Art collectors and enthusiasts gathered at Salcedo Auctions for the vernissage of Under the Tree: The Wish List on November 21, 2025. Serving as its much-anticipated year-end tradition, Under the Tree is the culminating event that closes Salcedo Auctions’ 2025 calendar. To celebrate fifteen years, the premier auction house presented artworks from old masters and contemporaries, including furniture, jewelry, watches, and other collectible pieces that encapsulate the Filipino experience.
Among Under the Tree’s highlights is 19th-century Filipino master Félix Martínez’s La Jota Manileña. From colonial Manila to an unnamed European collection, the artwork was then rediscovered through a Swedish auction sale room under the name Village Scene, The Philippines.
Painted in 1886, the composition’s central element lies in the title itself: the jota. The dance originated in Spain, but found its way to Manila through colonization. The Jota Manileña, often performed at family gatherings and fiestas, served as both a form of courtship and entertainment.
Noted as his magnum opus, the artwork is a reflection of the painter’s European academic training and distinct Filipino sensibilities. In the painting, the two dancers are in a scene of elegant movement: the dancers swaying in tempo, along with the villagers and musicians gathered in the corner, are bathed under the warm, tropical sunlight.
Salcedo Auctions is selling off hundreds of works in various mediums. In Under the Tree, art connoisseurs can find paintings and illustrations from artists such as Fernando Zóbel and Fernando Amorsolo to more contemporary artists such as Nena Saguil, Emmanuel Garibay, and Demi Padua.
The collection displayed various works from National Artist Ang Kiukok. Ang’s Clown reflects his fascination with emotional extremes. Under the artist’s hands, he teases the pendulum of visual language. Distorting the visual symbolism of the clown, his works transform the clown face into an expression of despair.
A prominent feature of the collection was the inclusion of pieces by celebrated contemporary artist Ronald Ventura. Emerging in the 2000s, his works are now some of the most recognizable in the realm of contemporary art. Fellow contemporary artist Poklong Anading, known for his exploration of several mediums, was also a main feature in the collection.
The works of Filipino-American artist Pacita Abad were also a pivotal aspect of the collection. Her New York Still Life was crafted during her formative years in New York during the late 1970s. This piece consists of a simple scene: a table positioned in front of a window. She uses vivid colors—yellows, greens, and blues create a luminosity that expresses the artist’s longing for home to life.
For cultural and historical enthusiasts, the collection also includes ethnographic art and rare furniture pieces. Precolonial artifacts, such as heirlooms from the T’boli people and bulul sculptures, were showcased.
In addition, religious artifacts from the 19th century reflect the nation’s colonial past: a San Isidro Labrador under a cartouche and foliated pediment icon; an ‘Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary’ under a jutting lambrequin icon; and a full-sized Baroque Revival urna in a rich vermillion color.
The furniture collection boasts diversity, ranging from Persian carpets and Art Nouveau tub chairs to a Renaissance Revival style pebetera with fine turnings and an inlaid divan. Inside the auction house, one can witness history and the long-lasting impact of art in all its forms.
Salcedo Auctions’ Under the Tree is divided into two parts: The Holiday Sale and The Wish List. The former is an accessible online offering of curated works and collectibles perfect for giving. Meanwhile, the latter is the afternoon’s live and online auction, featuring the most significant pieces of the season, Félix Martinez’s La Jota Manileña. The afternoon auction was conducted on November 29 at 2 PM, located at NEX Tower, Ayala Avenue, Makati City.
The catalog for Under the Tree is available at salcedoauctions.com.
Photograph of Artworks from Salcedo Auctions
Read More: ‘The Well-Appointed Life’ Caters to the Enlightened Tastes of the Modern Collector
Painted in 1886, La Jota Manileña is considered the magnum opus of Félix Martínez. It is a prime example of the synthesis between European academic training and Filipino sensibilities. Historically, the painting is a “returned masterwork”—it was rediscovered in a Swedish auction room mislabeled as a generic “Village Scene.” Technically, it captures the indigenization of the Spanish jota dance, utilizing a warm, tropical light palette to document colonial-era Filipino courtship and social life.
The inclusion of National Artist Ang Kiukok’s Clown illustrates his technical mastery of emotional distortion. Kiukok teases a visual pendulum by taking a traditionally “joyful” symbol—the clown—and using expressionist, angular lines and somber tones to transform the face into a study of despair. This subversion of symbolism is a hallmark of his style, where the physical form is fractured to reflect internal psychological extremes.
These categories focus on the nation’s precolonial and colonial heritage. Ethnographic art includes precolonial heirlooms from the T’boli people and bulul (rice god) sculptures from the Ifugao, carved from hardwoods like narra. Ecclesiastical art consists of 19th-century religious artifacts, such as icons housed in urnas (wooden altars or shrines). These pieces are valued for their “polychrome” finishes and their role as physical markers of the Philippines’ transition through various belief systems.
While Pacita Abad is globally famous for her later trapunto (quilted/stuffed) paintings, New York Still Life represents her formative years in the late 1970s. Technically, it is a traditional oil on canvas that uses vivid yellows, greens, and blues to create a “luminosity.” Conceptually, the painting uses the vantage point of a simple window scene to express the immigrant’s “longing for home,” showcasing her early command of color theory before she moved into multi-dimensional textile art.
Salcedo Auctions employs a dual-tier auction strategy for this year-end event:
The Holiday Sale: An accessible online-only offering designed for “giving,” featuring curated collectibles and entry-level fine art.
The Wish List: A high-stakes, live and online “premier” auction. This tier is reserved for the most significant investments and historically vital pieces, such as the Félix Martínez masterwork, catering to seasoned connoisseurs and institutional collectors.
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