Fernando Amorsolo

/Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Calle Herran in Paco, Manila to Pedro Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto. Although born in the nation s capital, Amorsolo would spend most of his childhood in the small town setting of Daet in Camarines Norte where his love for the simple rural life would become the foundation for his artistic output for which he is most well-known. The Early Years Amorsolo s earliest memories would bring him back to a quiet life in the countryside. When he was only seven months old, his father moved the family to Daet to work as a bookkeeper for two abaca firms. Pedro was able to earn a modest income, enough to keep his family comfortable. Fernando showed early signs of his artistic talent. He would go out to the coast to draw pictures of the ships by the wharves. It was his mother who recognized the young Amorsolo s talent. She would send her son s drawings to her cousin Fabian dela Rosa, a prominent painter in Manila. At this early age, Amorsolo displayed an affinity for the rural landscape --a reflection of his own small world. Tragedy struck early in Amorsolo s life. One night, when Fernando was still very young, his father was awakened by shouts coming from outside his window. It was the head of the revolutionary movement fighting against the Spaniards demanding that Amorsolo s half brother, the eldest son Perico, join the group. Against his father s wishes, Perico relented and went down to join the rebels. The family never saw him again. After the failure of the 1896 uprising, neighbors told the family that they saw Perico, bound with a bamboo pole strapped to his back, being taken to jail. He was later executed by the Spaniards. Shattered with grief by the death of his son, Amorsolo s father Pedro never recovered from the ordeal and died of a heart attack a few years later. Amorsolo s penchant for depicting an idealized world is viewed by his critics as the work of someone who has never experienced pain in his life. It is apparent that the artist s preference was not due to a lack of exposure to the ills of society but to a conscious effort to hang on to what is pure and good before the harsh realities of the world shattered his peaceful life in the countryside. His father died when Amorsolo was eleven years old. Before he passed away, Pedro made his wife promise to give Fernando a proper art education. The widowed Bonifacia gathered her family and returned to Manila in hopes of finding better prospects to provide for her family. Her cousin Don Fabian dela Rosa opened his doors to the family. It was here that Amorsolo had his first real exposure to the art world. To make ends meet, Bonifacia did embroidery to feed her family. Fernando made himself useful by assisting Don Fabian in his studio. It was during this time that Amorsolo received his first art instruction from Don Fabian. The family s limited financial means made it difficult for the artist to receive consistent formal art instruction. He earned money the only way he knew how. Amorsolo drew sketches and sold them for 15 centavos a piece to help his family and to pay for his schooling. Despite the family s financial difficulties, in 1914, he finally earned his degree, with honors, as a member of the first graduating class of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. Amorsolo lived during a turbulent time in the Philippines. He came of age during a transition period in Philippine history. The former Spanish colony became a territory of the United States of America. As American influence slowly crept into Filipino culture in the bigger cities, the artist yearned for the life he knew during his early childhood days in Daet. This clearly manifested itself in his artistic output where he clearly showed a partiality towards the rural setting where American culture was slow to trickle down. His paintings would embody an affinity for the traditions and lifestyle he knew during the Spanish era. His canvases were filled with scenes of fiestas, old churches and rituals that were the legacy of the Philippines former colonial masters.

Striking Out on his Own

Success came early to Amorsolo. His professors at the University of the Philippines were quite impressed with the young painter. Some of them thought that Amorsolo s brush work surpassed their own. Apparently they were not the only ones who had this favorable opinion of the young artist. The artist became a professor in his early 20 s and was already establishing himself in the art world. At the age of 25, he was already married to Salud Jorge and had a daughter, Virginia, when he caught the eye of one of the most influential figures in Filipino society. Amorsolo had designed the logo for Ginebra San Miguel, still in use in its original form today, depicting St. Michael vanquishing the devil. The owner of the beverage company, Don Enrique Zobel, a leading figure in the business community and an ardent patron of the arts, was so impressed by his work that he offered to send Amorsolo to the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid for further studies with a generous stipend for himself and his young family. The artist took the standard entrance exam at the Academia. To Amorsolo s surprise, after evaluating his work, the school informed him that, based on the results, they would accept him not as a student but as a professor at the school. Amorsolo was a painfully shy man. After his acceptance at the Academia, a banquet was held in his honor. When he was escorted into the banquet hall, he was so nervous that he excused himself to go to the men s room. He hurriedly went through the back door and went back to his hotel room. A school official later found him and prevailed on him to return to the banquet. He steadfastly refused. It is ironic that someone as talented and accomplished as Amorsolo was also known for his diffidence. Throughout his career, he shied away from any public event that was thrown in his honor. His confidence was almost purely reserved and confined to the practice of his trade. His precise brush work certainly shows someone who was very sure of his artistic skills. So confident was Amorsolo of his brush stroke that art conservationists have frequently been surprised at how thinly paint was applied on his paintings. It took him significantly fewer attempts, and consequently fewer layers of paint, to get the results that he wanted. Amorsolo was by no means a Renaissance man. He had no other significant talent other than illustration and painting. Unlike artists such as John Singer Sargent, who was also an accomplished pianist, Amorsolo s hands were permanently and solely associated with the paint brush. As a consequence of this exclusive association, the artist truly became the master of his craft. Amorsolo eventually settled in and spent seven months in Madrid where he was able to observe the works of the masters. He visited art galleries and museums to study the works of Diego Velasquez, El Greco, Goya, Monet, Manet, Van Dyck, Sargent, and Joaquin Sorolla. It is here where he honed his skills and perfected his technique. Diego Velasquez was one of his major influences, learning from his superior brush work, painterly style, and mastery of color. He would also learn from and build upon Sorolla s technique of utilizing the sun to draw out the most dramatic effects from the heightened sunlit colors and dramatic contrasts between light and shade. The perfection of this technique would set Amorsolo apart from his contemporaries. Despite his exposure to Western influences, Amorsolo retained his Filipino consciousness. He was drawn more towards the gentle rolling hills and verdant rice fields of the Philippines rather than the cosmopolitan world of Europe s proud cities. Even his illustrations of Spanish women were drawn with slender physiques, narrower hips, and smaller breasts more typical of Filipinas rather than full bodied Caucasian women. After his stint in Madrid, Amorsolo came home to the Philippines ready to apply what he learned. His bright sunlit rural landscapes were a stark departure from the elegantly dark European style that was practiced during the time. American servicemen, officials, and businessmen sought out his paintings to bring home to the States as a token of remembrance for their stay in the Philippines. Amorsolo made his mark and carved a niche for himself in the local art scene. Demand for his chosen genre reached a high point.

Amorsolo s first wife passed away in 1931 leaving him with six children. He had six more children by a common-law wife. In 1935, he married Maria del Carmen who gave him eight more children. Fortunately, his reputation was growing as fast as his brood and his work was more than enough to provide for his rather large family.

