Arturo Luz

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History;
Arturo Luz is a Filipino printmaker, sculptor, designer, and founding member of the modern Neo -
Realist school in Philippine art. Influenced by Modernist painters such as Paul Klee, he has worked
in a variety of styles and techniques in varying degrees of abstraction to create playful geometric
figures and forms. He was born on November 20, 1926 in Manila, Republic of the Philippines and
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. In 1976, Luz
became founding director of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila , a position he held until 1986. His
international shows include the Philippine Cultural Exhibition held in New York in 1953, Arte de
America y España in 1963, the 11th São Paolo Biennial in 1971, the Tokyo International Print Biennial
in 1974, and the 8th British International Print Biennale in 1984. In 1997, he was named the National
Artist in Visual Arts by the government of his home country .

How he became a national artist;

Arturo Luz is a Filipino modern artist best known for his minimalist, geometric, and abstract styles of
art and his animated paintings of circus performers, musicians, as well as his revered cityscape series. He
is considered a pioneer of the Philippine Neo-realist movement (1950s-1960s) along with fellow Filipino
artist Fernando Zobel de Ayala, for their adoption of a modernist approach to interpreting daily life in
their native land. Many of these two artists’ works are now considered masterpieces. In the later years of
Luz’s career he also received recognition and praise for his sculptures, murals, photographs, and general
taste in design. Although many of Luz’s works include only the essential elements of lines, curves, and a
few muted colors, the Filipino people continue to show enthusiasm, admiration, and curiosity for them.
Luz won the distinction of being designated National Artist of the Philippines, the highest artistic honor in
the country, for Visual Arts in 1997.

Luz was born on November 20, 1926 in Manila. He studied painting in the Philippines, then in the
United States, and Europe in the following order: the School of Fine Arts at the University of Santo
Tomas in Manila; under scholarship at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California;
the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York (1950); and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in
Paris (1951). Luz began exhibiting his works as a college student and received his first award at the
annual art contest sponsored by the Art Association of the Philippines. He became known in the
Philippine art scene when he held his first solo exhibition in 1951 at the Manila Hotel, following an
exhibition of his drawings at the Raymond Duncan Gallery in Paris. Luz spent 1954 in Spain and in 1955
exhibited his work at the Metropolitan Museum in Manila. He married artist Tessie Ojeda Luz and in
1960 established the renowned Luz Gallery in Manila. Throughout its history, the Luz Gallery displayed
many exhibitions important to the modern art movement, assisted and influenced up and coming Filipino
artists, and caught the attention of important collectors looking for the next artistic trend.

Luz’s early works were figurative and later evolved in abstraction, with forms and shapes losing
identifying characteristics as he defined his style. Luz said, “I cannot paint flowers. They are by nature
too decorative and pretty. I like things that are very stark, elemental, simple—like a stone or a shell.” One
of his most celebrated series is the beloved cityscapes, which was inspired by his many travels to the
historic and “lost” cities throughout Asia. Using his vivid and wild imagination, Luz transformed
architectural elements, buildings, and temples into circles, rectangles, lines, and colors. In 1969, far into
his career, Luz began experimenting with sculptural abstraction using metal, concrete, wood, and marble.
He continued the Neo-realist themes and the linear simplicity and geometric form of his paintings, in his
sculptural work. From the 1970s to 1980s Luz served as the founding Director of Art at the Museum of
Philippine Art (MOPA) where he gathered an impressive collection of modern Philippine art. The artist’s
photographs, especially those of his travels during the 1990s, often served as inspiration for his later
paintings. Luz alsostudied the paintings and prints of Italian artist Giorgio Morandi for their simplicity in
content and technique.

