Lee Aguinaldo (1933 - 2007)
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Born Leopoldo Aguinaldo II on September 5, 1933, Lee found himself immediately in what many would consider an ideal position in life. His father was a rich and powerful man in the Philippines, owning one of the top 50 businesses of the country. Being the eldest son in the family, Lee was lined up to take over the family business and enjoy the spoils of good fortune. As it turned out, though, Lee didn’t have a much interest in the business of dry goods. Instead, at a very young age the boy found himself passionately drawn to art. From a toddler on he was obsessed with drawing and creating images, but, as his father did not condone this, he never received any formal training. He was sent reluctantly to Culver Military Academy in Indiana, USA. Undeterred, Lee pursued his interest independently, reading books on the greatest artists in attempt to understand their techniques and copying images from the Prince Valiant comic series to begin developing his skills. Before reaching the age of 20, Lee entered his first group show, an annual exhibit at the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG). This gallery would host Lee’s artwork several more times, even allowing him to participate in the Philippines very first non-objective group art show along with Fernando Zobel, Vicente Manansala, H.R. Ocampo, Arturo Luz, Victor Oteyza and Nena Saguil. He also had individual exhibits there in 1956, 1958 and 1959. Lee continued developing his skills through copying styles he saw and liked, and at this point he had moved to imitating the action-filled style of painting that Jackson Pollock made famous. One piece from 1953 was even titled Homage to Pollock. Lee enjoyed creating bold and colorful non-objective pieces for most of the sixties, often employing the unique approach of using his palette knife to flick paint onto the canvas, making work from this period known as his Flick series. The Flick pieces were met with high praise, winning him first prize twice in the Art Association of the Philippines annual art competitions, along with other high awards subsequent years.
While still young, Lee managed to keep up his artistic passion by night while he tried filling his father’s shoes at the family business by day. During this time he was known to have invited other prominent friends in the Philippine art scene to lavish parties aboard his private yacht, living a life of decadence amongst the elite society of Manila. After a few years of burning the candle at both ends, Lee parted ways with his father and devoted himself entirely to his art, seemingly happy to settle for the meager living this decision brought with it. But though he may have been short of funds, he was never short of inspiration, and progressed through styles and techniques with relentless vigor. Lee continued to stylistically imitate artists he admired, from Pollock to Rembrandt, Vermeer to Rothko. He did this with intent, never denying that his paintings were pulling from the work of others, and indeed continued to title pieces as homage to the inspiring artist: Homage to Brassai (1979), Homage to Vermeer (1983), Homage to Saul Steinberg (1994). He still managed to make the work his own, with a sense of humor sometimes and always a sense of pride in what he created. He could confidently thwart any criticism against his borrowed styles, in turn making the critic feel silly for insinuating that any modern artist could possibly be truly original, could avoid reflecting the same greats as he was openly crediting.
Lee moved from action paintings to a sort of collage-series known as Galumph (a word taken from Alice in Wonderland). This series was inspired by Robert Motherwell, according to Lee, and combined magazine images, pages torn from Harper’s Bazaar, often with ephemeral color fields created with gestural strokes, usually with acrylic on wood. In fact, Lee is largely credited in this series with bringing the acrylic medium to the professional artists’ toolbox. Lee then seamlessly shifted to heavy-bordered linear paintings and later into pure color fields, holding tight throughout each phase to his distinctive verve for the color palette. Though he is primarily praised as an abstractionist and pop artist, and as one of the foremost modernists in the Philippines, Lee also exhibited a great talent for figurative drawing and even produced several portrait works in various techniques, such as a mask of Agnes Arellano and a mixed-media likeness of Butch Baluyut. His final solo show in 1992 at the Lopez Memorial Museum presented simple pen and ink portraits reminiscent of Rembrandt’s own self portraits with masterful handling of light.