The War Years

Just as his career was reaching its peak the Philippines found itself in the midst of the second World War. The artist and his family lived in the middle of the Japanese-occupied city of Manila and were not spared from the grim realities of war. Amorsolo rented another house near Raon Street where the women and children stayed while the men occupied the Azcarraga residence during the daytime which was near a Japanese garrison. Amorsolo did not let the war stop him from painting but his work took a dramatic turn. Difficult times during the war took its toll on the artist and his family. Amorsolo s customer base dissipated in the face of the tough economic situation. Acquiring painting materials was a challenge. More importantly, Amorsolo was deprived of his frequent sojourns to the rural areas of Marikina, Antipolo, and other locales in the outskirts of Manila where he painted his popular landscapes. Not having access to his traditional settings, his paintings took on a darker tone. During the war, Amorsolo s younger brother Pablo, an accomplished artist in his own right, was branded a Japanese sympathizer. He was captured and executed by Filipino guerillas in Antipolo. This personal tragedy, in addition to the devastation all around him, weighed heavily on the artist. Depictions of human suffering and tragedy dominated his canvases. The idyllic world within which the introverted artist chose to confine himself was torn asunder. It was during this time that Amorsolo s work truly embodied the artist s inner self. The paintings were not made in conjunction with a client s preferences but were reflections of the conflicting emotions raging within. Amorsolo was deeply affected as he watched his surroundings ravaged by war. He painted burning edifices and mothers fleeing the scene with their children in tow. Women s faces were filled with terror and despair as they were engulfed by death and destruction in their surroundings. Gone were the ebullient smiles, replaced by expressions of desolation. Rather than the noontime sun illuminating the main subjects, flames and embers from the burning ruins became the primary light source casting an eerie ominous glow. Even during this dark period, Amorsolo chose to portray despair not with an emotional outpouring of grief. It was very rare that a person in his paintings would be depicted screaming with rage or wailing in intense displays of emotion. Tragedy was portrayed through subtle means. In one of his more famous works, a woman is pictured clutching her veil while kneeling in front of her dead son --- apparently a guerilla soldier killed during a battle. The woman is looking up to the sky with a calm look of sorrow on her face. The subtle and restrained depiction proved to be a more powerful portrayal as the woman s tearless eyes conveyed a more intense form of pain. It communicated to the viewer the deep sense of loss a mother feels when her child is taken away from her. On the flip side, men were represented not with expressions of rage but with looks of defiance. In his piece entitled Defensa de Honor, the man protecting the woman from being raped by a Japanese soldier had a determined but subdued expression. This was conveyed by the fiery expression in his eyes and the slight but firm downward turn of the corners of his mouth. Amidst the tragedy of the war, Amorsolo still inserted a hint of hope personified by the implied resistance of his characters to the occupying Japanese forces. His wartime paintings are considered among his finest work and were exhibited at Malacanang Palace in 1948.

The Sunset of his Life

Amorsolo worked until the last year of his life. Age was starting to catch up with him. He was afflicted with diabetes and arthritis in addition to his heart condition. His eyesight was also beginning to fail him and he had to undergo a cataract operation. In his later works, his compromised vision led to wayward brush strokes of red and blue lines where a mound of earth should be. Despite these challenges, the quality of his output remained at high levels and the popularity of his work never waned.

What were probably the most painful tragedies struck him in his later years. In 1964, his eldest son Fernando, Jr. died from asthma and tuberculosis. The artist was so grief-stricken that he could not bear to attend his own son s funeral. Seven years later in 1971, his youngest child Milo died in a car accident. The pain of having to bury two of his children was too much for Amorsolo to bear. Five days short of a year after Milo died, Amorsolo died of heart failure on April 24, 1972. Amorsolo s work continues to resonate among his countrymen decades after his death. His portrayals of an ideal and beautiful world drew the most ardent praises and the harshest criticisms. To understand the artist one has to appreciate the man behind Amorsolo. He was shy, innocent, and most importantly pure. These traits spilled over onto his canvas. It was not because Amorsolo was not capable of recognizing the dark side of society. He had his share of heartbreak and disappointment in his life but he deliberately isolated himself from these and chose to portray the bright side of the world. Not a shred of wickedness permeated his character and as a result his art is the purest manifestation of beauty. The basic desire to identify with what is good is what people inherently have in common with the artist. It is for this legacy that Amorsolo will be most fondly remembered.

Fabian Dela Rosa

Fabian de la Rosa (May 5, 1869- December 14, 1937) was the brightest name in Philippine painting after Luna and certainly the leading master of genre in the first quarter of the century. Particularly noted for being an outstanding painter of women s portraits, alongside Juan Luna and his nephews, Pablo and Fernando Amorsolo. Fabian Cueto de la Rosa was born on May 5, 1869 in Paco, Manila, the second child of Marcos de la Rosa and Gregoria Cueto. He had apprenticed with his aunt, Mariana de la Rosa, and later with Simon Flores for his first art lessons. Prior to receiving any formal academic training in the arts, he painted La Perla de Lucban, his first known masterpiece and oldest existing work, at the age of twenty-two. In 1893, he enrolled in Escuela Superior de Pintura, Grabado y Escultura under the directorship of Don Lorenzo Rocha (1837-1898). He left the Academy and frequented studios of simple unknown painters in Quiapo and Sta. Cruz, Manila to look for new ways to forge his ideas. Later on, he also received lessons from Lorenzo Guerrero and Miguel Zaragoza. De la Rosa spearheaded the student body in petitioning the government to hold the quadrennial contest for the pensionado-ship to the Madrid Art Academy in June of 1896.The petition was approved by the authorities but the outbreak of the Revolution impede its implementation for the next two years. In April 1898, the Second Revolution was on the brink of exploding so the contest was considered an exercise in futility. Despite of this, de la Rosa won the scholarship just when the Spanish regime was nearing collapse. On January 13, 1900, he welcomed the 20th century by marrying Gorgonia Tolentino.

Although the couple was childless, their house was filled with the presence of their orphaned nephews, Pablo and Fernando Amorsolo, who stayed with them in 1903. In 1904, de la Rosa won his first gold medal for Planting Rice, in the St. Louis Exposition. Four years later, in 1908, when the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts was founded, de la Rosa received a scholarship from the Germinal Cigar Factory to study in Europe as a scholar. He attended the Academie de Julien in Paris and the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid -- the school attended by Juan Luna, Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo, and later on Fernando Amorsolo. When he returned to the Philippines in 1910, he joined the distinguished faculty of the UP School of Fine Arts which consisted of outstanding alumni, scholars, and professors of the old academy: Don Rafael Enriquez (1850-1927), the first director of the School of Fine Arts; Jose Asuncion (1869-1925), Teodoro Buenaventura, Vicente Francisco (sculptor, 18661936), Antonio Garcia (engraver), Joaquin Ma. Herrer,Vicente Rivera and Miguel Zaragoza. De la Rosa introduced and taught decorative painting. Teaching and portrait painting became his means of livelihood. His skill and reputation in portraiture have rarely been equaled except perhaps by Fernando Amorsolo. During the period of 1927-1937, upon the retirement of Rafael Enriquez, de la Rosa became the director of the UP School of Fine Arts with a new set of upcoming masters: Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972), his nephew and pupil, Fernando s brother, Pablo (1898-1945), Dr. Toribio Herrera (1892-1968), Ireneo Miranda (1896-1964), Ambrosio Morales (engraver) and Guillermo Tolentino (sculptor, 1890-1976). In 1928, de la Rosa went to tour Europe with his wife the second time. He painted in Paris for four months and then traveled to Munich, Geneva, Rome, and Madrid. In 1928 he presented a much-acclaimed exhibition of his paintings at the Ateneo de Madrid. Best remembered for painting landscapes, portraits, and everyday scenes with women depicted as simple yet regal in doing daily activities such as cleaning out clay pots, weaving, chatting, going to church, planting in the rice fields, washing clothes, etc. De la Rosa s style has never changed despite his exposure to Europe. In 1937, De la Rosa s ever faithful wife, Gorgonio, died of cancer. Sadness seemed to follow the old master. De la Rosa himself lived less than a year afterwards, suffering from kidney disease. He died on December 14, 1938 in his home at the Kraut Apartments at Maria Carpena St.in Quiapo, Manila.

Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1973, Carlos Botong Francisco was the second Filipino to receive the title of National Artist in Painting, after Fernando C. Amorsolo. Also known as the Poet of Angono, he single-handedly brought back the art of mural painting in the Philippines and was its most distinguished painter in his time. He was on the forefront of modernist art in the country, and with Victorio C. Edades and Galo B. Ocampo became part of The Triumvirate of modern art. His is best known for his historical epics, and one of his favorite subjects is fisherfolk. His images of women came from mythology, history, legend, customs and contemporary life. On November 4, 1914, Francisco was born to Felipe Francisco and Maria Villaluz in Angono, Rizal. He went to college at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, and before the Second World War did illustrations for The Tribune and La Vanguardia. Although he came from the same school of arts as Amorsolo, he veered away from the style of the traditional artist and developed a modernist style. Together with Victorio Edades and Fermin Sanchez, he painted for the Manila Grand Opera House and the Clover Theater. He and Edades started mural-painting, and together they formed the Thirteen Moderns, a group of modernists, in 1938. After the Second World War, he taught at the University of Santo Tomas School of Fine Arts at the same time that he was doing work in cinema with Manuel Conde. He worked as a scriptwriter for films such as Genghis Khan, Putol na Kampilan, and Tatlong Labuyo. In addition, he designed costumes for films such as Romeo at Julieta, Prinsipe Tenoso, Ibong Adarna, Siete Infantes de Lara, and the Juan Tamad series. Francisco further enhanced his art in mural painting as he, together with Edades and Ocampo, was commissioned to do several murals for lobbies and private residences. They developed the Filipino imagery in their work, taking images from the customs and traditions of the people. Some of the murals they worked on as a triumvirate are Rising Philippines for the Capitol Theater, murals for the Golden Gate Exposition, the State Theater, and the private residences of President Manuel Quezon, Ernesto Rufino and Vicente Rufino. However, his major masterpiece is the mural he did for the Bulwagang Katipunan of the Manila City Hall. After Francisco s death on March 31, 1969, what came to be known as the Botong Francisco School of Painting grew, exemplifying lyricism and heroism. His major works include: 1945 1948 1953 1954 1956 1956 1957 1958 1962 Kaingin Fiesta 50 Years of Philippine History, his first important mural, for the International Fair held in Manila Life and Miracles of St. Dominic, for Santo Domingo Church Stations of the Cross, for the Far Eastern University The Invasion of Limahong Mangingisda Muslim Wedding Bayanihan

Achievements 1948 1st Prize, First National Art Exhibition of the Art Association of the Philippines, for Kaingin 1964 Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan, from the City of Manila

Jose Joya
Abstractionist Jose T. Joya was posthumously proclaimed a National Artist by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on May 26, 2003. Joya, named as a National Artist for Visual Arts, was cited because his art constitutes an important landmark in the development of Philippine modern art. His legacy is a large body of work of consistent excellence which has won the admiration of artists both in the local and the international scene . Jose Tanig Joya was born in Manila on June 3, 1931, the son of Jose Joya Sr. and Asuncion. He graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts, earning the distinction of being the university's first magna cum laude. In 1954 to 1955, the Instituto de Cultura Hispanica of the Spanish government awarded him a painting grant in Madrid. A year later he finished his master's degree in painting under a Fulbright Smith-Mundt grant. He also received a grant from the John D. Rockefeller III Fund and Ford Foundation to paint in New York, from 1967 to 1969. Joya started sketching at the age of 11. He had initially wanted to become an architect, but the mathematics and science subjects discouraged him. At the UP, he was exposed to the paintings of Fernando Amorsolo who would eventually be recognized as a National Artist. Among Joya's other early influences were Vicente Manansala, yet another National Artist, and Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Joya's first works were mostly representational. During the late 1950s, he gradually shifted to abstract painting and became one of the leading painters in this genre. He designed and painted on ceramic vessels, plates and tiles, as well as sketches in pentel. He also did work in the graphic arts, particularly in printmaking. Joya held many one-man shows here and abroad starting in 1954 at the Philippine Art Gallery. In 1981, a retrospective of his works was held at the Museum of Philippine Art. In 1987, the French government bestowed on him the "Order of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres." Among the positions he held were: president of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), 19621965; dean of the UP College of Fine Arts 1970-1978; chairperson of two Philippine delegations to China, 1961 and 1972. He was also a holder of the Amorsolo Professorial Chair in UP in 1985. He served as chairperson of the National Committee on Visual Ants, of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. He won several awards and distinctions, including: The Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award for Painting and the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, both in 1961; the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila, 1971; finalist for An Abstraction of Strength and Refinement in the

Mobil Foundation competition, 1980; first prize for Gossips in the 1952 Shell National Students Art Competition, 1952; the ASEAN Cultural Award, 1970; and the Gawad CCP para sa Sining, 1991. His awards from the Art Association of the Philippines include: first prize, Cathedral, 1958; second prize, Space Transfiguration, 1959; third prize, City Entering the Edge of Sundown, 1951; third prize, House of Life, 1960; purchase award, Church Silver, 1960; second prize, Cathedral, 1962; and honorable mention, Yellow Harvest, 1962. Joya died in 1995.

A painter and multimedia artist, Jose T. Joya was named National Artist in Visual Arts in 2003. Having early traditionalist training, he eventually steered to a direction of his own. Known as an Abstract Expressionist, he adopted the values of kinetic energy and spontaneity in painting, mastering the art of gestured paintings, where paint is applied spontaneously using broad brush strokes. Aside from painting, he also designed ceramic vessels, plates and tiles, and worked with graphic arts like printmaking. Son of Jose Joya, Jr. and Asuncion Tanig, Joya was born in Manila on June 3, 1931. He became interested in sketching as early as the age 11, and wanted at first to take up architecture, but decided not to pursue it because of the math and science subjects. Under a scholarship, he entered the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts in 1950, where he had traditionalist mentors like Guillermo Tolentino, Ireneo Miranda, Dominador Castaeda and Virginia Agbayani. He earned his Bachelor s Degree in Fine Arts in 1953, the university s first magna cum laude. After that, he studied in Madrid from 1954 to 1955 under a grant from the Spanish government s Instituto de Cultura Hispanica. He got his Master s Degree in Painting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan where he studied under Zoltan Zepeshy from 1956 to 1957 under a Fulbright-Smith-Mundt grant. He then received another grant, this time from the John D. Rockefeller III Fund and Ford Foundation, to study at the Pratt Graphic Art Center in New York from 1967 to 1969. He participated in the first Exhibition of Non-Objective Art in Tagala at the Philippine Art Gallery in 1953, and then held his first one-man show there in 1954. He was later sent to represent the country at the Venice Biennial in 1964. In 1981, he held a retrospective of his works at the Museum of Philippine Art. Joya was president of the Art Association of the Philippines from 1962 to 1965 and dean of the U.P. College of Fine Arts from 1970 to 1978. In addition, he was chairperson of two delegations to China, in 1961 and 1972, and Amorsolo Professorial Chair at the U.P. in 1985. He also served as Head of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Committee on Visual Arts (NCCA-CVA) from 1987 until his death in 1995. His major works include:

1948 1954 1958 1965 1981 1985 1998

Barter of Panay Christ Stripped of His Clothes Granadean Arabesque, his landmark painting Dimensions of Fear Vista Beyond Vision Torogan Playground of the Mind

