CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS FROM THE REGIONS

MODULE 03.01 – QUARTER 01

Topic: National Artists and Their Contribution to Particular Areas (QUIZBEE COVERAGE)

FAMOUS NATIONAL ARTISTS

NATIONAL ARTIST FOR DANCE

Francisca Reyes Aquino

Early in 1920’s Aquino researched about the different folk

dances in the Philippines and it made her the “Folk Dance
Pioneer” of the country. The tittle of her research was
Philippine Dances and Games. It contains the Philippines
unrecorded celebrations, Folk Dances, rituals and games.
Way back 1940’s, the Bureau of Education where she served
as the supervisor of physical education, she is kind enough because her works distributed for the
teaching of folk dances in the schools as mean to promote our cultural heritage to the Filipino
Students. She also published numerous books about Philippine dances. Sayseng Sandagan (2016)
Ramon Obusan

Obusan promoted the Philippine Ethic Dances and performed

them with respect and aunthenticity. He made a researched
about the different Philippine Ethnic Groups throughout the
country to perfectly perform their dances. His presentations tries
to demonstrate the ethnic dances and its original routine and
harmony. Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, outreach works, and
tours and inspired many Filipinos to embrace the Filipino culture. Some of Obusan’s presentation
Kayaw’68, Kayaw’74, Vamos a Belen Series, Noon sa Amin, Kasaysayan ng Lahi, Maynila, and the
Rare and Unpublished Dances. Sayseng Sandagan (2016)
Alice Reyes

The name Alice Reyes has become a significant part of

Philippine dance parlance. As a dancer, choreographer, teacher
and director, she has made a lasting impact on the development
and promotion of contemporary dance in the Philippines. Her
dance legacy is evident in the dance companies, teachers,
choreographers and the exciting Filipino modern dance repertoire of our country today.
Reyes’ dance training started at an early age with classical ballet under the tutelage of Rosalia
Merino Santos. She subsequently trained in folk dance under the Bayanihan Philippine National
Dance Company and pursued modern dance and jazz education and training in the United States.
Since then, during a professional dance career that spanned over two decades, her innovative
artistic vision, firm leadership and passion for dance have made a lasting mark on Philippine dance.
Perhaps the biggest contribution of Alice Reyes to Philippine dance is the development of a distinctly
Filipino modern dance idiom. Utilizing inherently Filipino materials and subject matters expressed
through a combination of movements and styles from Philippine indigenous dance, modern dance
and classical ballet she has successfully created a contemporary dance language that is uniquely
Filipino. From her early masterpiece Amada to the modern dance classic Itim-Asu, to her last major
work Bayanihan Remembered which she staged for Ballet Philippines, she utilized this idiom to
promote unique facets of Philippine arts, culture and heritage. Alice Reyes National Artist for dance
(n.d) retrieved from http://gwhs-stg02.i.gov.ph/~s2govnccaph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-
profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/alice-reyes/
LEONOR OROSA GOQUINGCO
Also known as the “Trailblazer Mothern of Philippine
Theater Dance” and she was hail as the “Dean of Filipino
Performing Arts Critics” she contributred to the progress
of the Philippine dance by developing the distinct
productions using balletic Folkloric and Asia styles. For
over 50 years, she proficiently produced numerous
unique and original choreographies. Sayseng
Sandagan (2016)

LUCRECIA REYES-URTULA

She studied the country’s folk and ethic dances for four
decades and developed ethnic choreographies applying her
findings. She is also the dance director of Bayanihan
Philippine Dance Company for three decades who
choreographed various dances for the group. These dances
harvested overwhelming praises and good review from
critics from different parts of the world. Among her major works are cultural dances namely singkil,
vinta, tgabili, pag diwata, and salisid. . Sayseng Sandagan (2016)

Her orchtral music include Love Songs, Legend of the Sarimanok, Ang Pamana, Philippine
Scenes, Her Son, Jose, Sisa and chamber music like Awit ng mga Awit Psalms, Fantaisie on a 4-
Note Theme, and East Meets Jazz Ethnika. Lucresia R. Kasilag National Artist for dance (n.d)

