WHAT IS THE NATIONAL ARTIST AWARD

The National Artist Award is a big honor for artists in many countries, including the Philippines. It's like
the highest prize for Filipino artists. Under President Ferdinand Marcos, he promulgated Presidential
Proclamation No. 1001 on April 27, 1972, which established the National Artist Award, a lifetime
recognition of the artists’ accomplishments with appropriate emoluments and honors. The President
gives it based on recommendations from cultural groups. It covers different arts like music, dance, and
literature. The goal is to recognize artists who've really helped Philippine culture grow.

TANGIBLE ARTS BACKGROUND

National Artists recognize modes of artistic expression within art genre shaping their mode of
representation and eventually influenced their individual styles. They infuse local elements and
sentiments into their artistic expressions. The incorporation of local materials like folksongs, instruments,
and indigenous philosophies in the field of music, local sceneries in painting, local figures in sculpture,
traditional movements in dance, local materials, shapes and landscapes in architecture, and local
subjects in literature.

THE ORDER OF NATIONAL ARTISTS & THE PROCESS

The National Artist Award was elevated to the Order of National Artists and is now jointly
managed by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the National Commission for the Culture
and the Arts (NCAA).

BENEFITS
National artists’ benefit a lifetime emolument and material benefits are accorded a cash award of
P200,000 for the living awardee and P150,000 for the posthumous awardee, a monthly life pension,
medical and hospitalization benefits, and life insurance, a state funeral and burial at the Libingan ng mga
Bayani, and a place of honor in state functions and recognition at cultural events.

GUIDELINES OF SELECTION OF NATIONAL ARTIST

Following are the guidelines in the selection of those who are eligible for nomination and conferment of
the Order of National Artist:

1. living artists who are Filipino citizens or artists who died as Filipino after the establishment of the
award maybe be eligible for nomination;

2. artists whose works have contributed towards developing a Filipino sense of nationhood;

3. artists who have pioneered in evolving modes of creative expression or individual styles which have
gained distinction here and abroad, and which could make an impact on future generations of artists;

4.artists who have created significant bodies of work which have consistently manifested excellence
towards enriching their particular expressions; and

5. artists who enjoy broad acceptance and extensive recognition from their peers nationally and
internationally, and who have gathered critical acclaim for their works.
THE NATIONAL ARTISTS FOR THE TANGIBLE ARTS

A. Architecture

1. Pablo S. Antonio (1976)

January 25, 1901 – June 14, 1975

A modernist pioneer and iconoclast, he changed the course of the Philippine architecture by boldly
defying the well-established American neoclassicism in the Philippines in the 1930s.

Antonio’s timeless edifices characterized by lucid lines, unadorned surface massing and virile geometrical
configuration shifted the Filipino design practice to a new paradigm that denounced ornament and
celebrated austere beauty and purity of form.

-He designed one of the tallest structures in Manila, the Bel-Air Alhambra Apartments.

-The ‘’brise-soleil’’ or sunbreaker, glass walls, and pierced screens to appropriate a style suited to a
tropical environment.

2. Leandro V. Locsin (1990)

August 15, 1928 – November 15, 1994

A visionary of clean, crisp modernism. His works are characterized by pure, rational compositions that
demonstrate a mastery of the minimalist elemental geometry of floating mass. His works possess
enigmatic qualities floating volumes; the duality of light and heavy; massive yet buoyant maneuvered in
disciplined restraint.

His designs are marked by his distinct use of concrete, themes of floating volume, and the use of native
materials. The rood is emphasized as the dominant form, with the wide caves, massive supports, interior
lattices and trellises, ornamental details contrasted with simple forms, and spacious interior.

-Locsin was commissioned to design the Church of the Holy Sacrifice and is now a national landmark,
remarkable for its circular design and was the first to have a thin shell concrete dome.

-The Tanghalang Pambansa of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The structure featured gentle
sloping curves giving way to an enormous cantilevered volume and a large lagoon in front. His neo-
vernacular Benguet Corporation Building evokes the regional topography and the rugged grandeur of rip
rapped Banaue rice terraces of the Cordilleras.

-His largest work is the Istana Nurul Iman, of the Palace of the Light of Faith.

