As the esteemed social columnist Maurice Arcache liked to say: “Beauty, Brains, Breeding, and Bucks!!!” It’s one thing to have an inheritance and it’s entirely another thing to have style. (Many heiresses and socialites do not have style.) But to have both is an amazing privilege granted to very few. It is not enough to marry into a fortune, one must be born to it, and then, one must develop the style commensurate to one’s resources in order to be regarded as one of the “social greats.” Tall order. There is no style where there are no resources, after all. And then the requisite heart of gold: Nene was a generous giver and had many charities but in true patrician fashion kept them mostly to herself. As Carolina Tuason y Gil de Sola de Zaragoza, another Tuason grande dame (daughter of Gonzalo Tuason y Patino and Isabel Gil de Sola, illegitimate daughter of Reina Isabel II de Espana), used to advise family members: “You know what you have, others don’t have to know.” In those respects, there were essentially no differences between the American legends Marjorie Merriweather Post and Doris Duke and the Filipinas Chito Paterno Madrigal and Nene Tuason–Quimson. A discussion on Filipina visual artists is lacking if one falls short of acquiring a profound understanding of their distinctive style and treatment of the subject matter. For instance, Pacita Abad cast her trademark on her trapunto works and Anita Magsaysay-Ho on her depiction of the beauty and resilience of the Filipino working women. Such is also the case for Betsy Westendorp. Specifically, she pursued her passion for painting orchids as if they were her lifeblood. Cid Reyes wrote: “Indeed, it is the orchid, with its wild delicacy and seductive surprise, that has become the starting point for a Westendorp trademark style.” In an interview with Reyes, Westendorp narrated how her lifelong passion for painting orchids began. The artist shared: “And the orchids— there is a place in Madrid, a greenhouse called Bourguignon. It’s a very famous flower shop. They have a greenhouse where they raise orchids. So, I asked, “Will you allow me to paint these orchids?” And they said yes. I painted there— right inside the greenhouse. “In Manila, there were friends of mine, Tonette and Linda Lagdameo, who were very involved with the Orchid Society. They had a magazine to come out. They asked me to do an orchid painting in their house. That was my first orchid painting here. And for that issue, BenCab also painted an orchid for them. And that started my relationship with the orchid.” It would not be an exaggeration if one would say that Betsy Westendorp treats flowers as if they were real humans. Westendorp said: “At the beginning, I had to paint on location so I can be in touch with the orchids. It’s like getting to know a person. With flowers, you have to know them also.” Westendorp captures the character and mood that emanates from the orchid. When gazing at Westendorp’s orchids, we are treated to a harmoniously executed pageant of colors, forms, and patterns. The work transforms into a physical stimulus that stirs up our sensory perception. One can perceive the calm wind seemingly caressing the petals; the vividly colored corollas and the cascading floral showers set against an azure backdrop resembling an unclouded sky, thus forming a visual spectacle; and the delightfully sweet fragrance that stirs up both nostalgia and optimism for better days. (A.M.) Westendorp’s works have exhibited much detail in creating scenes in classical and realist depictions of landscapes, portraits, and flora. This particular artwork of hers is an example of Westendorp’s style of adapting her influences into a beautiful rendition of English primroses. She focuses much on these details to emphasize the beauty of the flowers as they stand out from much of the canvas. The scene is almost melancholic, as the colors of the flowers blend with the background. Through her fine brushing techniques and detailed coloring dynamic, Westendorp creates this scene of a balance of fine details of beauty and sadness with her style of classical and realist elements to emphasize the subtle meaning behind the art piece. With intricate detail and skillful painting, Betsy Westendorp brings out the beauty of flora and fauna. Trained under a portrait painter at a young age, she would paint anything that caught her eye, starting with painting portraits of her family members. She later discovered that she had a fascination with working with portraits, which led her to painting for powerful and wealthy figures. Westendrop then grew a passion for painting landscapes and nature. This would bloom into being known for her work for painting the sunsets of Manila Bay and a variety of flowers. Westendorp awakes the sights and senses of the viewer with the rawness of the display of flowers. With that, the beauty of the flowers and her intrinsic painting methods is what she showcases and focuses on. Like this artwork, behind the blue background is the luscious blooms of pink, white and purple. (M.D.V.)
