10 FAMOUS FILIPINO ARTISTS

1. Pacita AbadHer early paintings were primarily figurative socio-political works of people and primitive masks. Another series was large scale paintings of underwater scenes, tropical flowers and animal wildlife. Pacita's most extensive body of work, however, is her vibrant, colorful abstract work - many very large scale canvases, but also a number of small collages - on a range of materials from canvas and paper to bark cloth, metal, ceramics and glass. Abad created over 4,000 artworks. She painted a 55-meter long Alkaff Bridge in Singapore and covered it with 2,350 multicolored circles.

2. Martino AbellanaMartino Abellana (1914–1988), known as "Noy Tinong", was a renowned Cebuano painter from Carcar. Dubbed "The Dean of Cebuano Painters", he was born to an artistic family. His main influence was his father, who was a school principal and a sculptor. Martino, along with his four brothers, including renowned sculptor and composer Dr. Ramon Abellana, were exposed to art early, and they helped their father with his sculptures.

3. Federico Aguilar AlcuazFederico Aguilar Alcuaz (June 6, 1932 – February 2, 2011) was an award winning Filipino painter who exhibited extensively Internationally and whose work earned him recognition both in the Philippines and abroad.

Alcuaz was conferred the title of National Artist for Visual Arts, Painting, Sculpture and Mixed Media in 2009. However, four nominees for the award other than Alcuaz became embroiled in the 2009 National Artist of the Philippines Controversy, which led the Supreme Court of the Philippines to temporarily issue a status quo order on August 25, 2009, blocking the conferment of the awards on all seven nominees - despite the fact that no objections were ever raised regarding the conferment of the award to Alcuaz and two other nominees.

4. Fernando AmorsoloAmorsolo also painted a series of historical paintings on pre-Colonial and Spanish Colonization events. Amorsolo's Making of the Philippine Flag, in particular, was widely reproduced.His The First Baptism in the Philippines required numerous detailed sketches and colored studies of its elements. These diverse elements were meticulously and carefully set by the artist before being transferred to the final canvas. For his pre-colonial and 16th-century depiction of the Philippines, Amorsolo referred to the written accounts of Antonio Pigafetta, other available reading materials, and visual sources He consulted with the Philippine scholars of the time, H. Pardo de Tavera and Epifanio de los Santos.

5. Pablo Amorsolo

Pablo Amorsolo was born in Daet, Camarines Norte to husband and wife Pedro Amorsolo, as a book keeper and Bonifacia Cueto. When he was still eight years old, his family moved to Manila.During World War II, Amorsolo was captured by Filipino troops.He was sentenced and executed by firing squad in the hands of guerillas. He died in this manner at the Antipolo, Rizal in 1945.

WorksFerdinand Magellan and NativesPiro, oil on canvas, 183 x 138 mm, 1930The Discovery of the Philippines, 1945

6. Isidro AnchetaIsidro Ancheta (October 15, 1882 – 1946) was a Filipino landscape painter. He finished his Elementary, Secondary and Bachelor of Arts Degree (1904) at the Ateneo de Manila. He also studied at the Liceo de Manila, Escuela de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado and the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura run by Teodoro Buenaventura in the early 1900s. He was represented with 8 paintings in the Philippine Section at the St. Louis Exposition of 1904, where his painting titled A Victim of War received an Honorable Mention. He taught at the Philippine Normal School from 1918 to 1926. Before World War II, his landscapes were found in classrooms all over the Philippines. In 1941 his Tienda del Barrio won Second Honorable Mention in the Filipiniana Category at the National Art Competition sponsored by the University of Santo Tomas.

7. Marcel AntonioAntonio's inspiration often derives from various contemporary "mythologies", with the artist articulately stressing that his concept of mythology goes beyond the common Greek and Roman notion. He states: "Myth can be anything, just like what Joseph Campbell enunciated in The Power of Myth, where he discussed comparative mythology and the continuing role of myth in human society."

8. Elito CircaIn 1992 Amangpintor continue to paint "Lukso ng Dugo" (Filipino term) he uses his blood as medium for some of his painting and incorporates his hair in capturing on the canvass images of human persons or nature’s view, one who possesses the characteristics of truth in himself and he who refrains from colonialism in thoughts and materials. Combined with the philosophy of the painter who molded his thoughts and well-being, he is able to build self-confidence and self-esteem since his childhood.