Achievements: 1951 1952 1958 1959 1960 1960 1961 1961 1962 1962 1970 1971 1980 1987 1991 3rd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for City entering the Edge of Sundown 1st Prize, Shell National Students Art Competition, for Gossips 1st Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Cathedral 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Space Transfiguration 3rd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for House of Life Purchase Award, Art Association of the Philippines, for Church Silver Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Painting Republic Cultural Heritage Award 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Cathedral Honorable Mention, Art Association of the Philippines, for Yellow Harvest ASEAN Cultural Award Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the City of Manila Finalist, Mobil Competition, for An Abstraction of Strength and Refinement Order of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, from the French government Gawad CCP para sa Sining, from the Cultural Center of the Philippines

Ang Kiukok
Ang Kiukok is undoubtably one of the most prominent painters in contemporary Philippine art. He was born in 1931 in Davao City , the only son of Chinese immigrants, in a brood of five daughters. He studied Fine Arts at the University of Sto. Tomas from 1952-54. In 1965 he travelled to New York with the late Vicente Manansala, who was both mentor and friend. This proved to be a turning point in the development of his career as an artist. Culture-shocked by the stark alienation and dehumanisation he found in the American lifestyle, Kiukok began filling his canvases with distorted, robotic men reminiscent of Francis Bacon's. The change, however, caused the public to turn their interests elsewhere. Strongly marked by disillusionment and uncanny inner vision, these paintings were to be shunned for years to come. In time, however, as he persisted in developing an expressionist style, appreciation slowly developed within the Filipino public. Since then he has enjoyed eminent success in and around Asia, with exhibits

in Manila, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, as well as in the Netherlands, Canada and the United States. His works have also been recently selected for auction at Southeby's and Christie's.

Ang Kiukok's success stems mainly from the honesty of his art. Safe, soothingly-pretty subjects are not his cup of tea. He knows life isn't a bed of roses...at least, not roses without thorns. He doesn't try to deceive buyers and collectors with cheap publicity stunts or insist that a wallpaper motif is art nouveau. Though, of course, some buyers do look for such. One particular "collector" insisted that Mr. Ang paint him a large blue sailboat to match his blue bedroom. It is one of Ang Kiukok's strengths that he never allowed himself to be bulldozed by the public's whims, even at the risk of remaining unrecognised and unpatronised throughout his lifetime--a risk he forced himself to accept as a matter of course right from the start. He does not waste time and paint dwelling on the native festivals so stereotypical of Philippine art. Nor does he paint flowery scenes and feathery ballerinas. Almost every painting seems twisted with outrage or internal suffering, giving voice to the Lowellian theme, "I hear my ill-spirit sob in each blood cell, as if my hand were at its throat... I myself am hell...."

In a third-world country where religion, in Marxist terms, is opium for the people, even his depiction of Christ's crucifixion does not seem to suggest salvation. Impaled with thorn-like nails usually set against a backdrop of convoluted junk, his Christs may be dead but they are still very much in agony. "Yes, he died on the cross for us. But look around you--everything goes on as if nothing has happened. He died in vain, people don't really give a damn." Even his "Pietas" are shrouded in a darkness where Mother Mary grieves alone over her son's dead body in a wasteland of piled refuse. Screaming figures bespeak both outrage and agony, but suffering does not liberate man from his fate. By contrast, the screams depicted in "Man on Fire" literally warn against playing with matches. But realisation has come too late for these burning figures. Dogfights and cockfights depict man's inhumanity to man. Soldiers are reared and trained like cattle to fight wars that heads of state launch at a whim.

Recently Ang Kiukok's paintings seem to have mellowed to less violent subjects such as harmlesslooking clowns. Contorting themselves comically or juggling balls for the delight of their audience, they seem at first much more benign than his earlier works. But the joke is on the viewer, because it is he who is being both observed and aped. The clowns grin sarcastically or are bowed in mute despair. The richly-clad harlequin with vacant smiling eyes, the bashful joker, the vacuous deep-thinker make up just another part of the sorry cast strutting the world's stage.

More tender subjects project a different image of the artist: sensitive, passionate, nurturing. His "Mother and Child" images exude an inexpressible love, and the more rarely seen "Lovers" are entwined in a trance-like union, stripped of individual identity. A more detached Kiukok is revealed in his still lifes. An empty bottle or cabinet suggests a void of existential agony. The objects' seeming complacency about themselves mocks the viewer, "Are you so free and well-off, after all?"

Kiukok's paintings serve as reminders to a society where integrity and moral rectitude receive more lip service than practice. His art hopes to awaken and perhaps alter the deluded priorities of a world where the basic drive is toward the acquisition of wealth and the deception of one's fellow man. Ang Kiukok continues to be a respected but enigmatic figure in the Manila art scene, someone who does not suffer fools willingly, demanding honesty and straightforwardness from everyone he encounters--an increasingly tall order in these times. For many he seems the epitome of cynicism. And yet, when one looks at his art carefully, one sees he is a cynic only because he is, primarily, an idealist. (Arlene Ang <aang@iname.com> was born in Manila of Chinese parents. She writes poetry, short stories, articles and translations. Her work has been published in LiNQ (AUS), RE:AL, Black Bear Review and is forthcoming in Oyster Boy Review, American Tanka and Dandelion (CAN).)

Ang s major works include: 1962 1969 1972 1974 1976 1979 1987 Pieta, which won him the bronze medal in the 1st International Art Exhibition in Saigon Geometric Landscape Last Supper Cockfight Crucifixion Seated Figure, which was auctioned at Sotheby s, Singapore Mother and Child

Achievements: 1961 1976 1978 1978 1980 2002 Outstanding Overseas Chinese in Art Award Outstanding Citizen, awarded by the City of Manila UST Outstanding Alumnus Award Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the City of Manila Mobil Art Award Jose Rizal Award for Excellence, from The Manila Times and the Kaisa Foundation

Juan Luna
LUNA, JUAN Novicio b Badoc, Ilocos Norte 24 Oct 1857 d. Hong Kong 7 Dec 1899. His parents are Joaquin Luna de San Pedro y Posada and Laurena Novicio y Ancheta. He has four equally famous brothers: Manuel, b, 1855, a violin virtuoso; Jose, b. 1861, a physician; Joaquin Damoso, b. 1864, governor, congressman, and senator and Antonio, b. I866, writer and general of the Philippine Revolution Army. On 7 Dec 1886, Juan married Paz (Chiching) Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho with whom he had two children, Andres Luna San Pedro, and Maria de la Paz. Who died young.

The Lunas transferred to Manila in 1861 enabling Juan to finish his high school at the Ateneo de Manila. In 1869, he enrolled at the Escuela Nautica, where after five years of theoretical courses and practical sailing to Asian ports like Hongkong, Amoy, Singapore, Colombo, and Batavia, he obtained the certificate of piloto de altos mares tercer clase (pilot of the high seass third class). While in Port for six months, he took up landscape painting at the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura. Eventually, he received private lessons from Lorenzo Guerrero, who, perceiving his potentials urged his parents to send him to Spain for further studies. In 1877, Juan executed Barrio al lado del rio (village by the river) and Vista de un barrio con kapok (Barrio Scene with Kapok Trees) Towards the end of that year he sailed to Spain.