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Still Life signed and dated 2011 (lower right) oil on board 6” x 5” (15 cm x 13 cm) PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION
Untitled signed and dated 1993 (lower right) oil on canvas 32" x 46 1/2" (81 cm x 118 cm) PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION A student of nature, revered Filipino artist Romulo Galicano is known for his awe-inspiring and beautiful depictions of natural scenery. Though Galicano himself was well-traveled and thus painted a variety of foreign landscapes, cities, and towns, it is his works featuring localities in the Philippines that had an unmistakable sense of charm and nostalgia. This particular piece features a landscape located in the township of Novaliches. Despite its sparse color palette, Galicano’s intricate brushwork lends this piece’s relatively monochromatic treatment a sense of reserved dynamism—unearthing the richness of his subject-matter with only a handful of shades and tones. The overall charm is in the details, as one can see in this painting in which the folk elements are rendered in fluid brush strokes that show both his mentor's and the French impressionists’ influence on his art style. But what truly makes this particular painting is the way a small ray of light has made its way to one of the trunks present in the works, effectively giving off a warm orange glow that is much more intense than the rest of the canvas. This vibrancy, coupled with the pastel hues, effectively infuses a scene devoid of human activity with charm, nostalgia, and emotion.
Untitled signed and dated 1986 (lower right) oil on canvas 81 1/2" x 131" (207 cm x 333 cm) PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION The flowers in Betsy Westendorp’s works are seemingly in eternal blossom, signifying the artistic freedom the artist had found in the delight of painting such subjects. In her interview with art critic Cid Reyes, Westendorp had this to say about her passion for flowers: “Before, whenever I would receive some flowers—like carnations or roses—I would paint them. I find flowers fascinating. Flowers for everybody.” While the artist has painted a variety of floral species, such as the hydrangeas, poppies, peonies, birds of paradise, azaleas, irises, sunflowers, and water lilies, Westendorp’s oeuvre is dominated by the orchid. Since orchids make up one of the most diverse groups of flowering plants in nature, it came to no surprise that it pervaded Westendorp’s artistic psyche. As Cid Reyes put it, “this hothouse tropical flower is ultimately the subject, the image, that drove her floral art to its peak of excellence.” Reyes further added that in Westendorp’s paintings of orchids, many of them in large-scale dimension, “we behold a magnificent tumble of sheer gorgeousness, in filigreed clusters or preening petals, glowing in a complex bleeding of myriad colors.” The Spanish art critic Elena Flores rhapsodized on Westendorp’s paintings of orchids, saying: “The flexible stems bend down and leap into the void showily and capriciously to the rhythm of a colorful cascade: white, rosy, purplish, yellow, red, they have the resplendent explosion of fireworks as they open into space, multiplying their number into handsome and kaleidoscopic figures. Over the background of shady, blue, earthy tones, the light at dusk or dawn indicate a shady location of dense vegetation, stands out a dazzling floral picture.”
Untitled signed and dated 1986 (lower left) oil on canvas 50" x 37" (127 cm x 94 cm) PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION Westendorp’s works have exhibited much detail in creating scenes in classical and realist depictions of landscapes, portraits, and flora. This particular artwork of her’s is an example of Westendorp’s style of adapting her influences into a beautiful depiction of a scene of flora and fauna. She focuses much on these details to emphasize the beauty of the flowers as they stand out from much of the canvas. The flowers themselves are centered, as they are painted in a lively white and yellow with its roots painted in green reaching down to the earthly ground but they are surrounded by a fading background of gray and blue that begin to blend with the surrounding flora itself. The scene is almost melancholic, as the colors of the flowers blend together with the background, as if it is a fog consuming the flowers into the faded scene. Through her fine brushing techniques and detailed coloring dynamic, Westendorp creates this scene of a balance of fine details of beauty and sadness with her style of classical and realist elements to emphasize the subtle meaning behind the art piece.
