16 National Artist In The Field Of Visual Arts t373t

NATIONAL ARTISTS IN THE PHILIPPINES IN THE FIELD OF VISUAL ARTS

Fernando Amorsolo

National Artist for Visual Arts (May 30, 1892 - April 24, 1972) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/fernando-amorsolo/

Fernando Amorsolo The country had its first National Artist in Fernando C. Amorsolo. The

The country had its first National Artist in Fernando C. Amorsolo. The

official title “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art” was bestowed on Amorsolo when the Manila Hilton inaugurated its art center on January 23, 1969 with an exhibit of a selection of his works. Returning from his studies abroad in the 1920s, Amorsolo developed the backlighting technique that became his trademark where figures, a cluster of leaves, spill of hair, the swell of breast, are seen aglow on canvas. This light, Nick Joaquin opines, is the rapture of a sensualist utterly in love with the earth, with the Philippine sun, and is an accurate expression of Amorsolo’s own exuberance. His citation underscores all his years of creative activity which have “defined and perpetuated a distinct element of the nation’s artistic and cultural heritage”.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/fernando-amorsolo/

Among others, his major works include the following: Maiden in a Stream(1921)-GSIS collection; El Ciego (1928)-Central Bank of the Philippines collection; Dalagang Bukid (1936) – Club Filipino collection; The Mestiza (1943) – National Museum of the Philippines collection; Planting Rice (1946)-UB collection; Sunday Morning Going to Town (1958)-Ayala Museum Collection. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/fernando-amorsolo/

Hernando R. Ocampo

National Artist for Visual Arts (1991) (April 28, 1911 – December 28, 1978)

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/hernando-r-ocampo/

Hernando R. Ocampo

Hernando R. Ocampo, a self-taught painter, was a leading member of the pre-war Thirteen Moderns, the group that charted the course of modern art in the Philippines. His works provided an understanding and awareness of the harsh social realities in the country immediately after the Second World War and contributed significantly to the rise of the nationalist spirit in the post-war era. It was, however, his abstract works that left an indelible mark on Philippine modern art. His canvases evoked the lush Philippine landscape, its flora and fauna, under the sun and rain in fierce and bold colors. He also played a pivotal role in sustaining the Philippine Art Gallery, http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/hernando-r-ocampo/ the country’s first.

Genesis. 1969

 Ocampo’s acknowledged masterpiece Genesis  served as the basis of the curtain design of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater. His other major works include Ina ng Balon, Calvary, Slum wellers, Nude with Candle and Flower, Man and Carabao, Angel’s Kiss, Palayok at Kalan, Ancestors,Isda at Mangga, The Resurrection, Fifty-three “Q”, Backdrop, Fiesta.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/hernando-r-ocampo/

Benedicto Cabrera

National Artist for Visual Arts (2006) (April 10, 1942 - April 10, 2013

(April 10, 1942 - April 10, 2013 http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/benedicto-cabrera/

Benedicto Cabrera Benedicto R. Cabrera, *who signs his paintings “Bencab,” upheld the primacy of drawing over the decorative color. Bencab started his career in the mid-sixties as a lyrical expressionist. His solitary figures of scavengers emerging from a dark landscape were piercing stabs at the social conscience of a people long inured to poverty and dereliction. Bencab, who was born in Malabon, has christened the emblematic scavenger figure “Sabel.” For Bencab, Sabel is a melancholic symbol of dislocation, despair and isolation–the personification of human dignity threatened by life’s vicissitudes, and the vast inequities http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/benedicto-cabrera/ of Philippine society.

