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LOTE 22:
Juan Luna Novicio (1857-1899)
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Portrait of Lorenzo Guerrero y Leogardo
Oil on canvas.
Measures: 36’5 x 23’5 cm (canvas); 47’5 x 34’5 cm (frame).
With traces of signature, date and dedication:
“ Retrato de Lorenzo Guerrero /
--------- mi querido pro- /
[fe]sor y Maestro con mi /
[r]espeto y cariño. /
Luna.
Roma 880.”
On the back, stamp on paper: ""ALCALDIA MAYOR / DE / JARUCO".
Handwritten with ink: "Nº 7".
Provenance:
First, Lorenzo Guerrero's collection, h. 1880;
Unknown property between 1904 and 1990;
Madrid, Fernando Durán Auctions;
Private collection.
Bibliography:
Fernando Durán Subastas de Arte; Extraordinaria Subasta de Primavera. Días 14 y 15 de marzo de 1990. 6,30 tarde; lote 197 (see last image).
The identification of the sitter is made possible thanks to the inscription, which by the hand of Luna himself, appears in the upper right corner of the work. The character in question, D. Lorenzo Guerrero y Leogardo, is none other than the famous Filipino painter and poet born in the suburb of Ermita (Manila) in 1835 and died in 1904. He was a disciple of the Spanish painters Cortina and Valdés, and assistant and associate of the Director of the Academy of Drawing and Painting of Manila, Lorenzo Rocha de Ycaza, for the years of 1857 and 1858, when he was still the first outstanding student in said Academy. With an intensely religious spirit, he devoted himself to mystical painting, although other matters were by no means foreign to him.
When the Santa Teresa contest was held in the capital of Manila, his painting La Transverberación was awarded the Gold Medal. As a landscape artist he was excellent and his very typical paintings, El Baguío and El Incendio, have been highly praised by all criticism. Among his numerous disciples is the award-winning Filipino painter Juan Luna y Novicio, for this reason, the only one in charge of immortalizing Guerrero in this work. He wrote numerous poetic compositions and was also the first to instruct his son Fernando in the rules of Castilian poetic art and he owes him his first inspirations.
The painting undoubtedly represents the moment in which Lorenzo Guerrero is rewarded by the Spanish Government with the Medal of Civil Merit on December 24, 1880, thanks to his services to the Homeland. This relevant award was only given by the Government of Spain to important and outstanding personalities. The canvas was painted, according to its date of 1880, just at the time of receiving said award. According to universal history itself, Guerrero was instructed to change his Philippine suit for a European suit, the one Luna painted on this canvas, in order to display said decoration and receive it according to the protocol of the time, to which the distinguished master he replied: “You can put it on the front of this poor but honest shirt. If I am required to wear an American, I will be forced to refuse the distinction.” It seems, as the painting shows us, that Guerrero chose to entrust his most direct disciple to immortalize this outstanding moment in his life, albeit wearing his brand-new Spanish-style uniform and without the remarkable decoration.
The work represents a valuable document that testifies to the close relationship between the first teacher, Lorenzo Guerrero, and the then first outstanding disciple, Juan Luna. Let us remember that Guerrero, recognizing in the Philippines the natural talent of young Luna, was his first tutor and the person in charge of persuading Juan's parents to send their son to Spain and from there to the rest of Europe, for his training in the Academies. and painting exhibitions. The talent of the young painter is evident here, since the work is signed and dated at only 23 years of age.
In honor of Lorenzo Guerrero, his Filipino countrymen wanted to honor his memory by dedicating to him the street formerly called Marina Street in the suburb of La Ermita (Manila).
| Medidas: | 23.5 x 36.5 cm |
| Medidas com a moldura: | 34.5 x 47.5 cm |