Portrait of Doña Nene Quimson in Valentino signed and dated 1991 (lower left) oil on canvas 64" x 48" (163 cm x 122 cm) PROPERTY FROM THE DOÑA NENE QUIMSON COLLECTION LITERATURE: Reyes, Cid. Betsy Westendorp (Volume 1). De La Salle University Publishing House. 2017. p. 81. Nene’s elder son John remembers: “Mom was old school and there was a certain formality to her, a certain distance. One could not be a ‘cozy friend’ with her, she just wasn’t the kind. Even we kids couldn’t approach her out of the blue… there was a certain way that that had to be done. I guess she belonged to that conservative generation. You know, the perfect manners and distance and all. Nene’s elder son John remembers: “Mom was old school and there was a certain formality to her, a certain distance. One could not be a ‘cozy friend’ with her, she just wasn’t the kind. Even we kids couldn’t approach her out of the blue… there was a certain way that that had to be done. I guess she belonged to that conservative generation. You know, the perfect manners and distance and all. “She was always well–groomed and well–dressed as soon as she was out of her room, even in “pambahay” houseclothes at home. All the more whenever she was partying in town. “Life at home with Mom was organized. Breakfast was a casual affair with everything on the table or on the long cabinet at the side and pretty much ‘serve yourself.’ However, lunch and dinner were formal, dressy ones. You know, all those plates and glasses and cutlery and staff to move everything. That was how we lived everyday with Mom. “However, despite all the formalities, we kids knew she loved all of us unconditionally.” Nene Tuason–Quimson was among the very last of the patrician grandes dames of Manila. Nene Tuason–Quimson with her resources and style joined the likes of lawyer–businesswoman Chito Paterno Madrigal, the swanlike sylph Meldy de la Paz Ongsiako–Cojuangco, the impossibly chic Baby Araneta–Fores, and a very few others in the pantheon of the all–time great Filipina ladies (from prewar: Victoria Ledesma Lopez–Araneta, Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes, Conching Chuidian Sunico). As the esteemed social columnist Maurice Arcache liked to say: “Beauty, Brains, Breeding, and Bucks!!!” It’s one thing to have an inheritance and it’s entirely another thing to have style. (Many heiresses and socialites do not have style.) But to have both is an amazing privilege granted to very few. It is not enough to marry into a fortune, one must be born to it, and then, one must develop the style commensurate to one’s resources in order to be regarded as one of the “social greats.” Tall order. There is no style where there are no resources, after all. And then the requisite heart of gold: Nene was a generous giver and had many charities but in true patrician fashion kept them mostly to herself. As Carolina Tuason y Gil de Sola de Zaragoza, another Tuason grande dame (daughter of Gonzalo Tuason y Patino and Isabel Gil de Sola, illegitimate daughter of Reina Isabel II de Espana), used to advise family members: “You know what you have, others don’t have to know.” In those respects, there were essentially no differences between the American legends Marjorie Merriweather Post and Doris Duke and the Filipinas Chito Paterno Madrigal and Nene Tuason–Quimson. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS : “Teresa de la Paz and her Two Husbands: A Gathering of Four Families” “Primos Unidos” “The World of Felix Roxas” C onsuelo Tuason Quimson John Tuason Quimson Nilda T. Resano, Dulia Prado, & Eleanor Sy–Templeman __________________ Jaime Ponce de Leon Lisa Guerrero Nakpil LOS TUASON DE MANILA Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong,” +1982) was a son of Demetrio Asuncion Tuason y de la Paz (“Queso”) and Natividad Zaragoza y Roxas. Demetrio Tuason y de la Paz and Natividad Zaragoza y Roxas had seven children: Jose Maria Zaragoza Tuason (“Pindong”) married Magdalena Locsin del Rosario (“Nening”); Carmen Zaragoza Tuason (“Carmencita”) married Alejandro Roces Legarda (“Mandu”); Nicasio Zaragoza Tuason married Pilar Lim (“Pilaring”); Celso Zaragoza Tuason married Rosario Remedios (“Chiching”); Lourdes Zaragoza Tuason (“Lulu”) married 1) Eduardo Matute (“Danding”) 2) Ignacio Lacson Arroyo; Severo Antonio Zaragoza Tuason (“Toto”) married Paz Jurado Acuna (“Ning”); Teresa Zaragoza Tuason (“Teresing”) married Emilio Gonzalez LaO’. Demetrio Asuncion Tuason y de la Paz (“Queso”) was a son of Jose Severo Tuason y Patino (o 1833 – + 03 February 1874), fourth Lord of the Tuason “mayorazgo” (noble estate) and the Marikina native Teresa de la Paz y de los Santos (o 15 October 1841 – +1890). Jose Severo Tuason y Patino and Teresa de la Paz y de los Santos had seven children: Jose Victoriano Tuason y de la Paz (1864–78, heir presumptive to the Tuason “mayorazgo”; he died young at 13 years in an accident in Metz, Germany [now in France] ); Juan Jose Tuason y de la Paz (“Tintong,” 1865–1916) married Rosario Gonzalez of Cadiz, Spain (“Lolai”); Maria Teresa Eriberta Tuason y de la Paz (“Tata,” 1867–1951, spinster); Mariano Severo Tuason y de la Paz (1868–1940, bachelor); Demetrio Asuncion Tuason y de la Paz (“Queso,” 1870–1927) married (1) Ellen Foley (2) Natividad Zaragoza y Roxas (“Naty”); Augusto Umberto Tuason y de la Paz (1872–1936) married Maria Paves; Maria Soterrana Cristina Tuason y de la Paz (“Muti,” 1873–1936) married Vicente Garcia–Valdes. After the untimely passing of Jose Severo on 03 February 1874 at only 41 years of age, Teresa the young 32 year–old widow married his 21 year–old relative, Benito Cosme Legarda y Tuason II (o 27 September 1853 – + 27 August 1915) on 07 March 1875 and they had three children: Benito Legarda y de la Paz III (“Bitong”) married the Barcelona–educated heiress Filomena Roces y Gonzalez; Consuelo Legarda y de la Paz (“Titang”) married the real estate heir and tobacco company executive Mauro Prieto y Gorricho; Rita Legarda y de la Paz (“Chata”) married (1) L James Donaldson–Sim (British manager of the Manila Railroad Company) (2) Dr Benito Valdes y Salvador. Natividad Zaragoza y Roxas was a daughter of Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna and Rosa Roxas y Arce (“Chata”). Jose Zaragoza was a man of letters and a bon vivant who published the important, landmark magazine “La Ilustracion Filipina” for several years; he was a Spanish mestizo, a son of the Spanish auditor of “Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas,” the precursor of the behemoth “Tabacalera” tobacco company. Rosa Roxas y Arce was a businesswoman/entrepreneur par excellence whose main investments were in Manila commercial and residential real estate; among many Manila properties, she owned seven large houses (one for each child) along upscale Calle San Sebastian (later Calle R Hidalgo), the most elegant neighborhood of Manila from the 1830s to the 1870s. Rosa Roxas y Arce was a member of the patrician Roxas clan of Manila, a granddaughter of Antonio Roxas y Ureta and Lucina Arroyo both from Binondo) and was a second cousin to the heiress sisters Carmen de Ayala y Roxas de Roxas and Trinidad de Ayala y Roxas de Zóbel (granddaughters of Domingo Roxas y Ureta, Antonio Roxas’ brother; Domingo and Antonio were the sons of Mariano Roxas and Ana Maria de Ureta). A sister of Natividad, Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas, married Atty Gregorio Araneta y Soriano from Molo, Iloilo and begat the Araneta de R Hidalgo clan. A brother, Elias, married Rosario Velez y Infante, a Spanish mestiza hacendera from Guagua, Pampanga. Another brother, Salvador Zaragoza y Roxas, married the heiress Carolina Tuason y Gil de Sola, daughter of Gonzalo Tuason y Patino and Isabel Gil de Sola (viuda de Agustin Westernhagen, onetime owner of Botica Boie), an illegitimate daughter of Reina Isabel II de