NATIONAL ARTIST FOR THEATER

DAISY H. AVELLANA

She was called the First Lady of the Philippine Theater

because of her amazingly magnificent performances in
numerous classic Filipino and International theatre
productions and plays. These are some of her most
significant were she became a part also: Othello, Macbeth
in BLACK, Tatarin, portrait of the artist as Filipino, Diego silang, walang sugat, etc. she also made
popularized the Philippine theatre and dramatic arts by founding the Baranggay Theater Guild with
her husband which is also a National Artist Lamberto Avellana. They utilize the radio and television
to make theatre and dramatic arts are known to the Filipinos. (Sandangan, 2006)
ROLANDO S. TINIO
 Rolando S. Tinio, playwright, thespian, poet, teacher, critic, and
translator marked his career with prolific artistic productions. He
was an outstanding stage director because of his numerous and
remarkable productions and notable scripts. He drama.
established and became the administrator of the Ateneo
experimental Theater. He also Handled Teatro Pilipino where he
revived the sarswela and other traditional Filipino drama and introduced contemporary western,
aside from being a National Artist fir Theater he was hailed also as National Artist for Literature.
(Sandangan, 2006)
Aside from his collections of poetry (Sitsit sa Kuliglig, Dunung – Dunungan, Kristal na Uniberso, A
Trick of Mirrors) among his works were the following: film scripts for Now and Forever, Gamitin Mo
Ako, Bayad Puri and Milagros; sarswelas Ang Mestisa, Ako, Ang Kiri, Ana Maria; the
komedya Orosman at Zafira; and Larawan, the musical.
Rolando S.. Tinio National Artist for Theater (n.d

Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero

Aside from being a theatre teacher and artist, he mentored and

trained many performing artist for 35 years. He also made
introduced and popularized Philippine theatre to different parts
of the country by establishing the most known UP mobile
theatre, this theatre has delivered a thousands of
performances for almost 19 years to many campuses in the Philippines. His major works include
wanted: A chaperon, Condemned, perhaps, in Unity, Three rats, the Forsaken House, Frustrations,
etc. (Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016)
HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA

She started her theatrical career in early age. At the age of

seven she already became a part of different Spanish
zarzuelas. And from then on she played many roles in
numerous productions and she became popular and hailed
as the Queen of Kundiman. She always performed kundiman
and Filipino songs for indigenous communities all over the
country. She believes that kundiman and sarswelas mirrors he
Filipino people. (Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016)

Salvador F. Bernal

He was an exceptional Theater Designer who designed

hundreds of theatre productions for a span of four decades. The
superior quality of his designs made him in comparable to other
designers. He used local materials in producing creative and
unique sets and costumes.
Bernal is also a professor at the University of the Philippines
Diliman and Ateneo De Manila, he established the Philippine Association of Theatre Designers and
Technicians. (Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016)
Severino Montano

Hailed as the Titan of the Philippine Theater, he took the

lead in promoting Legitimate Theater in the country.
Montano as the top calibre playwright, theatre artist, and
director who took up degrees in and outside the country to
master theatre arts and later on to share his learnings and
competencies to the younger Filipino generation. Montano became the dean of the Philippine
Normal College where he established and founded the Arena Theater year 1953. The arena
theatre served the grassroots and promoted drama to the masses through the school community
theaters. He developed graduate programs for the theatre arts in PNC, and oit produced equally
talented artist like National Artist Lino Broka and Rolando Tinio. (Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016)
National Artist for Visual Arts

Fernando Amorsolo

The Grand old Man of the Philippine Art. Amorsolo was

the first National Artist of the country. Lighting is the most
prominent element of Amorsolo’s Painting. His knownk for
his trademark which is backlighting technique it made the
subjects of his painting seem to glow. Also aside from the
application of light pieces, his works of art were also
notable for reflecting the artistoic and natural Heritage of the Philippines. (Sayseng & Sandangan,
2016)
Among others, his major works include the following: Maiden in a Stream(1921)-GSIS collection; El
Ciego (1928)-Central Bank of the Philippines collection; Dalagang Bukid (1936) – Club Filipino
collection; The Mestiza (1943) – National Museum of the Philippines collection; Planting
Rice (1946)-UCPB collection; Sunday Morning Going to Town (1958)-Ayala Museum Collection.
Fernando Amorsolo The country had its First National Artist (n.d)
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. (Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016)
Ocampo’s acknowledged masterpiece Genesis 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.
Hernando Ocampo National Artist for Visual Arts (n.d)