Bencab’s exploration of form, finding his way out of the late neo-realism and high abstraction of the sixties to be able to reconsider the potency of figurative expression had held out vital options for Philippine art in the Martial Law years in the seventies through the contemporary era.  http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/benedicto-cabrera/

Selected works:   Madonna with Objects, 1991 Studies of Sabel, dyptych, 1991 People Waiting, 1989 The Indifference, 1988 Waiting for the Monsoon, 1986  http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/benedicto-cabrera/

Carlos “Botong” Francisco

National Artist for Painting (1973) (November 4, 1912 – March 31, 1969) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/carlos-botong-francisco/

Carlos “Botong” Francisco Carlos “Botong” Francisco, the poet of Angono, single-handedly revived the forgotten art of mural and remained its most distinguished practitioner for nearly three decades. In s such as those that grace the City Hall of Manila, Francisco turned fragments of the historic past into vivid records of the legendary courage of the ancestors of his race. He was invariably linked with the “modernist” artists, forming with Victorio C. Edades and Galo Ocampo what was then known in the local art circles as “The Triumvirate”. Botong’s unerring eye for composition, the lush tropical sense of color and an abiding faith in the folk values typified by the townspeople of Angono became the hallmark of his art.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/carlos-botong-francisco/

Harana, 1957 (BangkoSentral ng Pilipinas Collection)

His other major works include the following:  •Portrait of Purita •The Invasion of Limahong •Serenade •Muslim Betrothal •Blood Compact •First Mass at Limasawa •The Martyrdom of Rizal •Bayanihan Magpupukot •Fiesta •Bayanihan sa Bukid  •Sandugo. 

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/carlos-botong-francisco/

Cesar Legaspi

National Artist for Visual Arts (1990) (April 2, 1917 – April 7, 1994) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/cesar-legaspi-2/

Cesar Legaspi

A pioneer “Neo-Realist” of the country, Cesar Legaspi is ed for his singular achievement of refining cubism in the Philippine context. Legaspi belonged to the so-called “Thirteen Moderns” and later, the “Neo-realists”. His distinctive style and daring themes contributed significantly to the advent and eventual acceptance of modern art in the Philippines. Legaspi made use of the geometric fragmentation technique, weaving social comment and juxtaposing the mythical and modern into his overlapping, interacting forms with disturbing power and intensity. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/cesar-legaspi-2/

Among his works are Gadgets I, Gadgets II, Diggers, Idols of the Third Eye, Facade, Ovary, FloraandFauna, Tri ptych, Flight, Bayanihan, Struggle,Ave nging Figure, Turning Point, Peace, The Survivor, The Ritual.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/cesar-legaspi-2/

Abdulmari Asia Imao

National Artist for Visual Arts (2006) (January 14, 1936 – December 16, 2014) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/abdulmari-asia-imao/

Abdulmari Asia Imao Abdulmari Asia Imao, a native of Sulu, is a sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist, documentary film maker, cultural researcher, writer, and articulator of Philippine Muslim art and culture.Through his works, the indigenous ukkil, sarimanok and naga motifs have been popularized and instilled in the consciousness of the Filipino nation and other peoples as original Filipino creations.His U.P. art education introduced him to Filipino masters like Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva, who were among his mentors.With his large-scale sculptures and monuments of Muslim and regional heroes and leaders gracing selected sites from Batanes to Tawi-tawi, Imao has helped develop among cultural groups trust and confidence necessary for the building of a more just and humane society. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/abdulmari-asia-imao/

Selected works: •Industry Brass Mural, Philippine National Bank, San Fernando, La Union •Mural Relief on Filmmaking, Manila City Hall •Industrial Mural, Central Bank of the Philippines, San Fernando, La Union •Sulu Warriors (statues of PanglimaUnaid and Captain Abdurahim Imao), 6 ft., Sulu Provincial Capitol   http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/abdulmari-asia-imao/

Guillermo Tolentino

National Artist for Sculpture (1973) (July 24, 1890 – July 12, 1976) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/guillermo-tolentino/

Guillermo Tolentino

  Guillermo Estrella Tolentino is a product of the Revival period in Philippine art. Returning from Europe (where he was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Rome) in 1925, he was appointed as professor at the UP School of Fine Arts where the idea also of executing a monument for national heroes struck him. The result was the UP Oblation that became the symbol of freedom at the campus. Acknowledged as his masterpiece and completed in 1933, The Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan stands as an enduring symbol of the Filipinos’ cry for freedom.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/guillermo-tolentino/

