March 05, 2006]

Victorio Edades, father of Philippine modern art

(Philippine Daily Inquirer Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)FROM 1954 TO 1958,
MY biggest artistic influences were Victorio C. Edades and Gabriel Custodio,
whom I had had the great opportunity to meet while taking up Fine Arts in Manila
at the time.

Professor Edades was born in Dagupan City, Pangasinan on Dec. 23, 1895.
Coming from a poor farmer's family and the youngest of 10 children, he had
shown an early interest in drawing.

In 1915, he was enrolled at Pangasinan High School in Lingayen. After

graduating, he got a scholarship from the University of Washington. Edades and
five schoolmates took a passenger ship to San Francisco in April 1919. They
reached San Francisco after two months by ship and then took the train to
Washington.

There, Edades studied Architecture. He kept drawing every day, until his chest
hurt. A doctor advised him to slow down, and he returned to the Philippines for a
vacation. When he went back to the US to resume his studies, he decided to
shift to Fine Arts.

At the time, he was already tremendously interested in the works of Leonardo da

Vinci (1452-1519) and Diego Velasquez (1559-1660). He also saw the works of
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Pablo Picasso
(1881-1973) in a group exhibit in 1922. It was at the time that Edades' painting
style changed from realism to neo-impressionism.

Edades earned his bachelor's degree from University of Washington in 1925,

and proceeded to get his master's, staying there for nine years. His master's
thesis was the 48" x 125.5" work titled "The Builders." Recognized as Edades'
masterpiece, it is now with the collection of the Cultural Center of the Philippines
.

While studying the theory and technique of painting from European

perspectives, Edades realized America was a young country, like the
Philippines. It had no culture it could call its own yet. Edades even noted that
when he was studying Architecture, he was learning the French principle of
design.

National Artist for Painting (1976)

(December 23, 1895 – March 7, 1985)

Painting distorted human figures in rough, bold impasto strokes, and standing tall and
singular in his advocacy and practice of what he believes is the creative art, Victorio C.
Edades emerged as the “Father of Modern Philippine Painting”. Unlike, Amorsolo’s
bright, sunny, cheerful hues, Edades’ colors were dark and somber with subject matter
or themes depicting laborers, factory workers or the simple folk in all their dirt, sweat
and grime. In the 1930s, Edades taught at the University of Santos Tomas and became
dean of its Department of Architecture where he stayed for three full decades. It was
during this time that he introduced a liberal arts program that offers subjects as art
history and foreign languages that will lead to a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. This
development brought about a first in Philippine education since art schools then were
vocational schools.

It was also the time that Edades invited Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Galo B. Ocampo
to become professor artists for the university. The three, who would later be known as
the formidable “Triumvirate”, led the growth of mural painting in the country. Finally
retiring from teaching at age 70, the university conferred on Edades the degree of
Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, for being an outstanding “visionary, teacher and
artist.”

The Sketch, 1928

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