BENEDICTO ‘BENCAB’ CABRERA

Benedicto R. Cabrera, *who signs his paintings
“Bencab,” upheld the primacy of drawing over the
decorative color. Bencab started his career in the
mid-sixties as a lyrical expressionist. His solitary
figures of scavengers emerging from a dark
landscape were piercing stabs at the social
conscience of a people long inured to poverty and
dereliction. Bencab, who was born in Malabon, has
christened the emblematic scavenger figure “Sabel.” For Bencab, Sabel is a melancholic symbol
of dislocation, despair and isolation–the personification of human dignity threatened by life’s
vicissitudes, and the vast inequities of Philippine society.
Bencab’s exploration of form, finding his way out of the late neo-realism and high abstraction of the
sixties to be able to reconsider the potency of figurative expression had held out vital options for
Philippine art in the Martial Law years in the seventies through the contemporary era.
Benedicto ‘BenCab’ Cabrera National Artist for Visual Arts (n.d)

Carlos “Botong” Francisco,

A muralist who lives in Angono Rizal, for about three decades,

Francisco painted different Murals showing the historical past
of the Philippines. Most of his Subject defines the life in his
hometown and highlight the lives of those farmers and
Fishermen. The significant elements in Francisco’s painting
were their lines and shapes that seem like cut-outs and their
lush tropical colores.

His other major works include the following: Portrait of Purita, The Invasion of
Limahong, Serenade, Muslim Betrothal, Blood Compact, First Mass at Limasawa, The Martyrdom
of Rizal, Bayanihan, Magpupukot, Fiesta, Bayanihan sa Bukid, Sandugo.
Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco National Artist for Visual Arts (n.d)
Cesar Legaspi

One of the members of Thirteen Moderns, who

promoted and introduced modern arts in the country.
These artists pioneered Philippine Modernism, he was a
neo-realist whose important contribution to art was
refinement of cubism in the Philippine context, especially
he indigenized cubism and produced artworks showing
local temperaments.
Among his works are Gadgets I, Gadgets II, Diggers, Idols of the Third Eye, Facade, Ovary, Flora
and Fauna, Triptych, Flight, Bayanihan, Struggle,Avenging Figure, Turning Point, Peace, The
Survivor, The Ritual.
Cesar Legaspi National Artist for Visual Arts (n.d)
Abdul Asia Imao

A visual artist from Sulu who proficiently articulated the

Muslim Culture and Art in the country. He also preserved
and promoted the Philippine Indigenous art. (Sayseng &
Sandangan, 2016) Through his works, the indigenous ukkil,
sarimanok and naga motifs have been popularized and
instilled in the consciousness of the Filipino nation and other
peoples as original Filipino creations.
His U.P. art education introduced him to Filipino masters like Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon
Abueva, who were among his mentors. With his large-scale sculptures and monuments of Muslim
and regional heroes and leaders gracing selected sites from Batanes to Tawi-tawi, Imao has helped
develop among cultural groups trust and confidence necessary for the building of a more just and
humane society.
Selected works:
Industry Brass Mural, Philippine National Bank, San Fernando, La Union
Mural Relief on Filmmaking, Manila City Hall
Industrial Mural, Central Bank of the Philippines, San Fernando, La Union
Sulu Warriors (statues of Panglima Unaid and Captain Abdurahim Imao), 6 ft., Sulu Provincial
Capitol
Abdulmari Asia Imao Artist for Visual Arts (n.d)

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino

A master sculptor who introduced classical sculpture in

the country. His classical style, are still identifiable
Filipino. He was best known for creating monuments and
bust figures of Philippine Heroes. He was also the one
who created the UP Oblation which became the
representation of the academic freedom of the university
(Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016). His works include the
bronze figures of President Quezon at Quezon Memorial, life-size busts of Jose Rizal at UP and
UE, marble statue of Ramon Magsaysay in GSIS Building; granolithics of heroic statues
representing education, medicine, forestry, veterinary science, fine arts and music at UP.
He also designed the gold and bronze medals for the Ramon Magsaysay Award and did the seal of
the Republic of the Philippines.
Artist for Sculpture Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (2015, June 2).
Arturo Luz,
An abstractionist known for his minimalist
paintings and sculptures which exude
sophisticated simplicity. He then started doing his
art at the age of 17 without prior training. He also
studied abroad in US and Europe, to further
improve his skills in art making. (Sayseng &
Sandangan, 2016)
Among his other significant paintings are Bagong Taon, Vendador de Flores, Skipping
Rope, Candle Vendors, Procession, Self-Portrait, Night Glows,Grand Finale, Cities of the
Past, Imaginary Landscapes. His mural painting Black and White is displayed in the lobby of the
CCP’s Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater). His sculpture of a stainless steel cube is
located in front of the Benguet Mining Corporation Building in Pasig.
Arturo Luz National artist for Visual arts(2015, June 2)
Federico Aguilar Alcuaz

Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz, who signed his works as

Aguilar Alcuaz was an artist of voluminous output. He
is known mainly for his gestural paintings in acrylic and
oil, as well as sketches in ink, watercolor and pencil.
He was also a sculptor of note and has rendered
abstract and figurative works in ceramics, tapestries
and even in relief sculptures made of paper and mixed media, which he simply calls “Alcuazaics.”
The preference to use his maternal name was more for practical reasons; Alcuaz was rarer than the
name Aguilar, and thus ensured better recall; it was also simpler to drop the customary y between
the two names.
His works are highly favored, not only for its studied refinement and European flair, but also for the
ease and pleasure conveyed by his choice of light, color and composition; all of which add up to
scenes which are always quite playful but never cluttered. His love for classical music is also
apparent in this constant fluidity.
Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (2015, June 2).
Napoleon Abueva
He is known for being the father of Modern
Philippine Scupture, who made use of wide range of
materials in his works. He uses hand-wood, stones
and metals. He is also the sculptor who started the
trend in mixing different materials, like metal and
stone n making sculpture. (Sayseng & Sandangan,
2016)
In the 80’s, Abueva put up a one-man show at the Philippine Center, New York. His works have
been installed in different museums here and abroad, such as The Sculpture at the United Nations
headquarters in New York City.
Some of his major works include Kaganapan (1953), Kiss of Judas (1955),Thirty Pieces of
Silver, The Transfiguration (1979), Eternal Garden Memorial Park, UP Gateway (1967), Nine
Muses (1994), UP Faculty Center, Sunburst (1994)-Peninsula Manila Hotel, the bronze figure
of Teodoro M. Kalaw in front of National Library, and murals in marble at the National Heroes Shrine,
Mt. Samat, Bataan.
Napoleon Abueva (2015, June 2).
Jeremias Elizalde Navarro
He was a painter and sculptor who created both
abstract and figure paintings using oil and water
color. The prominent elements in his abstract
woks were its geometric froms spontaneous
storkes, his works are insired by Balinese art
and culture. He is also popular for his masks,
carved in hardwood, with combine features of
human and animal. J. Elizalde Navarro sampler
includes his ’50s and ’60s fiction illustrations for This Week of the Manila Chronicle, and the rotund,
India-ink figurative drawings for Lydia Arguilla’s storybook, Juan Tamad. Three of his major mixed
media works are I’m Sorry Jesus, I Can’t Attend Christmas This
Year (1965), and his Homage to Dodjie Laurel (1969: Ateneo Art Gallery collection), and A Flying
Contraption for Mr. Icarus (1984: Lopez Museum).
J. Elizalde Navarro (2015, June 2).

Francisco Conching

Francisco Coching, acknowledged as the “Dean of

Filipino Illustrators” and son of noted Tagalog
novelist and comics illustrator Gregorio Coching, was
a master storyteller – in images and in print. His
illustrations and novels were products of that happy
combination of fertile imagination, a love of
storytelling, and fine draftsmanship. He synthesized
images and stories informing Philippine folk and
popular imagination of culture. His career spanned four decades.Starting his career in 1934, he
was a central force in the formation of the popular art form of comics. He was a part of the golden
age of the Filipino comics in the 50’s and 60’s. Until his early retirement in 1973, Coching
mesmerized the comics-reading public as well as his fellow artists, cartoonists and writers.
The source of his imagery can be traced to the Philippine culture from the 19th century to the 1960s.
His works reflected the dynamics brought about by the racial and class conflict in Philippine colonial
society in the 19th century, a theme that continued to be dealt with for a long time in Philippine
cinema. He valorized the indigenous, untrammeled Filipino in Lapu-Lapu and Sagisag ng Lahing
Pilipino, and created the types that affirm the native sense of self in his Malay heroes of stunning
physique. His women are beautiful and gentle, but at the same time can be warrior-like, as
in Marabini (Marahas na Binibini) or the strong seductive, modern women of his comics in the 50s
and 60s.
There is myth and fantasy, too, featuring the grotesque characters, vampire bats, shriveled witches,
as in Haring Ulopong. Yet, Coching grounded his works too in the experience of war during the
Japanese occupation, he was a guerilla of the Kamagong Unit, Las Pinas branch of the ROTC
hunters in the Philippines. He also drew from the popular post-war culture of the 50s, as seen
in Movie Fan. At this point, his settings and characters became more urbane, and the narratives he
weaved scanned the changing times and mores, as in Pusakal, Talipandas, Gigolo, and Maldita.
Francisco Coching (2015, June 2).
Victorio Edades