Luna enrolled at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. There he obtained accesit (outstanding) in color composition and antique studies but did not stay long. Instead he apprenticed himself with Alejo Vera, a professor of the said school, whom he accompanied to Italy in 1879 when the later went to fulfill commissions there. Upon arriving there, Luna visited the ruins of Pompeii and Naples and made some 40 studies of excavated classical sites and objects now mostly in the National Museum of the Philippines. At this time he finished his miniature Autoretrato a edad 22 (Self portrait at 22), on charcoall, and Dafnis y Chloe (Daphnis and Chloe). The latter would soon win him a silver palette from the Centro Artistico Literario de Manila. When Vera went back to Spain, Luna remained behind, staying with the Berdlliure brothers, with whom he was to develop a loyal friendship. He stayed in Rome until spring, 1884, finishing there such pieces as La bella feliz y la esclava ciega (The Happy Beauty and the Blind Slave), La Muerte de Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra), and the portrait of Pedro Paterno. Cleopatra won for him a silver medal at the Madrid Art Exposition of 1881. For this achievement the Ayuntamiento de Manila granted him a four year scholarship upon the instigation by Francisco de Paula Rodoreda. In 1883 he started painting the Spoliarium, which won him the first gold medal at the Madrid Art Exposition the following year. A colossal multifigure scene depicting dead gladiators being mourned by their relatives at the basement of the Roman Colosseum, the Spoliarium was identified by Jose Rizal as an allusion to the exploitation or the Philippines by Spain.

Luna transferred to Paris in October 1884 but he shuttled back and forth to Madrid as his works, particularly portraits, were now in demand. His presence was also needed by fellow Filipinas who were pushing for reforms in the Philippine colony from the Madrid government. In 1885, he executed El pacto de sangre (Blood Compact) and miguel Lopez de Legaspi, pieces sent to Manila in return for his aforementioned scholarship. He also started La batalla de Lepanto (The battle of Lepanto) commissioned by the Spanish Senate upon the influence of King Alfonso XII to be hung beside La rendicion de granada (The Surrender of Granada) by 1878 grand prize winner Francisco Pradilla. By this gesture, the king hoped to compensate Luna who was not given the grand prize for Spoliarium. Although public sentiment felt he deserved the award, it was withheld from him by a biased jury. In 1886 Luna's Damas Romanas (Roman Ladies) won a diploma of honor at the Munich Salon and in 1887 his Mestiza en su tocador (Mestiza Lady at her Dresser) won a similar award at the Exposicion General de las Filipinas. In November of the same year, the Queen Regent Maria Cristina unveiled both Luna's and Pradilla's paintings at the Madrid Senate, where both are still hanging. From 1884 to 1890 Luna also executed city scenes like En el palco (At The Theater Box),1894, [Street Flower Vendors], 1885, that captured part of the funeral cortege of Victor Hugo, many views of villages and beaches in Normandy and several portraits of himself, his wife, and children.

Nurtured in the academic classical canons then prevalent all over the western world, Luna followed the conventional steps in attaining professional success, such as obtaining prizes with colossal GraecoRoman canvases in the grand Classico-Romantic manner at the prestigious atr salons of Europe. By 26 May 1889, however, in his letter to Javier Gomez de la Serna, he vowed his disillusionment with the historical canvas thus: "all historical painting is false starting with the very concept, and those who think that correct drawing, good composition, brilliant coloring and a lot of adornment are enough to make it valid are mistaken." This statement, however, does not signify Lunas break with the academic tradition nor his sympathy with impressionism, as many critics earlier presummed, but rather his leaving towards the more progressive faction of the salon "the distant one," that he described on 5 May 189 to Rizal. Luna first signalled this involvement with Le Chifonier (The Rag picker), showing an old man in tattered clothes carrying a basket of rags, which he showed at the Champs-de-Mars in 1889. By 1891, he was reading Le Socialism Contemporain (Contemporary Socialism) by E. de Lavelaye and through this concern, he attained the highest honors he was ever to achieve, namely his acceptance as member of the Societe Nationale de Beaux Arts. This entitled him to exhibit as many as 10 pictures at the Champs-de-Mars without going through the jury. He gained this acceptance through the merits of Les lgnores (known as Heroes Anonimos or Los Desherados in Spanish and Poor Allan's Burial in English) which he showed at the Champs-de-Mars in that year.

In I892, Luna finished Peuple et Rois (People and Kings), which he intended to send to the Chicago Universal Exposition of that year. However, a tragedy aborted his plans. On 22 Sept 1892, he shot his wife and motherlaw. Acquitted by the French court on 3 Feb l893, Luna left Paris for Madrid with his son Luling. On 12 July, he moved to Portuglete, Bilbao where he executed two worker themes, La colada (The Strainer) and Interior de los talleres del acero Robert (Interior of the Robert Steel Foundy). In May 1894, after an odyssey of 17 years, Juan returned to Manila with his son and his brother Antonio. In the summer of 1896, he went to Japan with his student Gaston O'Farrell. Juan did as many as 20 paintings in Japan. In August 1896, he was arrested together with his brothers by the Spanish constabulary for complicity in the Katipunan Rebellion. Cleared eventually, he left for Spain to work for the pardon of his brother, Antonio. During his homecoming period he painted many portraits such as Gobernador General Ramon Blanco, La Bulaquena, those of his parents, brothers, sisters in-law and nieces. He painted landscapes like Taal Volcano, Marikina, etc., and genre scenes like Tampuhan (Sulking). Back in Spain, he received news of the overthrow of the Spanish role in the Philippines. Upon the establishment of the Philippine Republic, he was appointed a diplomatic agent of the Hong Kong junta and later a member of the diplomatic missions to Paris and the United States to work for

the recognition of the new government in those countries. Luna died in Hong Kong on his way back to the Philippines.

Vicente Manansala
Honored as National Artist in Painting in 1981, Vicente S. Manansala is considered the country s pioneer in Cubism. He was one of the Thirteen Moderns led by Victorio C. Edades, and was one of the Big Three in the modernist movement, along with Cesar Legaspi and H. R. Ocampo. In addition, he formed the group of Neo-Realists together with Romeo Tabuena and Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Manansala developed transparent cubism and his works were done mostly in the figurative mode, reflecting the society and the local environment. He favored the styles of Picasso and Cezanne, and believed that the true beauty of art lay in the process of creating it. Manansala was born in Macabebe, Pampanga on January 22, 1910. He was the second of the eight children of Perfecto Q. Manansala and Engracia Silva. At the age of 15, he studied under painter Ramon Peralta while doing work painting movie posters at a shop in Manila. He entered the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1926 and graduated in 1930. He continued his studies under a UNESCO grant at the cole de Beaux Arts in Banff and Montreal, Canada in 1949, and under a French government scholarship at the cole de Beaux Arts in Paris in 1950. His training did not end there. In 1960, he received a grant from the United States to study stained glass techniques in New York. He also trained at the Otis Art Institute in 1967, and received another grant in 1970, this time from Germany, to study in Zurich. Manansala worked as an illustrator for the Philippines Herald and Liwayway and as a layout artist for Photonews and Saturday Evening News Magazine in the 1930 s. He held his first one-man show at the Manila Hotel in 1951, and then went on to work as a professor at the University of Santo Tomas School of Fine Arts from 1951 to 1958. Vicente C. Manansala died in Makati in 1981.

His major works include: 1940 1948 1950 1951 1967 Bangkusay Seascape Banaklaot Madonna of the Slums Jeepneys Reclining Mother and Child

He also painted several historical murals including: Stations of the Cross for UP Diliman Chapel Mural for Philippine Heart Center Fresco mural for the National Press Club

Achievements:

1941 1950 1950 1953 1955 1955 1957 1962 1962 1963 1970

1st Prize, National Art Exhibition, UST, for Pounding Rice 1st Prize, Manila Grand Opera House Exhibition, for Barong-Barong #1 1st Prize, Art Association of the Philippines First Annual Art Competition, for Banaklaot 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Kahig (Scratch) 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Fish Vendors 3rd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Best-Served, Well-Gained Outstanding UP Alumnus 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Give Us This Day Best in Show, Art Association of the Philippines, for Give Us This Day Republic Cultural Heritage Award Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the City of Manila

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, the country's first. Ocampo's acknowledged masterpiece Genesis (1968) 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 Dwellers, 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.