Other works include the bronze figures of President Quezon at Quezon Memorial, life-size busts of Jose Rizal at UP and UE, marble statue of Ramon Magsaysay in GSIS Building; granolithics of heroic statues representing education, medicine, forestry, veterinary science, fine arts and music at UP. He also designed the gold and bronze medals for the Ramon Magsaysay Bonifacio Monument (Image credit: Ramon Velasquez via Wikimedia Award and did the seal of the Republic of Commons  the Philippines.   http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/guillermo-tolentino/

Arturo Luz

National Artist for Visual Arts (1997) November 20, 1926 (age 90)  http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/arturo-luz/

Arturo Luz Arturo Luz, painter, sculptor, and designer for more than 40 years, created masterpieces that exemplify an ideal of sublime austerity in expression and form. From the Carnival series of the late 1950s to the recent Cyclist paintings, Luz produced works that elevated Filipino aesthetic

vision

to

new

heights

of

sophisticated

simplicity.

By

establishing the Luz Gallery that professionalized the art gallery as an institution and set a prestigious influence over generations of Filipino artists, Luz inspired and developed a Filipino artistic community that nurtures impeccable designs.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/arturo-luz/

Night Glows, 1960

Among his other significant paintings are BagongTaon, Vendador de Flores, Skipping Rope, Candle Vendors, Procession, SelfPortrait, Night Glows,Grand Finale, Cities of the Past, Imaginary Landscapes. His mural painting Black and White is displayed in the lobby of the C’sBulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater). His sculpture of a stainless steel cube is located in front of the Benguet Mining Corporation Building in Pasig. 

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/arturo-luz/

Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz

National Artist for Visual Arts (2009) (June 6, 1932 - February 2, 2011) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/federico-aguilar-y-alcuaz/

Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz

Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz, who signed his works as Aguilar Alcuaz was an artist of voluminous output. He is known mainly for his gestural paintings in acrylic and oil, as well as sketches in ink, watercolor and pencil. He was also a sculptor of note and has rendered abstract and figurative works in ceramics, tapestries and even in relief sculptures made of paper and mixed media, which he simply calls “Alcuazaics.” The preference to use his maternal name was more for practical reasons; Alcuaz was rarer than the name Aguilar, and thus ensured better recall; it was also simpler to drop the customary between the two names.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/federico-aguilar-y-alcuaz/

Alcuaz belongs to the second generation of Filipino modernists after the fabled Thirteen Moderns, credited along with Jose Joya, Constancio Bernardo, Fernando Zobel and Arturo Luz, for building a significant body of abstract art from the arguably more tentative efforts of their predecessors. Alcuaz went to the UP College of Fine Arts in Diliman while also taking up his prelaw course at San Beda College. Napoleon Abueva, Jose Joya and Juvenal Sanso were also in school with him at that time, studying under Fernando Amorsolo, Guillermo Tolentino, Irineo Miranda, Constancio Bernardo and Toribio Herrera. He would go on to win prizes at UP and at the national Shell Art competition, and embarked on several solo exhibits after graduating from San BedaAlcuaz would go on in 1955 to obtain a law degree at the Ateneo de Manila in Padre Faura, Manila in deference to his father’s wishes, but after mounting an exhibit at the legendary Philippine Art Gallery, he received a fellowship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Spain and proceeded to study at the Academia de BellasArtes de San Fernando in Madrid, where other Filipino expatriates like Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Fernando Amorsolo, Fabian dela Rosa and Jose Ma. Asuncion received a similar classical training. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/federico-aguilar-y-alcuaz/

