Today, the group has six diverse gallery brands, each specializing in different programs and genres, constantly highlighting established artists and grooming the next generation of Philippine art masters.
This is an excerpt from Lifestyle Asia’s April 2023 Issue.
Interest in Philippine art has had significant evolutions. Jack Teotico, Founder and Managing Director of the Galerie Joaquin Group, shares that, “In the 1970’s, there were only about five art galleries in the Philippines. Today, there are hundreds with more sprouting.” Celebrating two decades, his group has endured and grown to be a formidable name in the industry.
Creating his strokes, Teotico’s interest started in his freshman year in the University of the Philippines. His professor Virginia Moreno, the elder sister of National Artist for Fashion Design Pitoy Moreno, excited his passion for visual arts. After graduation, he first worked in mergers and acquisitions at an investment bank. Later, he moved to the Agricultural Exports Group of the Department of Agriculture. He would often travel for international negotiations. On the side, he took the opportunity to visit well-known museums in the country he was in. These experiences not only sharpened his business acumen, but also immersed him in his growing artistic passion.
In the early 1980s, a chance encounter at an art gallery in Makati changed his life. He met a group of artists who had a weekly get together. He became good friends with them and little did he know then that they would become future art icons: National Artists Cesar Legaspi, Ang Kiukok, Bencab, Presidential Merit Awardee Juvenal Sanso, as well as Onib Olmedo, Romulo Olazo, and Mauro Malang Santos to name a few. They would eventually be referred to as “The Saturday Group” that made a respectable mark in Philippine art history. “I was able to acquire artworks from them being my colleagues and when I retired from government service in 2002, I decided to put up Galerie Joaquin,” Teotico shares with Lifestyle Asia.
Galerie Joaquin first opened at P. Guevarra St., San Juan. There was hardly any foot traffic at the residential area and having three sales a week was the most that they expected. Realizing the need for higher visibility, he gambled and opened a branch at The Podium mall. Seeing the need to create better accessibility amidst Manila’s worsening traffic congestion, he started plotting key areas to expand their reach. Galerie Franchesca, Galerie Stephanie, and Galerie Raphael were then created and situated at respective business locations like Alabang, Libis, and BGC. As of today, the group has six diverse gallery brands, each specializing in different programs and genres, constantly highlighting established artists and grooming the next generation of Philippine art masters.
Read more by purchasing a copy of the Lifestyle Asia April 2023 magazine via SariSari.shopping or select newsstands in National Bookstore and Fully Booked. Subscribe to the E-Magazine via Readly, Magzter, and Press Reader.
Photo by Mark Chester Ang.