First Filipino artist uses own blood as paint and hairs as brushes and mix it with paint to have an effect on canvas. He believed in reincarnation, which he will be reborn and recognize his paintings. But even if blood is not used in painting his subject, he always signs his name in his work of art with his own blood. The significance of his works connects arts and sciences principles through DNA (the Hair and Blood) as authenticity and also his unique spiritual beliefs especially in God.

9. Don Fabián Cueto de la RosaDon Fabián Cueto de la Rosa (May 5, 1869 – December 14, 1937) was a Filipino painter. He was an uncle and mentor to the Philippines' national artist in painting, Fernando Amorsolo, and to his brother Pablo. He is regarded as a "master of genre" in Philippine art.Women Working in a Rice Field, 1902Transplanting Rice, 1904The Death of General Lawton, 1904Un recuerdo de la Villa Borghese (A Remembrance of the Villa Borghese), 1909Planting Rice, 109.2 x 190.6 cm, oil on canvas, 1921, Malacañang Palace CollectionLos Baños, watercolor, 56.2 x 66.4 cm, 1922, UP Vargas MuseumLa pintora (Woman Painter)La bordadora (The Embroiderer)

10. Botong FranciscoHis great works include Blood Compact, First Mass at Limasawa, The Martyrdom of Rizal, Bayanihan, Magpupukot, Fiesta, Bayanihan sa Bukid, Sandugo, Portrait of Purita, The Invasion of Limahong, Serenade, and Muslim Betrothal. Some of his murals have suffered damage over the years. The "Pageant of Commerce" emerged from several years of restoration in 2000. His murals in the lobby of the Philippine General Hospital were restored for the 3rd time in 2007.

10 FAMOUS FILIPINO ARTISTS

1. Paco GorospeFrancisco "Paco" Gorospe (July 10, 1939 – September 22, 2002) was a Filipino painter, called the "Picasso of the Philippines".He joined a local group of artists in Ermita, Manila and sold his paintings locally, gradually gaining recognition. Paco started with crayons, later using water colours but finally shifted to oil paintings.

Gorospe's first major exhibition took place in 1962 at the Washington State Fair. US sales increased and in 1964 his works were chosen to represent the Philippines at the 1964 New York World's Fair

2. Félix Resurrección HidalgoHidalgo was born in Binondo, Manila on February 21, 1855. He was the third of seven children of Eduardo Resurrección Hidalgo and Maria Barbara Padilla.

Laguna EstigiaLas Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas Al PopulachoLa Barca de AqueronteA lady in the Moonlight, undated, oil on canvas, private collection

3. José T. JoyaJosé T. Joya (1931–1995) was a Filipino abstract artist and a National Artist of the Philippines awardee.Joya was a printmaker, mixed media artist, and a former dean of the University of the Philippines' College of Fine Arts. He pioneered abstract expressionism in the Philippines. His canvases were characterized by "dynamic spontaneity" and "quick gestures" of action painting. He is the creator of compositions that were described as "vigorous compositions" of heavy impastoes, bold brushstrokes, controlled dips, and diagonal swipes".Joya added the brilliant tropical colors. He was awarded a Fulbright-Smile-Mundt grant which enabled him to pursue a master's degree in Fine Arts in 1956-57

4. Ang KiukokHe first attained prominence in the Philippine arts scene in the 1960s with a distinct style that fused influences from cubism, surrealism and expressionism. Some classified his style as "figurative expressionism", others merely called it ugly. What could not be doubted was the violence in his imagery, a factor that slighted the commercial viability of his works until the 1980s. He favored such subjects as fighting cocks, rabid dogs, and people enraptured by rage or bound in chains. He painted multiple depictions of the crucified Christ that did not shirk from portraying the agonies normally associated with the crucifixion. When asked why he was so angry, he replied, "Why not? Open your eyes. Look around you. So much anger, sorrow, ugliness. And also madness." The intensity of his works stood in contrast to his own personality, described as "placid and affable".