Luz’s works have been, and continue to be, a part of private collections and areexhibited in
international galleries and museums, including the Manila Contemporary. The artist’s works are popular
at auction as well. In 2013 Candle Vendors (oil on canvas; 1952-54) sold at Christie's Hong Kong Asian
20th Century Art sale for nearly $380,000. This early work by Luz depicts a common scene from
everyday Philippine life: three women gossiping while they sell candles in the marketplace, one of the last
by Luz to include stronger figurative detail. Shortly after the creation of this painting, he moved towards
less distinguishable facial features, clothes, and props, so much so that the individuality of his later
figures is nonexistent.

The artist describes his paintings as “semi-representational, semi-abstract”. Fernando Zobel de

Ayala, a fond admirer of Luz, called him "a painter's painter" and explained that other painters are the
most common purchasers of Luz’s works at auction due to an appreciation for the artist’s meticulous
craftsmanship. Luz paints every day of the week from the time he opens his eyes until he feels weary. He
works on sculpture once a week. He said, “I don’t take a day off because I love what I am doing. Painting
is not work for me.” As the artist approaches nearly ninety years of age and a nearly fifty-year career, he
is still equally as passionate and energetic about art, if not more than, when he was younger. After
eighteen years of refusing to give an interview, he finally opened up to a female reporter a few years ago
during a showing of his work. He said, “I have very little to say about what I do…no clutter, no nonsense,
no stories…just simple, plain abstract objects. I want to transform everything I see, everything I admire,
into my own personal vision. That’s it.”

A partial list of his achievements:

1950s-1960s Three 1st Prize Awards at the Art Association of the Philippines Annual
Competition, California Art Association award
1955 Outstanding Young Man in Art, Manila Times
1956 A book of his drawings was published; introduction by Emmanuel Torres
1960 Established the renowned Luz Gallery (Makati, Philippines)
1962 First International Art Salon; 1st Prize (Saigon, Vietnam)
1966 Republic Cultural Heritage Award for Painting (Philippines)
1971 Represented Philippines in 1971 São Paolo Biennial (Brazil)
1976 Founding director of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in 1976
1978 Order of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, by the French government
1981 Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award (Stalwart of Art and Culture), from the City of Manila
1984 8th British International Print Biennale (Bradford, West Yorkshire)
1987 Promoted to Officiel by the French government
1989 Gawad CCP para sa Sining (CCP Awards for the Arts), from the Cultural Center of the Philippines
1997 Philippine National Artist

A partial list of his major works:

Lavandera, 1946
Awit, 1953
City, 1959
Anito “Idol” (sculpture), 1960
Painted Steel (sculpture), 1979
Bagong Taon, 1997
Man with Guitar, 1997
Vendador de Flores
Skipping Rope
Candle Vendors
Procession
Self-Portrait
Night Glows
Grand Finale
Cities of the Past
Imaginary Landscapes

A partial list of his exhibitions is as follows:

2013 Silverlens; photography (Manila, Philippines)
Galerie Joaquin; works from 1997-2004 (San Juan, Philippines)

Jose Maceda

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History
José Maceda was a composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist who dedicated his life to the understanding
and popularisation of Filipino traditional music. Maceda’s research, fieldwork and papers resulted in the
collection of an immense number of recorded music and enlightened scholars about the nature of Filipino
traditional and ethnic music. His own experimentation also freed Filipino musical expression from a
strictly Eurocentric mould.

Usually performed as a communal ritual, his compositions such as Ugma-ugma (1963), Pagsamba
(1968) and Udlot-udlot (1975) are monuments to his unflagging commitment to Filipino music. His
other major works include Agungan, Kubing, Pagsamba, Ugnayan, Ading, Aroding, Siasid and Suling-
suling.

Among his many honours are grants from the Guggenheim Foundation (1957–1958) and Rockefeller
Foundation (1968), Ordre des Palmes Académiques, France (1978) and the University of the Philippines
Outstanding Research Award (1985). He also received the John D. Rockefeller Award from the Asian
Cultural Council, New York (1987), Philippine National Science Society Achievement Award (1988),
Tanglaw ng Lahi Award, Ateneo University (1988) and Gawad ng Lahi Award, Cultural Center of the
Philippines (1989).