3. Francisco Mañosa (2018)

Febuary 12, 1931 – Febuary 20, 2019

Franciso Mañosa was a pioneering figure in neo-vernacular architecture in the Philippines. His
architecture is attentive to both climate and local culture, with inventive use of indigenous materials. He
turned to local materials, vernacular forms, and cutting-edge techniques, to counter the generic “box
architecture” from the west.

Mañosa’s body of work reveals his lifelong fascination with th bahay kubo, considered as the archtype of
Philippine indigenous architecture.

-Mañosa was commissioned by First Lady Imelda Marcos to design a state guesthouse that would
showcase Filipino identity though extensive use of indigenous materials.
-BLISS Socialized Housing (1979)
-Light Rail Transit-I(LRT-I) Stations (1984)
-EDSA Shrine (1987)
-Pearl Farm Resort (1993)
-Amanpulo Resort (1994)
-Ateneo Professinal Schools (1995)

4. Juan F. Nakpil (1973)

May 26, 1899 – May, 1986

Juan Nakpil’s imagination has created astounding buildings that synthesized strength, function, and
beauty which embody the modern heritage of the Filipino nation.

Art Deco emerged as the era’s defining style and Nakpil’s works were emboldened by its audacious
geometries, streamed contours, and dramatic flourishes exemplified in his first building, the Geronimo
de los Reyes Building.

Nakpil asserted the existence of a Philippine architecture – one that is expressive of, and responsive to
our own culture and tradition. This was his greatest contribution to Philippine design, and made him one
of the greatest architects in Philippine history. He is recognized as a National Artist for Architecture in
1973.

Nakpil formed a partnership with his cousin Angel E. Nakpil and his brother-in-law Carlos Santos- Viola,
they produced the early style of the iconic Iglesia ni Cristo church buildings.

The buildings of Nakpil at first kept to the rigors of the International style, as seen in the University of the
Philippines Administration and Library Buildings, and the Ever and State Theaters on Rizal Avenue. These
structures encapsulate his idea on the use of pilotis and brise-soleil.

5. Ildefonso P. Santos, Jr. (2006)

September 5, 1929 – January 29, 2014

Santos is acknowledged by his peers as the “Father of Modern Philippine Landscape Architecture.”

He yielded modern urban and rural landscapes whose designs set new standards for designed public
outdoor spaces.

Santos has promoted landscape architecture as a viable profession that requires knowledge of
architectural, engineering and aesthetic principles.

~ Makati Commercial Center in 1967, one of the first pedestrian mall

~ Garden for the Blind in 1969 is walled in with pathways navigated by means of touch, smell, and sound.
~The San Miguel Corporation Complex in 1982 in reflects the successful union of architecture and
landscape design.

B. Historical Literature

1. Carlos Quirino (1997)

Carlos Quirino, best known for being a historical fictionist and biographer, the son of Jose Quirino and
Dolores Lozada, and the nephew of former president Elpidio Quirino.
He began his formal education at De La Salle College, completed his baccalaureate degree in journalism
from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1931, and then passed the bar exam in 1940. He got a
prize-winning biography regarding Rizal, The Great Malayan during this time.

Quirino enlisted during World War II as second lieutenant and he returned to the realm of politics and
governance after several incidents during war. He returned to writing about history and historical
biographies, and his intensive research on topics such as Damian Domingo, cartography, and the
Philippines’ Spanish heritage would solidify his place in both the academe and governance. His works
gained recognition and he was appointed Director of the National Library in 1961 and the Ayala Museum
in 1970.

His works on Rizal, Aguinaldo, and Bonifacio attest to his fascination with portraits of power, while his
interest in Old World contexts points toward a desire to move past the violent modernity of the 1940s
and its consequences and re-discover what has been lost in the passage of time.

Carlos Quirino’s best known books:

-Quezon, Man of Destiny(1935)
-The Great Malayan(1940)
-Magsaysay and the Philippines(1958)
-Lives of the Philippine Presidents(1952)
-Philippine Cartography(1959)
-Damian Domingo: First Eminent Filipino Painter(1961)
-Maps and Views of Old Manila(1971)
-History of the Philippine Sugar Industry(1974)
-Filipino Heritage: The Making of a Nation, and Filipinos at War: The Fight for Freedom from Mactan to
EDSA(1981)
-He also translated the Boxer Codex.