5. Cesar Torrente LegaspiCesar Torrente Legaspi (April 2, 1917 – April 7, 1994) is a Filipino National Artist in painting. He was also an art director prior to going full-time in his visual art practice in the 1960s. His early (1940s-1960s) works, alongside those of peer, Hernando Ocampo are described as depictions of anguish and dehumanization of beggars and laborers in the city. These include Man and Woman (alternatively known as Beggars) and Gadgets'. Primarily because of this early period, critics have further cited Legaspi's having "reconstituted" in his paintings "cubism's unfeeling, geometric ordering of figures into a social expressionism rendered by interacting forms filled with rhythmic movement".

6. Nestor LeynesLeynes' first contribution was his 1977 work Bigas ('Rice', also known as Pitong Gatang). It was widely acclaimed for its attention to detail. Former first lady Imelda Marcos was so impressed by the work that she

brought the entire collection to the Malacañan Palace for the viewing of her then guest of honor David Rockefeller. Marcos bought several paintings, while Rockefeller bought two. The painting Bigas was among those looted from the palace during the People Power Revolution of 1986.

Leynes diverged from Wyeth's use of drab colors. Like other Filipino realist painters, he retained Amorsolo's influence, particularly in the use of light. While American realism focused on banality, Leynes and other Filipino realists depict romantic scenes in hyperrealistic detail.

7. Juan LunaJuan Luna y Novicio (October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recognized Philippine artists.

His winning the gold medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the silver win of fellow Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight in the memoirs of members of the Propaganda Movement, with the fellow Ilustrados toasting to the two painters' good health and to the brotherhood between Spain and the Philippines.

8. Arturo R. LuzLuz has produced art pieces through a disciplined economy of means. His early drawings were described as "playful linear works" influenced by Paul Klee. His best masterpieces are minimalist, geometric abstracts, alluding to the modernist "virtues" of competence, order and elegance; and were further described as evoking universal reality and mirrors an aspiration for an acme of true Asian modernity.

9. MalangAt the Manila Chronicles, Malang created Kosme, the Cop, Retired, the country's first English-language daily comic strip, for the evening edition of the newspaper. In 1955, Malang established the Bughouse, a gallery specializing in cartoons. Malang established the gallery together with cartoonist colleagues such as Liborio Gatbonton, Larry Alcala, Hugo Yonzon, and Elmer Agustan. In 1966, Malang launched Art for the Masses, a project that brought printmaking to a larger number of artwork enthusiasts at affordable prices.

10. Vicente Manansala Manansala's canvases were described as masterpieces that brought the cultures of the barrio and the city together. His Madonna of the Slums is a portrayal of a mother and child from the countryside who became urban shanty residents once in the city. In his Jeepneys, Manansala combined the elements of provincial folk culture with the congestion issues of the city.

Manansala developed transparent cubism, wherein the "delicate tones, shapes, and patterns of figure and environment are masterfully superimposed". A fine example of Manansala using this "transparent and translucent" technique is his composition, Kalabaw (Carabao).

10 FAMOUS FILIPINO ARTISTS

1. Maningning MiclatManingning Miclat (April 15, 1972 – September 29, 2000) was a Chinese-born poet and painter of Filipino descent, who lived in the Philippines from 1986. She was known for her Chinese bamboo Zen paintings and poetry in three languages: Filipino, Mandarin and English.

His works as a writer includes "Don’t Cry, Don’t Fret" in poetry; "Ikalawang Pagdalaw," "Unang Pamumulaklak," "Rice and Bullets," and "Bakia" in fiction; and "Buntot Page," a screenplay written with Mario David.

2. Hernando R. Ocampo His major works in the visual arts 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," Back drop, Fiesta, Mother and Child, Easter Sunday, and his most acknowledged work Genesis, which served as the basis of curtain design in the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater. His works were exhibited in Washington, New York, London, and Tokyo, among others

3. Onib OlmedoOnib Olmedo (July 7, 1937 - September 8, 1996) was an award-winning expressionist Filipino painter. He illustrated The Body Book (1993) by Gilda Cordero-Fernando. He created populist art and depicted the marginalized part of the society. In 1970, he decided to shift from is 12-year career in architecture to painting where he became a leading figure in Philippine expressionism.