Espana. Natividad’s youngest sister, Margarita Zaragoza y Roxas, married Carlos Preysler y Gonzales; Margarita was the great–grandmother of the famous Spanish–Filipina socialite Isabel Arrastia Preysler. The Tuason clan goes back more than 260 years to the times before the British Occupation of Manila from 1762–64. During the first half of the 1700s, an industrious Sangley trader from Fujian named Son Tua settled in the Manila entrepot to expedite his business of exporting basic commodities and luxury goods of Chinese origin to the galleons of the lucrative but risky Manila–Acapulco trade. Grown rich through many years of hard work and serendipity, Son Tua volunteered his services to the Spaniards for the defense of Manila against the British. After the British left Manila in 1764, the Spaniards rewarded the loyal Son Tua with a land grant: He could own all the land he could traverse in one day. The shrewd Son Tua stationed many horses in various locations in the lands he wanted. His horses galloped through vast lands in what are now Quezon city and Marikina city. He covered thousands of hectares on that single day. Son Tua later hispanized his name to Antonio Maria Tuason. In 1795, the Spanish King Carlos IV gave the Antonio Maria Tuason family the right to establish a “mayorazgo” noble estate that would descend with primogeniture like the Spanish aristocracy. Thus, the Tuasons were the only Filipino family raised to the Spanish “hidalguia” nobility, the only ones of Chinese origin, in fact. Antonio Maria’s son Vicente Dolores, the second Lord of the Tuason “mayorazgo,” purchased the 3,000–hectare Hacienda de Mariquina and added it to the family holdings. Vicente Dolores’ son Mariano Tuason, the third Lord of the “mayorazgo,” purchased the Hacienda de Santa Mesa/Nagtahan and also added it to the family holdings. Marikina and Santa Mesa, Diliman, and Cubao in Quezon city, were the areas most associated with the extremely affluent Tuason family. The Antonio Maria Tuasons were the first Chinese–Filipino family to attain great wealth and prominence in all of Manila and Las Islas Filipinas from 1764 followed by the rise of the Indo–Portuguese Barretto and Spanish Rocha families in the 1780s, the Spanish mestizo industrialist Domingo Roxas in the 1830s (Roxas–de Ayala–Zóbel–Soriano), the Spanish cavalryman Jose Damaso de Gorricho in the 1840s (Pardo de Tavera and Prieto), the Sangley trader Palanca Tan–Quien–Sen in the 1850s (Limjap, et al; Palanca Tan–Guin–Lay a later fortune), the Chinese mestizo trader and ship chandler Maximino Paterno Molo de San Agustin in the 1860s (Paterno and Madrigal), and the other Chinese– Filipino taipans in the 1880s–90s (Mariano Velasco Chuachengco, Telesforo Chuidian, Mariano Limjap y Barrera, Ariston Bautista y Lintingco, Guillermo Cu–Unjieng). During the Revolution of 1896, two of the richest Spanish–Filipinos Pedro Pablo Roxas y de Castro and Gonzalo Tuason y Patino, found political refuge in Paris, France, never to return to the motherland. And that is how the Tuason, Legarda, Prieto, Valdes, Nieto, Rocha, Barretto, Calvo, Roces, Roxas, de Ayala, Zóbel, Soriano, Melian, Zaragoza, Araneta (de R Hidalgo), Velez, Infante, Brias, Toda, Preysler, de Gorricho, Pardo de Tavera families are all interrelated/interconnected. And by a stretch, the Ugarte, Aboitiz, and Ortigas families as well. By blood and marriage. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: “Teresa de la Paz and her Two Husbands: A Gathering of Four Families” “Primos Unidos” “The World of Felix Roxas” Salvador Zaragoza Araneta Benito J Fernandez Legarda Georgina Zóbel Padilla–Macrohon Rosemarie Tuason Toda–Delgado
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Untitled the artist’s fingerprint, signed and dated 2020 (verso) print on canvas, 15/25 24” x 46 1/2” (61 cm x 118 cm) LITERATURE Reyes, Cid. Betsy Westendorp (Vol. 1). De La Salle University Publishing House. 2017. p. 342.
