Marcos CollectionThe Marcos Collection refers to the trove of high-value artworks amassed by former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and first lady Imelda Marcos during their years in power (1965–1986). In 2003, the Philippine Supreme Court affirmed that assets—including art—acquired by the Marcoses during their incumbency were “ill-gotten wealth.” In 2014, the Sandiganbayan ruled that the so-called “Marcos art collection” was unlawfully acquired and therefore belonged to the Philippine government.[1] International seizures and salesAfter the Marcoses were ousted in 1986, authorities traced dozens of Old Master and Impressionist paintings to storage facilities and apartments in Manila and New York City linked to their network of associates. In 1991, 60 paintings from the collection were sold at auction in New York to raise funds for the Philippine government’s recovery program.[2] Some works were also found in the possession of Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, who acted as an intermediary for Marcos assets.[3] Others surfaced from the apartment of former Marcos aide Vilma Bautista, including pieces by Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley, which were seized by New York prosecutors in 2012 and later returned to the Philippines.[4] As of PCGG reports, about 146 paintings from the Marcos collection remain missing.[5] In October 2014, agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), accompanied by personnel from the PCGG, raided a Marcos museum property in search of high-value artworks including Michelangelo and Picasso paintings. However, the raid reportedly failed to recover those flagship works; only family portraits of the Marcoses were found during the search.[6] Notable piecesOne of the most widely publicized missing paintings, a 1932 Pablo Picasso Femme Couchée VI, appeared in Lauren Greenfield’s 2019 documentary The Kingmaker, hanging on a wall in Imelda Marcos’s apartment.[7] After the 2022 Philippine elections, photographs circulated showing the same Picasso still displayed in her residence, fueling debate on why the piece had not been seized.[8] The collection also included works attributed to Claude Monet, Michelangelo, Raphael, Grandma Moses, and Paule Gobillard, among other European and American masters, alongside pieces by prominent Filipino artists.[9] Camote Diggers, the last and unfinished painting of National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco (1969), has become a focal point in debates over provenance, ownership, and ethics. The work was reportedly gifted by Francisco’s widow, Rosalina Francisco, to Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and Imelda Marcos, and for a time was displayed in Malacañang Palace. According to Senator-elect Imee Marcos, she last saw the painting at Malacañang but has stated publicly that she does not know how it was later removed.[10] In June 2019 Leon Gallery auctioned Camote Diggers for ₱23.4 million (including buyer’s premium).[11] Shortly thereafter, in response to the controversy around its ownership and origin, the consignor and the buyer agreed to donate the painting to a museum or other public institution to mitigate politicization and allow for public access.[12] As of the latest reports, however, Camote Diggers has not yet been officially donated to any named museum; the intended institution remains unnamed, and its location remains of interest to cultural authorities and the public.[13] Metropolitan Museum–UP Vargas Museum exhibitionIn 2022 the Metropolitan Museum of Manila lent a selection of art from the Marcos collection to the UP Vargas Museum in an exhibition titled Refinement and Excess: A Marcos Art Trove. The show juxtaposed European old masters with works by leading Filipino painters, providing scholars and the public a rare chance to study pieces long held in storage or seized by the government.[14][15] See also
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