Damian Domingo
An era-defining artist known mainly for his delightful costume albums and brilliant religion paintings, Damin Domingo was also the first Filipino master of the portrait, as well as a pioneering art teacher and director of the first Philippine art academy. Significant new data uncovered over the past two decades including rediscovered portraits and the artist s last will and testament paint a clearer picture of Domingo s life and times, and allow new insight into the artist s mind as imaged in his works. This book is the first fulllength documentary-biography of a Filipino master who came before Luna and Hidalgo.

Mauro Malang Francisco

SANTOS, MAURO MALANG aka Malang b. Santa Cruz, Manila 20 Jan 1928. Painter. He is the son of Dan Santos and Juliana Malang. He is married to Mary San Pedro. They have four children, two of whom are paintersStevesantos and Soler Santos. At the age of 10 he studied drawing under Teodoro Buenaventura. When he was 19 he decided to stop schooling and joined the staff of the Manila Chronicle art department under noted

cartoonist Liborio (Gat) Gatbonton. He created for the evening Chronicle the country's first English daily comic strip Kosme, the Cop, Retired. In 1955 he set up together with Gat, Larry Alcala, Hugo Yonzon, and Elmer Agustan the only gallery specializing in cartoons called the Bughouse. In 1972 he studied at the Otis Art Institute under a special grant. Malang was first known as a cartoonist before he became a renowned painter. Among his works is Barrio Fiesta, an oil on canvas measuring 12.7 x 40.16 cm which was commissioned in 1958 by the Ayala Corp for the FGU-Insular Life Building. Malang won awards in the Art Association of the Philippines annual art competition: second prize, Street Fight, 1951, third prize, Traffic, 1953; honorable mention, The Yellow Sky, 1959; second prize, Quarter Moon; and an honorable mention for Gate to Intramuros, 1963. He was a Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines awardee also in 1963. He received the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan from the City of Manila in 1981.

Benedicto Beneats Cabrera

Benedicto Reyes Cabrera or BenCab, as he is more popularly known is widely hailed as a master of contemporary Philippine art. He was born in Manila on April 10, 1942. BenCab began carving a niche for himself in Manila s art circles shortly after receiving his bachelor s degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines in 1963. A painter and printmaker, he has exhibited widely in the Philippines and in Asia, Europe, and the United States. He has won several major art awards in a career spanning four decades. In 1992, he received the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining (Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for the Arts). In 2006, he was conferred the Order of National Artist for Visual Arts by President Gloria MacapagalArroyo in Malacanan Palace. His works have been the subject of three books, Ben Cabrera: Etchings (1970-1980) by Cid Reyes; Bencab s Rock Sessions by Eric Caruncho; and BENCAB by Alfred Yuson and Cid Reyes. The artist lives and works in Baguio City. Has three children: Elisar (born in 1971), a filmmaker based in London; Mayumi (born in 1973), a model and actress currently living in Los Angeles; and Jasmine (born in 1977), a fashion stylist working in London. Chronology 1942 Born April 10 in Malabon, Manila, Philippines, at the onset of the Japanese occupation. He is the youngest of nine children born to Democrito Cabrera and Isabel Reyes of Pampanga. At age six months, his family moves to Mayhaligue St. in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

1949 Starts painting on the pavement and on walls at age seven, and is influenced by his older brother Salvador, who is already an established artist. Salvador takes him everywhere, exposing him to the world of art. Described as quiet, timid and shy in his school report card. 1954 Family moves to Bambang a busy but poor district in Tondo, Manila, peopled with an assortment of colorful characters. It is where he first starts to develop a deep sympathy for the underprivileged. Sells comic books door to door and hand towels to jeepney drivers as a source of income. Wins his first art award as a Sixth Grade student at the Balagtas Elementary School in Bambang, for his drawing entry in a poster contest with a human rights theme. Receives P100 as part of the First Prize. 1955 As a student at the Arellano High School, augments his allowance by doing illustrations for his to 59 classmates science projects, which he sells for P.50 to Pl.00. He would later also draw portraits of James Dean and Elvis Presley to sell to schoolmates for P10. Joins the staff of the school paper The Tambuli. 1959 Enrolls at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) College of Fine Arts one of five finalists of the Castro scholarship. 1962 Receives the Second Prize at the 12th Shell National Students Art Competition for his painting Blue Serenity, a surreal abstraction of barung-barong (shanties). Assists U.P. art professor Jose Joya in the execution of the set design for the ballet Swan Lake staged at the Rizal Theater and U.P. Theater. Commissioned to illustrate two books. Has a short stint at the Cock-n-Bull Tavern as instant portraitist. 1963 Wins First Prize for his oil painting of a talipapa (market) entered in the U.P. Student Council Art Competition. Drops out of college before finishing his degree in Fine Arts with a major in Illustration. Joins the new staff of Liwayway Magazine as illustrator (with Ang Kiukok, Alfredo Roces, Romy Mananquil, Arthur Nicdao) for three months when the magazine is modernized by Morita RocesGuerrero.

Takes his first full-time job with the United States Information Service as lay-out artist, where he contracts myopia from keeping his eyes glued to the drawing board. Leaves the job after two years with a pair of glasses as a memento. 1964 Observes and sketches from his window in Bambang a bag lady/madwoman/scavenger named Sabel. To him she is a symbol of dislocation, despair& isolation the personification of human dignity threatened by circumstances. Undergoing numerous transformations over the coming years, she becomes a landmark for every stylistic painting transition. Adopts the contraction Bencab to avoid confusion with other painters named Cabrera. Together with three other painters, Bal Magallona Jr., Edgar Soller, and his brother Salvador, sets up Sining, a studio / workshop / gallery on Mabini. They soon get kicked out for being three months behind in the rent. 1965 Hired by Mirror Magazine to design Milestone, a magazine special. Works for the Sunday Times Magazine as illustrator for three years, after which he decides to be a fulltime free-lance artist. Discovers the camera and on weekends joins photographer Romy Vitug to scour the reclamation area shantytown for subjects . From these sojourns comes his Barung-barong period. Moves out of his parents home in Bambang which gives him an opportunity at solitude to germinate a new perspective. Finds more time for photographic and sketching expeditions and closer interaction with a growing circle of artists. Joins Virgilio Aviado and Marciano Galang in a three-man show at the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) Gallery, an alliance that will be repeated in two other exhibitions in the next twenty years. 1966 At age 24, holds his first solo exhibition of oil and acrylic paintings at the Indigo Gallery in Mabini which he establishes with brother Salvador and friends Bibsy Carballo and Francisco Navarro. Exhibiting mainly young artists and photography as an art form, it is an alternative to the other two existing galleries, Luz Gallery and Solidaridad. Introduces for the first time the character Sabel. The gallery is next door to Indios Bravos, a popular watering hole of artists and writers where he forges friendships with the likes of Nick Joaquin, Leo Benesa, Virginia Moreno, Larry Francia and Betsy Romualdez, and meets the visiting English writer Caroline Kennedy, who will later become his wife.