Lee might have lost his family fortune early on, and in a way the family that went along with it, but he received in exchange many loyal friends and admirers, and success within his lifetime and beyond. One of the first artists Lee showed with, Arturo Luz, went on to feature Lee’s work in his own renowned gallery, the Luz Gallery, again and again from 1962 through 1983. Lee had the honor of participating in the 1971 Sao Paolo Bienale, and had those works also included in an issue of Art International. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, he enjoyed collaborating with photographers Butch Baluyut and Wig Tysmans, and enjoyed group shows with Cesar Legaspi, Hernando Ocampo, and Vicente Manansala. Weekly Women’s Magazine featured Lee in a 1965 issue, praising his insatiable devotion to exploring new techniques. Besides the Luz Gallery and the Philippine Art Gallery, Lee’s work would take center stage at Small Gallery, Cultural Center of the Philippines, and at the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan. He also showed in tandem with other art contemporaries at the Philippine Pavilion, Seattle’s World Fair, Near East International Fair, Philippines National Museum, Museum of the Philippine Art, Alegria Gallery, and Galleria Duemila. Additionally, he was awarded first prize at the AAP annual competition (Association of the Philippines) in 1962, and honorable mention the next year. He then took the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1975 and the Araw ng Maynila Award the same year. Although Lee passed away on January 16, 2007, the celebration of his works has continued on. In 2010 a retrospective show was held honoring Lee’s vast artistic accomplishments at the Ateneo Art Gallery, and smaller exhibitions at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Manila Metropolitan Museum.
While still young, Lee managed to keep up his artistic passion by night while he tried filling his father’s shoes at the family business by day. During this time he was known to have invited other prominent friends in the Philippine art scene to lavish parties aboard his private yacht, living a life of decadence amongst the elite society of Manila. After a few years of burning the candle at both ends, Lee parted ways with his father and devoted himself entirely to his art, seemingly happy to settle for the meager living this decision brought with it. But though he may have been short of funds, he was never short of inspiration, and progressed through styles and techniques with relentless vigor. Lee continued to stylistically imitate artists he admired, from Pollock to Rembrandt, Vermeer to Rothko. He did this with intent, never denying that his paintings were pulling from the work of others, and indeed continued to title pieces as homage to the inspiring artist: Homage to Brassai (1979), Homage to Vermeer (1983), Homage to Saul Steinberg (1994). He still managed to make the work his own, with a sense of humor sometimes and always a sense of pride in what he created. He could confidently thwart any criticism against his borrowed styles, in turn making the critic feel silly for insinuating that any modern artist could possibly be truly original, could avoid reflecting the same greats as he was openly crediting.
Lee moved from action paintings to a sort of collage-series known as Galumph (a word taken from Alice in Wonderland). This series was inspired by Robert Motherwell, according to Lee, and combined magazine images, pages torn from Harper’s Bazaar, often with ephemeral color fields created with gestural strokes, usually with acrylic on wood. In fact, Lee is largely credited in this series with bringing the acrylic medium to the professional artists’ toolbox. Lee then seamlessly shifted to heavy-bordered linear paintings and later into pure color fields, holding tight throughout each phase to his distinctive verve for the color palette. Though he is primarily praised as an abstractionist and pop artist, and as one of the foremost modernists in the Philippines, Lee also exhibited a great talent for figurative drawing and even produced several portrait works in various techniques, such as a mask of Agnes Arellano and a mixed-media likeness of Butch Baluyut. His final solo show in 1992 at the Lopez Memorial Museum presented simple pen and ink portraits reminiscent of Rembrandt’s own self portraits with masterful handling of light.
Lee might have lost his family fortune early on, and in a way the family that went along with it, but he received in exchange many loyal friends and admirers, and success within his lifetime and beyond. One of the first artists Lee showed with, Arturo Luz, went on to feature Lee’s work in his own renowned gallery, the Luz Gallery, again and again from 1962 through 1983. Lee had the honor of participating in the 1971 Sao Paolo Bienale, and had those works also included in an issue of Art International. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, he enjoyed collaborating with photographers Butch Baluyut and Wig Tysmans, and enjoyed group shows with Cesar Legaspi, Hernando Ocampo, and Vicente Manansala. Weekly Women’s Magazine featured Lee in a 1965 issue, praising his insatiable devotion to exploring new techniques. Besides the Luz Gallery and the Philippine Art Gallery, Lee’s work would take center stage at Small Gallery, Cultural Center of the Philippines, and at the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan. He also showed in tandem with other art contemporaries at the Philippine Pavilion, Seattle’s World Fair, Near East International Fair, Philippines National Museum, Museum of the Philippine Art, Alegria Gallery, and Galleria Duemila. Additionally, he was awarded first prize at the AAP annual competition (Association of the Philippines) in 1962, and honorable mention the next year. He then took the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1975 and the Araw ng Maynila Award the same year. Although Lee passed away on January 16, 2007, the celebration of his works has continued on. In 2010 a retrospective show was held honoring Lee’s vast artistic accomplishments at the Ateneo Art Gallery, and smaller exhibitions at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Manila Metropolitan Museum.