Take one look at Jeane Enriquez-Monteverde and you would see a typical middle-aged Filipina lady: stout, sporting a bob cut, and a megawatt smile that just invites you to come sit with her for a cup of tea. You would never know that she owns a newly-opened gallery along Gil Puyat Ave., just a few steps away from the LRT station called M Gallery (or Gallery M, depending on which sign you look at).
The granddaughter of Mariano Enriquez, owner of the iconic Enriquez Art Supply in Recto, Monteverde got into the art world very early on. “I used to help my grandfather a lot with his business,” she said. “After my marriage, my world changed drastically, and I had to leave the business to my brother. Ever since then, there’s been a vacuum in my life where art was concerned, that’s why I put up the gallery.”
M Gallery houses some of the most impressive art collections in the country. Managed by Monteverde together with Cid Reyes, one of the biggest names in both the art and advertising industries, the gallery wows the crowd with works from F. Elio, Aguilar Alcuaz, Cesar Amorsolo, Fernando Manansala, Gabriel Custodio and Salvador Cabrera to name a few.
M Gallery is an old pre-war house, built around the ‘30s, and practically untouched by the war. It has two floors, with the second floor having eight (really big) bedrooms. Monteverde bought the house around the end of the EDSA revolution, restored it, and used it as a personal office first then converted it to a gallery.
“We weren’t the first owners of the house,” said Monteverde. “We bought it from the Rufino family (developers of the Corinthian Subdivisions). Back then, this same house was featured in the Philippine Panorama, and they called it “The White House”, owing to its paint job.”
The décor of the gallery has a homey, rustic feel to it. Besides the breathtaking artwork lining the walls, the first floor is home to a collection of antique furniture and oddities such as bowls, burial urns and Chinese warrior statues. “All these things come from my personal collection. They’ve been stuck in my bodega for 30-plus years now.”
Her personal collection is nothing short of massive. At the moment, Monteverde says her collection includes up to a thousand individual pieces, consisting of antiques and art. “Some I bought, some came from my grandfather’s clients,” she said.
The story behind it is quite interesting. “Back then, the art industry was really poor. Artists would come to my grandfather’s shop and trade their artwork for supplies,” she said. “And some of the pieces I have come from galleries that are closing down, so pinakyaw ko na,” she said, laughing.
Monteverde weighed the benefits of having a gallery in such a remote area to having it inside a mall. “Art isn’t a prime commodity. If I sold art in a mall, I’d pay more than I would earn. In a good month, you’d sell one or two pieces, but you’d have to pay rent. Here, I don’t have to pay anything,” she added.
For Monteverde, M Gallery goes past being a simple venue to exhibit and sell art. “It’s my sanctuary. I think I am the classic Filipina host. I love people, talking to them, serving food, drink and music. This gallery is my connection to the art world and everything that I love about it,” she said. “I live for the happy moments with artists. They’re a very deep breed, and you can talk to them about anything because they see things differently, in layers.”
“I’m really happy with what I have right now,” Monteverde said, when asked about her future plans. “I want the gallery to be open to younger artists, which is the reason why I’m disposing of so much of my collection. I want to bridge the old with the new.”
Monteverde said that her dream is to meet every single person in the Filipino art scene, and with a gallery and passion that big, it is not hard for anyone to imagine that happening. “There’s a new generation now, and that’s what’s keeping me excited… and young looking!” she finished with a laugh.