4. Alfonso A. OssorioOssorio's early work was surrealist. He was an admirer and early collector of the paintings of Jackson Pollock who counted him as a good friend, and whose works influenced and were influenced by Ossorio. In the early 1950s, Ossorio was pouring oil and enamel paints onto canvas in the style of the first abstract expressionist movement in the US.

In 1950, he was commissioned by the parish of St. Joseph in Victorias City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines to do a mural which would be known as "The Angry Christ" to complete the reconstruction of the church built by the Czech architect Antonín Raymond. Ossorio had this to say in a 1968 interview. "(The Angry Christ) is a continual last judgment with the sacrifice of the mass that is the continual reincarnation of God coming into this world.

5. Danny SilladaIn 2005, Sillada was controversial for his artwork titled Menstrual Period in Political History,[4] “a satirical take on the recurring political crisis in the Philippines. This controversial mixed media piece (an attempt was made to destroy it at the height of the “Hello Garci” political scandal) reflects the artist’s critical stance toward the power struggles that “are putting our country into pit.

6. Romeo Villalva TabuenaOne of his major works since 1957 is a government commissioned mural, Filipiniaa, exhibited at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. He was also involved in the exhibit El Nigromante of the Mexican Institute of Fine Arts in celebration of 30 years of artistic life in Mexico. He is the recipient of various awards and citations, including the Golden Centaur Award from the Accademia Italia, Master of Painting honoris cause from the International Seminar of Modern Art, Bannierre Europeanne des Artes, and Medaglia al Merito from the International Parliament. He is also an elected fellow of the International Biographical Center (IBC) in Cambridge, England and the American Biographical Institute (ABI). In 1987, ABI awarded him Medal of Honor, World Decoration of Excellence Medal in 1989, and Man of the Year Award in 1991. IBI elected him to

the Center's 1991 International Order of Merit, and in 1993, conferred him the Medal of Excellence for the 20th Century.

7. Rodel TapayaTapaya’s paintings recurrently depict narratives embedded in Filipino cultural history that offer sharp and often piercing commentary on contemporary life and issues. Through his adept manipulation of folk aesthetic and material, Tapaya provides his mythical characters with allegorical significances that transcend common perception, offering fresh insights about their origins and relevance. The paintings become a tableau of the painter’s articulations and traces of the stories that inspired them. Sometimes his characters appear in archetypes culled from pre-colonial historical research and recorded folktales from recent scholarship."Rodel Tapaya: Folkgotten," was the artist's maiden solo show outside his home country which was organized by the Drawing Room Manila and Utterly Art Singapore in 2008. The exhibit launched Tapaya's direction in painting based on folk myths and narratives and signified a change of styles from his signature burlap paintings, a material which has gained some popularity and copied by other Filipino painters.

8. Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y MontojoZóbel is best known for his first artwork series called the Saetas. Named after the liturgical song sung in Holy Week in Spain, they were developed for the most part in the Philippines. Zóbel faced the technical problem of how to achieve the lines that his theme required, lines that were, in his own words, "long, fine, and controlled." The artist's use of a surgical syringe to eject fine lines of paint was a hallmark of this series. After the Saetas, Zóbel began a series called Serie Negra or Series in Black influenced by Chinese Calligraphy. The Serie Negra was started in 1959 in Madrid and continued for four years.

9. Pacita AbadHer early paintings were primarily figurative socio-political works of people and primitive masks. Another series was large scale paintings of underwater scenes, tropical flowers and animal wildlife. Pacita's most extensive body of work, however, is her vibrant, colorful abstract work - many very large scale canvases, but also a number of small collages - on a range of materials from canvas and paper to bark cloth, metal, ceramics and glass. Abad created over 4,000 artworks. She painted a 55-meter long Alkaff Bridge in Singapore and covered it with 2,350 multicolored circles.

10. Martino AbellanaMartino Abellana (1914–1988), known as "Noy Tinong", was a renowned Cebuano painter from Carcar. Dubbed "The Dean of Cebuano Painters", he was born to an artistic family. His main influence was his father, who was a school principal and a sculptor. Martino, along with his four brothers, including renowned sculptor and composer Dr. Ramon Abellana, were exposed to art early, and they helped their father with his sculptures.