1967 Garners three awards at the 20th AAP Annual Exhibition and Competition in the Photography category: First Prize for Yerro, Second Prize for Manok, and Honorable Mention for Pader. 1968 Joins the Saturday Group in Exhibition of Nudes, at the Solidaridad Galleries. It is the first exhibition in Manila totally devoted to the nude figure. Discovered by Arturo Luz who includes him in the exhibition Young Artists 1968, an annual event at The Luz Gallery in Manila which showcases young talents. Has his second solo show at the same gallery which formally launches his artistic career. Exhibits sixty acrylic paintings with Sabel, scavengers, workers, esteros (estuaries) as subjects. Participates in the Tokyo Biennale in Japan. 1969 Leaves the Philippines for the first time to represent the country at the renowned VI Paris Biennale, together with Virgilio Aviado and Lamberto Hechanova, with a set of hard-edged, spray-painted, abstract oil paintings. Also travels through Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Switzerland, Italy before going on to London where he marries his English fiance. Settles in London to raise a family. Sells oriental antiques at the Chelsea flea market to supplement his income. 1970 Takes special studies in printmaking at the Chelsea School of Arts in London. Exhibits with Rocio Urquijo and Virgilio Aviado at the gallery Sala Honda in Cuenca, Spain. Noticed by English actress Glenda Jackson who buys eight of his paintings and invites him to exhibit at her husband s gallery. Paintings & Drawings at the Room Gallery in London is his fourth solo show; his first outside the Philippines. Chosen one of Thirteen Artists, a recognition given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines to the country s most active, most aggressively ambitious talents who have gained considerable maturity and recognition a new generation (of artists) that promises to dominate Philippine art of the seventies. It is the first batch of thirteen awardees in what will eventually become a periodic tribute. 1971 Exhibits Paintings, Drawings, Prints, at the Clytie Jessop Gallery, London. A turning point in his work is his discovery of rare Filipiniana prints and photographs in London s antiquarian bookshops which inspire him to start Larawan, a series of sepia-toned acrylic. paintings

based on colonial iconography which portray a visual conceptualization of the past in relation to present issues. 1972 After various exhibitions in London and other European cities, exhibits Larawan at The Luz Gallery, a homecoming exhibition which wins him critical acclaim and becomes a milestone in modern Philippine painting. It also establishes the young artist as a major influence among his peers. 1973 Exhibits at the Cultural Center of the Philippines a series of paintings revolving around a theme of two old photographs: one of a bandit and the other of a gentleman. 1974 Moves back to London after living two years in the Philippines. Away from the repressive martial law regime of President Marcos, produces works with strong political commentary. Takes special studies in sculpture and life class at the Camden Arts Centre. 1975 Marks his most productive period of printmaking when he gets his own etching press. Exhibits Paintings & Prints, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. 1976 Exhibits Pintura, Dibujo, Grabado at Galeria Belarca in Bogota, Colombia. Travels on to Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca in Peru. Visits Manila briefly with a show Filipinas Ni Bencab at the University of the Philippines Faculty Center. 1977 Visits Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia. 1978 Shows Larawan II: The Filipino Abroad at The Luz Gallery, an off-shoot of the first Larawan exhibition. This time the paintings are visual diaries of Filipino migrants, expatriates and exiles, exploring themes of cultural alienation and spiritual distancing. The watercolor, gouache and collage paintings and prints are more colorful than the previous Larawan. Exhibits drawings, prints and sculpture in Bencab s Five Years Of Life Class at Sining Kamalig in Manila. 1979 Holds two solo exhibitions in London, one at the Chastenet European Art Centre, and another at Camden Arts Centre where he exhibits In A Life Class, a collection of drawings. Joins Summer Show, a group exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in London.

1980 Rediscovers oil as a medium and paints A Page From An Officer s Diary, a montage of images of the Philippine-American war at the turn-of-the-century. The large painting is part of Bencab: New Works In Oil shown at The Luz Gallery. 1981 Exhibits Prints & Drawings at Galeria Norai in Mallorca, Spain. Joins Nena Saguil, Macario Vitalis and Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi in an exhibition Six Artistes Contemporains Philippins en Europe at the Academie Diplomatique Internationale in Paris. Holds a ten-year retrospective exhibition of prints in Ben Cabrera Etchings: 1970-1980 at the Museum of Philippine Art which is accompanied by a book of the same title, written by Cid Reyes. Commissioned to do thirteen etchings portraying different individuals in Philippine society, for a book, Being Filipino. Embarks in a new direction painting images of Japanese women an influence by the 19th century Japanese printmaker Hokusai. His brushstrokes are freer; his lines more flowing and uninterrupted. Exhibits a new series of colorful drawings Punks at the Tricycle Theater Gallery in London, which he cocurates. 1982 Joins Five Filipino Artists (with Cesar Legaspi, Ang Kiukok, Mauro Malang & Ramon Gaston) at the Wraxall Gallery in London. Shows his Punk drawings at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. 1983 Exhibits Etchings by Ben Cabrera at the Glasgow Print Studio Gallery in Scotland. Collaborates with a Chinese dancer in London to create Improvisation Series, brush drawings of of her dance routine sequence, exhibited and performed at the October Gallery. 1984 Travels to Hawaii for Being Filipino: Paintings, Prints & Drawings, a major 12-year retrospective exhibition at the Focus Gallery of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Exhibits Recent Works at the October Gallery in London. Part of the show is Two Filipinas In The Era Of Multinationals, a caricature of two women in turn-of-the-century costume one wearing a Walkman, the other carrying a television set and holding a Big Mac. It is a startling contrast of pride in age-old culture and the trappings of American consumerism a commentary on conservative attitudes that have not changed despite the age of technology.

1985 Joins Four Filipino Artists, a group exhibition at the Chelsea Town Hall in London. 1986 After his divorce, returns to the Philippines in time to be a part of the EDSA people-power revolution which topples the regime of President Marcos and, consistent with his being a chronicler of events, paints a second version of Two Filipinas This time, in EDSA Event, the two women are standing in a rain of yellow confetti. Selected Works at the Lopez Museum Memorial Gallery is a homecoming exhibition a miniretrospective focusing on the recent EDSA revolt. Piglas: Art At The Crossroads, a group exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, also celebrates the event. Chooses to settle in Baguio, a mountain city with a growing community of artists and a climate that reminds him of London. Builds his studio in a populated part of the city where he is never short of subject matter for his work. Documents the Cordillera insurgency in a set of drawings done in situ. Discovers and works on handmade paper. 1987 Helps to establish the Baguio Arts Guild (BAG) together with other Baguio-based artists Santiago Bose, Roberto Villanueva, Kidlat Tahimik, etc. Forms part of Artists For Peace at the Museum of Philippine Art. Travels to Canada for the Philippine Printmakers Show at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, a three-man exhibition which later travels to other Canadian cities. Joins Virgilio Aviado and Michael J. Parsons in Paperworks at the Finale Art File in Manila. 1988 Exhibits Recent Works at the October Gallery in London, including America Is In The Heart, a large painting in oil. It is inspired by Carlos Bulosan s autobiography which describes the racial discrimination against Filipinos in the United States. Receives the Kalinangan (Cultural) Award For Painting from the Mayor of the City of Manila on the occasion of its founding day. 1989 Joins Phyllis Zaballero in Lukisan Pilipina (Philippine Painting) at the National Museum in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Participates in the 1st Baguio Arts Festival with a 4 x 12 foot painting, People Waiting. 1990 Greatly affected by the earthquake that devastates Baguio, joins other members of the BAG in initiating Art Aid, a healing art workshop for traumatized children. They also organize Artquake, a fundraising art auction. Travels to New York for a solo exhibition at the Chuck Levithan Gallery in Soho entitled Aftermath his impressions of the effects of the earthquake and other calamities. Joins other artists and book designers in the exhibition Book Art at The Luz Gallery. Executes the stage design for choreographer Enrico Labayen s Sabel, a dance interpretation of his favorite subject, portrayed by Agnes Locsin in her final performance as a dancer. Paints a large diptych Studies of Sabel, each 9 5 feet, which is used as backdrop during the performance at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. 1991 Elected President of Baguio Arts Guild and leads the group in their vision and mission, with workshops and regional shows. They exhibit The Best of B.A.G. at the Alliance Francaise in Manila. Participates in Il Sud Del Mondo: l Altra Arte Contemporanea, The Third World & Beyond: An International Confrontation of Contemporary Artists at the Museum of Italy in Marsala, Italy, and New Age, New Trends, New Prints, a graphics exhibition at the Alliance Francaise in Manila. 1992 Receives the Gawad CCP Para Sa Sining (CCP Award For The Arts) for Visual Arts, awarded by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), for his paintings and prints which offer valuable insights into the Filipinos past and present and which exemplify innovative techniques and the highest artistry; and for his leadership in artists organizations . Joins Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi and Claude Tayag in an exhibition Three Filipino Artists at the Philippine Embassy Exhibition Hall in Beijing, China. Exhibits large works in Recent Paintings at The Luz Gallery, including the series Variations On Sabel. Participates in the 7th Asian International Art Exhibition at the Merdeka Building in Bandung, Indonesia, and the succeeding annual shows with the same group, in Fukuoka, Taiwan, Singapore, Manila, Macau and Kuala Lumpur. 1993 As Chairman of the 4th Baguio Arts Festival, puts Baguio on the map of global art, with international artists participating in art exhibitions, installations, performances, music and dance.