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Painting No. 18: Orchids signed and dated 1989 (lower right) acrylic on canson paper 19" x 12" (49 cm x 30 cm) Known as the portraitist of the members of the highest echelons of the society in Spain and her adoptive Philippines, Betsy Westendorp, through her careful selection, allows us to see the dignity and beauty of flowers in their natural habitat. In Painting No. 18, Orchids (1989), Westendorp elevates an orchid to a subject worthy of her talent and time, allowing us a close encounter, through the artist’s eyes, of a beauty we might normally not take much notice of because they are so familiar. Born in Spain in the 1920’s, her artistic contributions have earned her the Lazo de Dama de la Orden de Isabela Catolica, an honor bestowed to her by the King of Spain, and the Philippine Presidential Medal of Merit, an honor of some equivalence to the National Artist award given to foreigners who have contributed significantly to the country’s culture.
Betsy Westendorp (b. 1927) Painting No. 17: Orchids signed and dated 1989 (lower right) acrylic on canson paper 19" x 12" (49 cm x 30 cm) León Gallery invites you to participate in a special segment for this auction, for lots 68 to 82 to raise funds for the International Care Ministries and the good work they do for the poorest of the poor in the Visayas and Mindanao. INTERNATIONAL CARE MINISTRIES (ICM) is a non-profit organization that has its roots in Bacolod, Philippines that steadily grew to touch and change the lives of over a million people. Now, ICM has 12 regional bases in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. The population of the areas where ICM reaches is nearly 20 million people. Of those, 2.2 million people live in ultra-poverty on less than US$0.50 per day. Who are the ultra-poor? The World Bank describes poverty as those living on less than US$3.20 a day. Those living on less than $1.90 are in extreme poverty — a level that could threaten the survival of a person. ICM focuses on “ultra-poverty” — those who live on less than US$0.50 per person a day. “Even before the virus hit, their lives were unimaginable,” shares David Sutherland, ICM chairman. Among the ultra-poor families, their average income is just US$0.28 — that’s 14 pesos per person per day. Twenty-nine percent of them have no electricity, 43% live with illnesses, and 15% of mothers have had one of their own children die. COVID-19 made it worse, 72% of Filipinos ICM serves say that they are earning less now than before the pandemic. ICM’s Strategy for Change ICM works with more than 10,000 pastors who serve in poor communities. These local leaders are the backbone of ICM’s ability to reach the poor at scale. ICM has been able to reach so many vulnerable families through our extended network of pastors. Their local churches provide a uniquely scalable, cost-effective distribution channel for poverty-reduction interventions. They bring hope for a better future. The pastors help invite and identify the most vulnerable families from their community who would most benefit from ICM’s Transform program. Transform program is ICM’s holistic four-month weekly program that builds capacity for real change in ultra-poor families. ICM Transform trainers join the pastor and community volunteers to teach the interactive curriculum. The multi-faceted training focuses on four essential areas for HOPE to grow: HEART: Fostering positive values for strong character. Progress out of poverty starts with the belief that change is possible. OPPORTUNITY: Empowering income generation and savings for families to have a sustainable income. More than just surviving the immediate needs of today, those in ultra-poverty need the tools to provide for their families tomorrow. PHYSICAL: Promoting healthy living for greater family well-being. Poor health is both caused by poverty and contributes to poverty. ICM addresses health challenges of those in ultra-poverty by giving them health education, medical treatment, and covering the surgical costs and treatment for those with more serious medical issues. EDUCATION: Launching confident young learners ready for school. The importance of education for children in low-income families cannot be overstated. Investing in early childhood education yields high returns, not only for children’s academic success but also in higher-paying jobs as adults. 