The Renegade

He is considered the “bad boy” of Philippine art who has turned his back on a life of privilege for creativity, hedonism and redemption

- Marge C Enriquez

The late painter Leopoldo “Lee” Aguinaldo is remembered as much as a pioneer in Philippine modernism as some sort of a rascal in high society. Anecdotes of his idiosyncrasies are just as remarkable as his works.

During Martial Law, the late Arturo Luz—before he became National Artist for Visual Arts—mounted an exhibit for Lee and invited First Lady Imelda Marcos to cut the ribbon. Not a fan of the Marcoses, Lee was a no-show. Offended by the snub, Mrs Marcos bought the entire collection and distributed the paintings to her favoured Blue Ladies.

Photographer Wig Tysmans looked up to Lee as mentor and critic for his black-and-white. They had such a rapport that Lee could be brutally frank about Tysmans’ work and still ham it up for the latter’s camera. At age 52, a lean Lee gamely posed alongside one of his large paintings for a frontal nude portrait. This was in the mid-1980s.

Entrepreneur Vince Revilla recalls that he bought ten paintings from Lee’s uncle, Francisco, some 40 years ago. Decades later, he wanted to let go of a few, among them Lee’s self-portrait titled Grotesque, which Revilla said had scared his wife. A prospective buyer wanted it authenticated. When the art brokers brought it to Lee, he demanded a commission from the sale on top of the PhP10,000 authentication. The brokers argued that the painting was no longer Lee’s property. Miffed, the artist declared the piece fake, although it had his signature on the back.