Celeste Lecaroz immortalizes President Quezon in new work

The Philippine Embassy in Israel recently launched Balai Quezon, a museum that pays tribute to Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon’s heroic efforts to grant asylum to more than one thousand Jews during the Holocaust. Balai Quezon houses memorabilia and testimonies related to President Quezon’s open-door policy, including Celeste Lecaroz’s portrait of President Quezon rendered in spontaneous realism style.

The said painting was unveiled at the Balai Quezon opening by Lecaroz herself who flew to Israel just for the occasion, Israel’s Minster of Foreign Affairs Director Yaron Mayer, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Ernesto Corpuz, Philippine Ambassador to Israel Neal Imperial, and Honorary Consul of the Philippines in Jerusalem on South Asia Shimon Weinbaum. Honorary Consul Weimbaum commissioned the portrait and donated it to the Philippine Embassy.