1.4 million people have graduated from ICM’s Transform program since 2009. In ICM’s survey it has shown that after Transform, participants have had 107% increase in income, 36% reduction in illness, and 16% increase in family life satisfaction, among other aspects in their lives. In order for the ultra-poor to sustain their progress out of poverty, ICM invests in community leaders identified during Transform. The Thrive program empowers local pastors to become agents of change in their communities. Prevail equips savings group leaders with skills to mature their groups for continued success. Flourish trains community health champions to promote family health and well-being in their communities. QUICK FACTS ABOUT ICM What is International Care Ministries (ICM)? ICM is a non-profit organization focused on transforming the lives of the ultra-poor. For nearly 30 years now, ICM has focused on ultra-poverty — those who live on less than 50 US cents per person a day. Even before the pandemic, their lives were unimaginable: - Their average income was just 26 US cents per person a day - 29% of the households have no electricity - 43% of them live with illnesses - And an astonishing 10% of all children are clinically malnourished. ICM’s core program Transform trains the ultra-poor to help them in four important areas to help them get out of poverty: - VALUES: Instills hope that helps participants realize that they can change their own lives. - LIVELIHOOD AND SAVINGS: Provides the training, resources, and support for women to start new businesses, save earnings, and invest in their futures. - HEALTH AND MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS: General health screenings and lessons on sanitation, family health, diet, disease prevention. This includes medical treatment for common health issues to serious medical problems. - EDUCATION: Investing in childhood education yields high returns, not only in school, but also in higher-paying jobs as adults. TRANSFORM WORKS! - After only four months, participants increase their incomes by 107% - 36% Reduction of Illnesses - 25% decrease in depression and dozens of other life improvements. We are a data-driven organization and we collect hundreds of millions of data points. Just a few of the many things ICM has accomplished during the pandemic: - Delivered 14 million meals, to more than 1.3 million families. - Partnered with the Philippine Department of Education to provide parent-coaches to train and equip parents with at-home learning best practices. - Started our first studies as part of our Global Innovation Fund (GIF) grant in partnership with Dean Karlan and IPA to look for ways to improve the effectiveness of the Transform program. In Betsy Westendorp’s grand retrospective and monograph, art critic Cid Reyes noted that despite the profusion of tropical blooms in the country, it took the Spanish artist Betsy Westendorp to depict and appreciate the Philippines’ rich floral diversity. Painting No. 17, Orchids, is of the native fragrant sanggumay (Denbrobium anosmum), often referred to as Purple Rain orchids, for its impressive and profuse cascade of purple inflorescence which bloom in the cool, dry period of the country. Often juxtaposing the wonderful flowers and seashells of the country with the elite of Manila, Westendorp successfully alludes to the rarity, graceful grandeur, and exquisite beauty of her sitters; as well as a clear acknowledgment and appreciation of their Philippine identity. Reyes notes “… Her great body of works consists of portraits of the society elite of Madrid and Manila. Her landscapes of Philippine terrain, seascapes of Manila Bay, her colourful celebration of Philippine flora …the various species of the native orchid, and literally, in the sunset of her years, the grand symphonic cloudscapes across Philippine skies — never depicted by any Filipino artist.”