After his studies, he stayed on to live and familiarize himself with the art and culture of Europe. He had exhibits in Madrid and then in Barcelona, where he met his future wife Ute Schmidt who he married in 1959. They have three children. In 1964, the family moved to Manila, but after 4 years his wife returned to with their three sons, whereupon, Alcuaz embarked once more on shuttling between Europe to see his family and mount exhibits, and then to Manila, where he preferred to do his studio at the Manila Hilton (now the Manila Pavilion). His works are highly favored, not only for its studied refinement and European flair, but also for the ease and pleasure conveyed by his choice of light, color and composition; all of which add up to scenes which are always quite playful but never cluttered. His love for classical music is also apparent in this constant fluidity.      http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/federico-aguilar-y-alcuaz/

Napoleon Abueva

National Artist for Sculpture (1976) (January 26, 1930)

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/napoleon-abueva/

At 46 then, Napoleon V. Abueva, a native of Bohol, was the youngest National Artist awardee. Considered as the Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture, Abueva has helped shape the local sculpture scene to what it is now. Being adept in either academic representational style or modern abstract, he has utilized almost all kinds of materials from hard wood (molave, acacia, langka wood, ipil, kamagong, palm wood and bamboo) to adobe, metal, stainless steel, cement, marble, bronze, iron, alabaster, coral and brass. Among the early innovations Abueva introduced in 1951 was what he referred to as “buoyant sculpture” — sculpture meant to be appreciated from the surface of a placid pool. In the 80’s, Abueva put up a one-man show at the Philippine Center, New York. His works have been installed in different museums here and abroad, such as The Sculpture at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/napoleon-abueva/

Some of his major works include Kaganapan (1953), Kiss of Judas (1955),Thirty Pieces of Silver, The Transfiguration (1979), Eternal Garden Memorial Park, UP Gateway (1967), Nine Muses (1994), UP Faculty Center, Sunburst (1994)Peninsula Manila Hotel, the bronze figure of Teodoro M. Kalaw in front of National Library, and murals in marble at the National Heroes Shrine, Mt. Samat, Bataan.   Nine Muses of the Arts (Ramon Velasquez via Wikimedia Commons)

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/napoleon-abueva/

J. Elizalde Navarro

National Artist for Painting (1999) (May 22, 1924 – June 10, 1999) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/j-elizalde-navarro/

J. (Jeremias) Elizalde Navarro, was born on May 22, 1924 in Antique. He is a versatile artist, being both a proficient painter and sculptor. His devotion to the visual arts spans 40 years of drawing, printmaking, graphic deg, painting and sculpting. His masks carved in hardwood merge the human and the animal; his paintings consists of abstracts and figures in oil and watercolor; and his assemblages fuse found objects and metal parts. He has done a series of figurative works drawing inspiration from Balinese art and culture, his power as a master of colors largely evident in his large four- The Seasons (1992: http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/j-elizalde-navarro/ Prudential Bank collection).

Morning Mist Over Ubud, Bali (1992)

A Navarro sampler includes his ’50s and ’60s fiction illustrations for This Week of the Manila Chronicle, and the rotund, India-ink figurative drawings for Lydia Arguilla’s storybook, Juan Tamad. Three of his major mixed media works are I’m Sorry Jesus, I Can’t Attend Christmas This Year (1965), and his Homage to Dodjie Laurel (1969: Ateneo Art Gallery collection), and A Flying Contraption for Mr. Icarus (1984: Lopez Museum).

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/j-elizalde-navarro/

FRANCISCO COCHING

National Artist for Visual Arts (2014) (January 29, 1919 – September 1, 1998) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/francisco-coching/

Francisco Coching, acknowledged as the “Dean of Filipino Illustrators” and son of noted Tagalog novelist and comics illustrator Gregorio Coching, was a master storyteller – in images and in print. His illustrations and novels were products of that happy combination of fertile imagination, a love of storytelling, and fine draftsmanship. He synthesized images and stories informing Philippine folk and popular imagination of culture.  His career spanned four decades. Starting his career in 1934, he was a central force in the formation of the popular art form of comics. He was a part of the golden age of the Filipino comics in the 50’s and 60’s. Until his early retirement in 1973, Coching mesmerized the comics-reading public as well as his fellow artists, cartoonists and writers. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/francisco-coching/