Travels to Singapore for Art Philippines: A Celebration, a group exhibition at the Empress Place Museum, with his entry Sabel, a large triptych. Exhibits 101 Drawings at The Luz Gallery, including a 20-foot long drawing, Pinoy Nuances. 1994 Receives the Most Outstanding Kapampangan for Arts & Culture (Painting) Award from Philippine President Ramos on Pampanga Day, for bringing honor to the people and province of Pampanga , his native province. Participates in Art Line & Strokes: A Painting & Print Exhibition Of Contemporary Filipino Visual Artists held at the Hong Kong Visual Art Centre and the China Club in Hong Kong. 1995 Chosen to be featured artist for the Philippines in the exhibition Asian Modernism: Diverse Development In Indonesia, the Philippines, & Thailand at the Japan Foundation Forum in Tokyo, which travels the succeeding year to Bangkok, Manila, and Jakarta. Visits the Zen gardens in Kyoto. Travels to Hanoi, Vietnam. Holds a solo exhibition at the Art Center, SM Megamall in Manila entitled Bencab s Rock Sessions, featuring seventy pastel portraits of Filipino alternative musicians drawn from life. The drawings are published in a book of the same title, with an essay on the history of Filipino rock by Eric S. Caruncho Creates a stir when he exhibits Portrait, a large portrait of Flor Contemplation (a Filipina who was hanged in a Singapore prison) at the 10th Asian International Art Exhibition, National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore. The painting is later donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Manila & is now part of their permanent collection. 1996 Forms part of the exhibition Modernity & Beyond at the Singapore Art Museum and joins the Saturday Group in Urban Attitudes at the Art Center, SM Megamall. Commissioned to illustrate the book El Indio Bravo: The Story of Jose Rizal, a biography of the national hero written by his grand-niece Asuncion Lopez-Rizal Bantug, in celebration of the centennial of Rizal s death. The drawings are exhibited at The Luz Gallery. Envisages & helps set-up Tam-awan Village in Baguio for the preservation of Cordillera culture & traditions. It is a cultural preserve & living museum showcasing authentic traditional Ifugao huts in a replication of their original setting in the Cordilleras. The Tam-awan Village group also adopts an abandoned rice terrace in Ifugao, restores and rehabilitates it so that it now produces rice, and encourages the revival of traditional planting and harvest rituals.

1997 Chosen by the ASEAN Business Forum to receive the ASEAN Achievement Award for Visual & Performing Arts at the 5th ASEAN Achievement Awards in Jakarta a recognition and tribute given to outstanding ASEAN individuals in their respective fields of endeavor. Receives the Outstanding Citizen of Baguio Award for Arts from the Mayor of Baguio, his adoptive city, on its 88th Foundation Day. Participates in the 2nd Taegu-Asia Arts Exhibition at the Cultural Center of Taegu, South Korea. Experiments with a copying machine and, with the support of the Fuji Xerox Corporation, exhibits xerox art in Images Of The Cordillera at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. 1998 Collaborates with five other Southeast-Asian artists in a ten-day workshop entitled Urbanisation held in Bandung, Indonesia. Joins the group exhibition Bayan at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. In celebration of the Philippine s centennial of independence, exhibits Larawan III: The Filipina ca. 1898 at The Luz Gallery. Exhibits Heroes Of The Past, a 5 10-foot drawing on handmade paper at Alab Ng Puso, a Philippine centennial group show at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Travels to at Martha s Vineyard in Massachusetts to exhibit The Filipina ca. 1898 at the Featherstone Meetinghouse For The Arts. 1999 Works on large commissions, mostly based on dance movements. Builds a larger studio and workshop in a quieter section of Baguio which houses a growing collection of his various interests, mainly: primitive wooden sculptures and functional objects from the Cordillera region; early maps, prints, books & postcards on the Philippines; paintings, prints and sculptures by emerging Filipino artists. An oriental garden showcases a bonsai collection, a hobby he took up while living in London Creates his largest work yet: Images of the Past, a 9.5 7.5 foot painting commissioned for the lobby of the Rizal Tower of Rockwell Land Corporation s high-rise complex. 2000 Travels to Europe to track down and document his paintings in private collections for a book on his lifetime work.

A 1983 oil painting, Waiting For The Monsoon, is included for the first time at the Christie s Singapore auction of Southeast Asian Paintings. 2001 Exhibits large paintings, Larawan Portraits from the Past, at the Plum Blossoms Gallery at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Inaugurates the Village Gallery in Tam-awan Village, Baguio, with an exhibition of paintings on handmade paper. Spends a month in Bali, Indonesia, as artist-in-residence with Valentine Willie, a Malaysian art dealer who has just opened a gallery in Ubud. Sketches local characters for an exhibition at Valentine Willie Fine Art at The Chedi. With Virgilio Aviado, co-edits the visuals for a book Eros Pinoy, an anthology of erotic Filipino art and poetry. Co-curates an accompanying exhibition of erotic paintings at the Art Center. 2002 Exhibits Homage to Sabel at The Luz Gallery on his 60th birthday. The entire exhibition of paintings is dedicated to Sabel, his most enduring image. Bencab, the book, is published by his biggest collectors, Manuel & Maritess Lopez. 2004 In celebration of Ayala Corporation s 170th anniversary, is invited to do a portraiture demonstration at the Ayala Museum. Exhibits Works on Paper at Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo, Philippines. 2005 Invited by the Singapore Tyler Print Institute to join their Visiting Artists Programme as artist-in residence for one month working on large-scale prints & paperpulp painting. 2006 Exhibits Bencab: Impressions at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute, the complete production of his residency there. The collection is then brought to Manila and is exhibited at the Cultural Center of the Philippines as Bencab on Paper: Prints & Paper Pulp Paintings. Conferred the Order of National Artist for Visual Arts by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacaang Palace