“Father of Modern Philippine Painting”. And also

he is one of the “Triumvirate” who introduced
modernism in Philippine Visual Art. Edades
shocked many Filipinos upon his arrival after
studying from abroad because of his exhibit due
to non-conventional style of painting. He used
dark and sad hues in his painting instead.
(Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016) 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.”
mong his works are The Sketch, The Artist and the Model, Portrait of the Professor, Japanese
Girl, Mother and Daughter, The Wrestlers, and Poinsettia Girl.
Victorio Edades (2015, June 2).
Ang Kiukok
He was known for his highly expressionistic
works which contains powerful meanings. Angst,
anguish and anger are the glaring emotions
contained and content in his cubistic works as
these were created in the time of Martial Law.
(Sayseng & Sandangan, 2016)
He crystallized in vivid, cubistic figures the terror
and angst of the times. Shaped in the furnace of
the political turmoil of those times, Ang Kiukok
pursued an expression imbued with nationalist fervor and sociological agenda.
Some of his works include Geometric Landscape (1969); Pieta, which won for him the bronze
medal in the 1st International Art Exhibition held in Saigon (1962); and the Seated Figure (1979),
auctioned at Sotheby’s in Singapore.
His works can be found in many major art collections, among them the Cultural Center of the
Philippines, National Historical Museum of Taipei, and the National Museum in Singapore.
Ang Kiukok died on May 9, 2005
Ang Kiukok (2015, June 2)

Jose Joya
An abstractionist known for his “gestural
paintings” the prominent elements of his
artworks include their color harmony inspired by
the country’s landscapes.
He espoused the value of kinetic energy and
spontaneity in painting which became
significant artistic values in Philippine art. His
paintings clearly show his mastery of ‘gestural
paintings’ where paint is applied intuitively and spontaneously, in broad brush strokes, using brushes
or spatula or is directly squeezed from the tube and splashed across the canvas. His 1958 landmark
painting Granadean Arabesque,a work on canvas big enough to be called a mural, features swipes
and gobs of impasto and sand. The choice of Joya to represent the Philippines in the 1964 Venice
Biennial itself represents a high peak in the rise of the modern art in the country.
Joya also led the way for younger artists in bringing out the potentials of multimedia. He designed
and painted on ceramic vessels, plates and tiles, and stimulated regional workshops. He also did
work in the graphic arts, particularly in printmaking.
His legacy is undeniably a large body of work of consistent excellence which has won the admiration
of artists both in the local and international scene. Among them are his compositions Beethoven
Listening to the Blues, and Space Transfiguration, and other works like Hills of
Nikko, Abstraction, Dimension of Fear, Naiad, Torogan, Cityscape.
Jose Joya (2015, June 2)

Vicente Manansala

A cubist and painter who painted with a wide range of

subject matters from the happy and bountiful rural to
poverty-stricken urban set-ups. He contributed
modernism in Philippine Visual arts by his style
transparent cubism.
He trained at Paris and at Otis School of Drawing
in Los Angeles. Manansala believes that the
beauty of art is in the process, in the moment of
doing a particular painting, closely associating it with the act of making love. “The climax is just when
it’s really finished.”
Manansala’s works include A Cluster of Nipa Hut, San Francisco Del Monte,Banaklaot, I Believe in
God, Market Venders, Madonna of the Slums, Still Life with Green Guitar, Via Crucis, Whirr, Nude.
Vicenete Manansala (2015, June 2)