Maceda graduated with a music diploma from the Academy of Music, Manila (1935) before studying
piano, composition and musical analysis at École Normale de Musique de Paris (1937–1941). After
returning to the Philippines, he became a professional pianist and later studied musicology at Columbia
University, anthropology at Northwestern University and ethnomusicology at the University of
California.

How he became a national artist;

Jose Maceda, composer, musicologist, teacher and performer, explored the musicality
of the Filipino deeply. Maceda embarked on a life-long dedication to the understanding
and popularization of Filipino traditional music. Maceda’s researches and fieldwork have
resulted in the collection of an immense number of recorded music taken from the
remotest mountain villages and farthest island communities. He wrote papers that
enlightened scholars, both Filipino and foreign, about the nature of Philippine traditional
and ethnic music. Maceda’s experimentation also freed Filipino musical expression from
a strictly Eurocentric mold.

Usually performed as a communal ritual, his compositions like Ugma-

ugma(1963), Pagsamba (1968), and Udlot-udlot (1975), are monuments to his
unflagging commitment to Philippine music. Other major works include Agungan,
Kubing, Pagsamba, Ugnayan, Ading, Aroding, Siasid, Suling-suling.
Carlos L. Quirino

The Great Malayan

History
Carlos Lozada Quirino (14 January 1910 – 20 May 1999) was a Philippine biographer and
historian. Not only known for his works on biographies and history but also on varied subjects
such as the old maps of the Philippines and the culinary legacy of the country.
Carlos Quirino was born on 14 January 1910. He was a nephew of Philippine president Elpidio
Quirino.[1] Quirino received his journalism degree in 1931 from the University of Wisconsin at
Madison.[2] Known for his early biography of Jose Rizal entitled "The Great
Malayan" (1940),[3][2] he also wrote several works on Philippine history, as well as biographies
of President Manuel Quezon and the painter Damian Domingo.[1]
Quirino joined the Philippine Army and became second lieutenant before the outbreak of World
War II. During the Japanese occupation, he was forced to join the Bataan Death March but
escaped and joined the underground resistance.[2]
Under President Diosdado Macapagal, Quirino became director of the National Library. He was
also became the first director of the Ayala Museum in 1970.[2][4]
In 1997 he was recognised as a National Artist of the Philippines for Historical Literature.[1][5]
He died on 20 May 1999 at the age of 89.
Carlos Quirino, a biographer, had the distinction of having written one of the earliest biographies
of Jose Rizal titled The Great Malayan. Quirino’s books and articles span the whole gamut of
Philippine history and culture–from Bonifacio’s trial to Aguinaldo’s biography, from Philippine
cartography to culinary arts, from cash crops to tycoons and president’s lives, among so many
subjects. In 1997, Pres. Fidel Ramos created historical literature as a new category in the
National Artist Awards and Quirino was its first recipient. He made a record earlier when he
became the very first Filipino correspondent for the United Press Institute.
How he became a national artist;

Carlos Quirino, a biographer, has the distinction of having written one of the earliest
biographies of Jose Rizal titled The Great Malayan. Quirino’s books and articles span the whole
gamut of Philippine history and culture–from Bonifacio’s trial to Aguinaldo’s biography, from
Philippine cartography to culinary arts, from cash crops to tycoons and president’s lives, among
so many subjects. In 1997, Pres. Fidel Ramos created historical literature as a new category in
the National Artist Awards and Quirino was its first recipient. He made a record earlier on when
he became the very first Filipino correspondent for the United Press Institute.

His book Maps and Views of Old Manila is considered as the best book on the subject. His
other books include Quezon, Man of Destiny, Magsaysay of the Philippines, Lives of the
Philippine Presidents, Philippine Cartography, The History of Philippine Sugar
Industry, Filipino Heritage: The Making of a Nation, Filipinos at War: The Fight for
Freedom from Mactan to EDSA.