The source of his imagery can be traced to the Philippine culture from the 19th century to the 1960s. His works reflected the dynamics brought about by the racial and class conflict in Philippine colonial society in the 19th century, a theme that continued to be dealt with for a long time in Philippine cinema. He valorized the indigenous, untrammeled Filipino in Lapu-Lapu and Sagisag ng Lahing Pilipino, and created the types that affirm the native sense of self in his Malay heroes of stunning physique. His women are beautiful and gentle, but at the same time can be warriorlike, as in Marabini (Marahas na Binibini) or the strong seductive, modern women of his comics in the 50s and 60s. There is myth and fantasy, too, featuring the grotesque characters, vampire bats, shriveled witches, as in Haring Ulopong. Yet, Coching grounded his works too in the experience of war during the Japanese occupation, he was a guerilla of the Kamagong Unit, Las Pinas branch of the ROTC hunters in the Philippines. He also drew from the popular post-war culture of the 50s, as seen in Movie Fan. At this point, his settings and characters became more urbane, and the narratives he weaved scanned the changing times and mores, as in Pusakal, Talipandas, Gigolo, and Maldita. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/francisco-coching/

In his characters and storylines, Coching brings to popular consciousness the issues concerning race and identity. He also discussed in his works the concept of the hero, which resonate through the characters on his comics like in Dimasalang and El Vibora. He also left a lasting influence on the succeeding generations of younger cartoonist such as Larry Alcala, Ben Infante and Nestor Redondo. The comics as popular art also helped forge the practice and consciousness as a national language.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/francisco-coching/

Victorio C. Edades

National Artist for Painting (1976) (December 23, 1895 – March 7, 1985) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/victorio-c-edades/

Painting distorted human figures in rough, bold impasto strokes, and standing tall and singular in his advocacy and practice of what he believes is creative art, Victorio C. Edades emerged as the “Father of Modern Philippine Painting”. Unlike, Amorsolo’s bright, sunny, cheerful hues, Edades’ colors were dark and somber with subject matter or themes depicting laborers, factory workers or the simple folk in all their dirt, sweat and grime. In the 1930s, Edades taught at the University of Santos Tomas and became dean of its Department of Architecture where he stayed for three full decades. It was during this time that he introduced a liberal arts program that offers subjects as art history and foreign languages that will lead to a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. This development brought about a first in Philippine education since art schools then were vocational schools. It was also the time that Edades invited Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Galo B. Ocampo to become professor artists for the university. The three, who would later be known as the formidable “Triumvirate”, led the growth of mural painting in the country. Finally retiring from teaching at age 70, the university conferred on Edades the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, for being an outstanding “visionary, teacher and artist.” http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/victorio-c-edades/

Among his works are The Sketch, The Artist and the Model, Portrait of the Professor, Japanese Girl, Mother and Daughter, The Wrestlers, and Poinsettia Girl.

The Sketch, 1928

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/victorio-c-edades/

Ang Kiukok

National Artist for Visual Arts (2001) (March 1, 1931 – May 9, 2005) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/ang-kiukok/

Born to immigrant Chinese parents Vicente Ang and Chin Lim, Ang Kiukok is one of the most vital and dynamic figures who emerged during the 60s.. As one of those who came at the heels of the pioneering modernists during that decade, Ang Kiukok blazed a formal and iconographic path of his own through expressionistic works of high visual impact and compelling meaning. He crystallized in vivid, cubistic figures the terror and angst of the times. Shaped in the furnace of the political turmoil of those times, Ang Kiukok pursued an expression imbued with nationalist fervor and sociological agenda. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/ang-kiukok/

nclude: Geometric Landscape (1969); Pieta, which won for him the bronze medal in the 1st International Art Exhibition held in Saigon (1962); and the Seated Figure (1979), auc

und in many major art collections, among them the Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Historical Museum of Taipei, and the National Museum in Singapore.AngKiukok d

