Activity Background

The Museum Services Division (MSD) is among the 19 divisions of the National Museum of the
Philippines. It is the coordinating division of NM in all its public museum services nationwide. One of
its sections, The Program and Events Services, is task to prepare logistical requirements for public
programs and events including collateral materials, equipment, tools and supplies, with the approval
of the Director’s Office (DO) and concerned stakeholders.

Profile of the Artist

Arturo Rogerio Luz was born on November 20, 1926 in Manila. He went on to study at the School of
Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, the Art School of the Brooklyn Museum in New
York, and at the Académie Grade Chaumière in Paris. He finished his college diploma in 1994 at the
California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Mr. Luz’s early and playful linear works are considered
to be influenced by Artist Paul Klee.

He is a known printmaker, sculptor, designer and art administrator. He was also considered to be the
founding member of the modern Neo-realist school in Philippine art.

Luz's works have been exhibited in all major art centers of the world. His design "Harana" (Serenade)
was engraved in Steuben glass and displayed as one of two Philippine representatives in the much-
heralded exhibit "Asian Artists in Crystal" in 1955. He also represented the Philippines in an exhibition
entitled "Arte de America y Espana," organized in Madrid and exhibited in the major cities of Europe.

Some of Luz's better-known paintings are Street Musicians, Venezia, City, and Cyclists No. 2. A book of
his drawings, with an introduction by Emmanuel Torres, was published in 1956.

While still in college Luz began exhibiting his works and won his first prize in the annual art competition
of the Art Association of the Philippines. Other outstanding awards included the first prize at the First
International Art Salon in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1962; an award from the California Art Association; and
the Republic Cultural Heritage Award for painting of the Philippine Republic in 1966. He was chosen
the "Outstanding Young Man in Art" by the Manila Times in 1955.

In 1997, he received the National Artist Award in visual arts, the country's highest accolade in the arts.

Profile of the Proponent

The Philippine-Italian Association (PIA) is a non-profit, cross-cultural and educational organization and
was created to advocate and further enhance Philippine-Italian friendship in the field of education,
culture, and art.

The PIA’s Secretary General for 50 years from 1963 until she passed away in 2011 is none other
Lorenzo’s wife, Mrs. Lina Paolini Lorenzo. Because of this, she became one of the most important
figures in the association.

In 1982, Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco, then President of the PIA, organized an exhibit of Diosdado
Lorenzo in his Gallery Bleue.