The Yuchengco Museum highlighted the art collections of Secretary Alfonso T.

Yuchengco along with the family history and his career as in so many fields of society. He was a businessman, diplomat, philanthropist, art lover, and a great ally of education in the Philippines. The Museum was created to reach out to the public and be a gateway of appreciation and understanding of the Filipino and Sino-Filipino arts. Art collection from the great maestros like Juan Luna, Fernando C. Amorsolo and Carlos Botong Francisco was also featured in the museum. The art works are part of the Yunchengco collection. The paintings included those that depict the countryside to the burning of Pateros due to the wide spread cholera epidemic. The delegates found the exhibit, Suspended Gardens by Tony Gonzales and Tes Pasola, the most attractive part of the museum. Its part of the current collection entitled Pumapapel: Art in Paper. As the title implies, its an art made of everyday paper suspended in mid-air and in a conformation that spans about 20 feet in height. It was appreciated from a view lying down the canvass or going up the stairs and viewing it atop. The museum tour included facts and historical recall of events that surround the different artworks. The delegates found the uniqueness of the Filipino Art and how history have played a very vivid role in its visualization.

The Yuchengco Museum opened its doors to the public in September 2005. The Museum was created to house the art collection of Secretary Alfonso T. Yuchengco, and highlight his distinguished career as a businessman, diplomat, collector, philanthropist, patron of the arts, and advocate for education in the Philippines and beyond. The Museums primary goal is to foster a greater public appreciation of the finest in Filipino and Filipino-Chinese visual arts and creativity. Located in Makati, the heart of Metro Manilas financial district, the Museum is not only a temple that showcases art, but also a forum of exchange, debate, and education

The Art Collection

The Masters Gallery highlights three of the most celebrated Filipino visual artists: masters of the brush who celebrate the Filipino life ways, history, and myths with compelling images in their unique individual styles.

Juan Luna (1857 1899) represents the Filipinos highest achievements in the international art scene during the 19th century. He remains unsurpassed by any Filipino or Asian artist up to the present. His academic-classical style represents a high point of western influence in Philippine visual arts.

Fernando C. Amorsolo (1892 1972) represents the mastering of the Filipino genre painting, celebrating key features of high and popular culturebeauty, nostalgia, pageantry, the fantasy of how the Philippines was, and the dream of how it should be.

Carlos Botong Francisco (1913 1969) represents the high point of mural painting in the country, and is often called the greatest muralist and modernist the country has produced. His elegant draftsmanship and flair for sensuous shapes and complex design, coupled with the popularity of his themes, glorify community life and love of country and vividly record the legendary courage of the ancestors of our race.

The Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC) Corporate Collection

Now part of the Museums permanent collection are key art pieces from the YGC executive offices. The collection consists of works by Filipino Modernists such as Anita Magsaysay Ho and by National Artists of the country Victorio Edades, Ang Kiukok, Napoleon Abueva, Vicente Manansala, Cesar Legaspi, and Jose Joya to name a few. The YGC Collection also has a sizeable number of works in the folk genre by Norma Belleza, Angelito Antonio, and Manuel Baldemor, and prints by Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. and Boy Rodriguez. Some thematic exhibitions periodically presented in the museum feature these pieces.

Museum Themes
Sino-Filipino Expressions

This series brings to the fore excellent artistic and creative expressions by Chinese Filipinos, and looks at the best attributes of a twin-heritage: Chinese ancestry where virtues of hard-work, skill, and craftsmanship are highly regarded, and the Filipinos highly expressive and adaptive sensibility. As a means to foster greater appreciation and establish connections, the series likewise engages the viewers in a continuing dialogue on the Chinese Filipinos unique vision and view of their identities, of their country and its people, and of the world.

Complementing the presentation of Sino-Filipino exhibitions, Chinese traditional painting workshops on Shui-Mo or ink and water painting are conducted regularly.

Bridging Cultures
Culture and its many expressions have always been a bridge to foster a deeper understanding between peoples. As exhibition venue, the Museum serves as a cultural bridge to the regional Asian and Pacific Rim communities. International visiting exhibitions highlight dynamic and evolving cultures of the world. From political, historical exhibitions, contemporary visual arts, and traditional arts and crafts to innovative trends in art, design, and popular culture exhibitions, a survey of a regional worldview is observed, helping the Filipino define and assert his place globally.

Design as Art, Art as Design

To be truly great, a design must express its utility in such a way that the aesthetic debatewhether form precedes function or vice versais non-existent. When form and function are perfectly integrated in a single object, design excellence is achieved. Designers practice across numerous creative fields and bring into their best work a sensibility specific to their own culturea distinctive form, a particular detail, an attitude. They share this sensibility with us as we use their creations, thus introducing and filling the need for art in everyones lives. Through this series, the Museum intends to define excellence in both expressions in a variety of forms, reviewing a mix of foreign or home-grown influences on art and design.