“Thinking Man,” 1979, Watercolor on Paper

“Cockerel,” 1976, Watercolor on Paper

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/ang-kiukok/

Some of his works include: Geometric Landscape (1969); Pieta, which won for him the bronze medal in the 1st International Art Exhibition held in Saigon (1962); and the Seated Figure (1979), auctioned at Sotheby’s in Singapore. His works can be found in many major art collections, among them the Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Historical Museum of Taipei, and the National Museum in Singapore. Ang Kiukok died on May 9, 2005

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/ang-kiukok/

Jose Joya

National Artist for Visual Arts (2003) (June 3, 1931 – May 11, 1995) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/jose-joya/

Jose Joya is a painter and multimedia artist who distinguished himself by creating an authentic Filipino abstract idiom that transcended foreign influences. Most of Joya’s paintings of harmonious colors were inspired by Philippine landscapes, such as green rice paddies and golden fields of harvest. His use of rice paper in collages placed value on transparency, a common characteristic of folk art. The curvilinear forms of his paintings often recall the colorful and multilayered ‘kiping’ of the Pahiyas festival. His important mandala series was also drawn from Asian aesthetic forms and concepts.  He espoused the value of kinetic energy and spontaneity in painting which became significant artistic values in Philippine art. His paintings clearly show his mastery of ‘gestural paintings’ where paint is applied intuitively and spontaneously, in broad brush strokes, using brushes or spatula or is directly squeezed from the tube and splashed across the canvas.  His 1958 landmark painting GranadeanArabesque,a work on canvas big enough to be called a mural, features swipes and gobs of impasto and sand. The choice of Joya to represent the Philippines in the 1964 Venice Biennial itself represents a high peak in the rise of the modern art in the country. http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/jose-joya/

Granadean Arabesque, 1958 (Ateneo Art Gallery Collection)

Joya also led the way for younger artists in bringing out the potentials of multimedia. He designed and painted on ceramic vessels, plates and tiles, and stimulated regional workshops. He also did work in the graphic arts, particularly in printmaking. His legacy is undeniably a large body of work of consistent excellence which has won the iration of artists both in the local and international scene. Among them are his compositions Beethoven Listening to the Blues, and Space Transfiguration, and other works like Hills of Nikko, Abstraction, Dimension of Fear, Naiad, Torogan, Cityscape.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/jose-joya/

Vicente Manansala

National Artist for Painting (1981) (January 22, 1910 – August 22, 1981) http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/vicente-manansala/

Vicente Manansala‘s paintings are described as visions of reality teetering on the edge of abstraction. As a young boy, his talent was revealed through the copies he made of the Sagrada Familia and his mother’s portrait that he copied from a photograph. After finishing the fine arts course from the University of the Philippines, he ran away from home and later found himself at the Philippines Herald as an illustrator. It was there that Manansala developed close association with Hernando R. Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, and Carlos Botong Francisco, the latter being the first he ired most. For Manansala, Botong was a master of the human figure. Among the masters, Manansala professes a preference for Cezanne and Picasso whom he says have achieved a balance of skill and artistry. He trained at Paris and at Otis School of Drawing in Los Angeles. Manansala believes that the beauty of art is in the process, in the moment of doing a particular painting, closely associating it with the act of making love. “The climax is just when it’s really finished.” http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/vicente-manansala/

Manansala’s works include A Cluster of Nipa Hut, San Francisco Del Monte,Banaklaot, I Believe in God, Market Venders, Madonna of the Slums, Still Life with Green Guitar, Via Crucis, Whirr, Nude.

Mother and Child, 1967

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/vicente-manansala/

GROUP 4 SOL KIZZIAH MEI CABANDI JESSA MAE JEMINO KATE ANGELIE NABIONG JAYLORD QUATCHON