IN the unveiling of his monumental piece, QuattroMondial, as one of the many highlights of the University of Santo Tomas’s (UST) 400th anniversary, Ramon Orlina, Filipino sculptor par-excellence, was quoted by The Varsitarian as saying that his bronze and glass masterpiece is “just the beginning.”
Just exactly what UST’s outstanding alumnus meant, he did not elaborate. Is he embarking on other projects of the same scale? Was Orlina totally embracing bronze and glass at the expense of his all-glass sculptures that have emblazoned his name in the firmament of the art world? No one knows. But then Orlina may prove prescient anew.
I first met Orlina serendipitously in 1993 when I stumbled into his exhibit A Touch of Glass at the already seven-star Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong (HK). He graciously gave me an autographed exhibit catalog, which thrilled me no end. It also roused my desire to acquire an Orlina sculpture despite his petrifying prices, all denominated in HK dollars. In 1996 while on a three-month research fellowship in Singapore, I spotted his sculpture in an art gallery along Orchard Road. After spending a long day in the library I’d go to the gallery from time to time to ogle his gem of a piece from outside the shop. It was different from the others. It was beautiful. It made me feel proud to be a Filipino.
Today I still don’t have an Orlina sculpture, but I have become friends with the artist. He and a common friend—art scholar Ana Labrador—even pushed me to write a book on art law, which I now use as text for my elective class at the Ateneo de Manila University. One thing that Orlina continues to “nag” me about for years now is the creation of a collecting society. Much like the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Inc. (Filscap), the society will be responsible for asserting the rights of visual artists, including collecting copyright royalties. Of course, I have consistently demurred for lack of “k” (as in karapatan or right). But with recent legal developments in the European Union and the UK, Orlina’s foresight has been proven right.
Christie’s, the international auction house, says in its web site that it is legally obliged to observe droite de suite, and Filipino artists are among the law’s beneficiaries. The concept of droite de suite, which was introduced by the French, entitles the artist to participate in the proceeds of his work after the first disposition. For instance, if Orlina sells his sculpture to Gallery X in Manila for P500,000, and Gallery X subsequently sells Orlina’s sculpture through Christie’s for P5,000,000, Christie’s is obliged to give certain percentage of the sale to Orlina. However, Christie’s policy is not to pay the artist directly but through a collecting society, which then is obliged to distribute the royalties to the artist.
The same concept actually exists in the Philippine Intellectual Property Code, specifically in Section 200. And the law applies not only to sales but also to leases “of an original work of painting or sculpture or of the original manuscript of a writer or composer”. Curiously, the provision remains generally unobserved in the Philippines, except by one or two art galleries. “Huh?” this has been the reaction of some gallery staff when told that such a legal provision exists. Some know-it-all would even adamantly insist that there’s no such thing in the law. But it is there.
Thus, Orlina’ proposition makes sense. Any takers for visual artist’s sake?
***J. Sedfrey S. Santiago teaches “Law for Art’s Sake,” an elective at the John Gokongwei School of Management, Ateneo de Manila University. He also authored the book Law for Art’s Sake: An Introduction to Legal Gobbledygook published in 2010 by the Ateneo de Manila University Press. The book discusses in an easy manner the law on the arts and art-related transactions.