C. Literature

1. Virgilio S. Almario (2003)

March 9, 1994

Virgilio S. Almario also known as Rio Alma is a poet, literary historian, and critic who revived and
reinvented traditional Filipino poetic forms. He has published many books, including “ Makinasyon,
Peregrinasyon, Doktrinang Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo, anf Muli, sa Kandungan ng Lupa.
he has translated various works including the contemporary poetry of Nick Joaquin, Bertotlt Brecht, and
Maxim Gorki. He has also translated novels written by Jose Rizal, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Lope K. Santos,
Alfredo Navarro Salanga, and Pedro Dandan.

He facilitated a sustained interest in Filipino poetry through poetry clinics and literary workshops of the
Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT) and the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA).

2. Franciso Arcellana (1990)

September 6, 1916 – August 1, 2002

Zacarias Eugene Francisco Quino Arcellana, also known as “Franz,” was a multifaceted writer,
credited as a key figure in modern Filipino short story writing in English. He championed the short story
as a poetic and truthful form of fiction. His notable works include "Poetry and Politics: The State of
Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today" and short stories like "Frankie," "The Man Who
Would Be Poe," "Death in a Factory," "Lina," "A Clown Remembers," and "Now Sleeps the Crimson
Petal."

Arcellana's literary career started with "The Man Who Could be Poe" in Graphic during high school. At
UP, Manuel Arguilla invited him to the UP Writer’s Club after his "Trilogy of the Turtles" appeared in
Literary Apprentice.

Arcellana was also involved in journalism, as staffwriter of Woman’s World, columnist of the Herald
Midweek Magazine, copy editor of the Acta Medica Philippina, editor of the Philcross, bureau manager
of the International News Service’s Manila bureau, literary editor of the Manila Chronicle’s “This Week”
supplement, and adviser of the UP’s Philippine Collegian

3. Cirilio F. Bautista (2014)

July 9, 1941 – May 6, 2018

Cirilo F. Bautista is most known for his contributions in the fields of poetry, fiction, and non-
fiction. Having published 18 books in total, all of which explore these aforementioned forms, Bautista
consistently demonstrates a distinctive use of poetic language in both English and Tagalog.

Having described his childhood as a “linguistic environment,” and being exposed to various
literary and popular works from local magazines to books from the local library, he found himself
fascinated with words, eventually growing up to obtain honors in the secondary level and graduating
with an English Degree, magna cum laude,from the University of Santo Tomas (UST)

Arcellana served as the literary editor for The Varsitarian, where he encountered diverse literary
works beyond his childhood favorites. He developed a fondness for Jose Rizal and 20th-century
European poets.

4. Lazaro Francisco (2009)

Febuary 22, 1898 – June 17, 1980

Lazaro Francisco has been honored as the pioneer in the social realist tradition in Philippine
fiction. His novels embody commitment to nationalism. Francisco gained prominence as a writer not
only for his social conscience but also for his masterful handling of the Tagalog language and “supple
prose style.”

Lazaro Francisco was renowned as the highest-paid novelist, earning P100 per chapter for his serialized
novels in Liwayway Magazine. His novels are revered as Philippine literary classics. Francisco delved into
the struggles of oppressed peasants and highlighted the flaws of the tenancy system in Philippine
agriculture.

In 1958, he founded Kapatiran ng mga Alagad ng Wikang Pilipino (KAWIKA) to promote Filipino language
for nationalism. His notable novels include "Ang Bayang Nagpatiwakal" (Suicidal Country), "Maganda Pa
Ang Daigdig" (The World is Still Beautiful), "Ama" (Father), and "Daluyong" (Storm Surge), earning him
recognitions like the Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1970).

5. Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzales (1997)

September 8, 1915 – November 28, 1999

Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, a renowned fictionist, essayist, poet, and teacher, depicted the
Filipino essence in rural and urban landscapes using English. His notable works include "The Winds of
April" (1941), "Seven Hills Away" (1947), "Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories" (1954),
"The Bamboo Dancers" (1988), and "The Bread of Salt and Other Stories" (1993).

Popularly known as N.V.M. Gonzalez, Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez was a fictionist, essayist,
poet, and teacher, who articulated the Filipino spirit in rural and urban landscapes. He used the English
language to express, reflect, and shape Philippine culture and Philippine sensibility. His major works
include The Winds of April (1941), Seven Hills Away (1947), Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other
Stories (1954), The Bamboo Dancers (1988), and The Bread of Salt and Other Stories (1993)

He worked for the Philippine Graphic as writer and later became editor of the Evening News
Magazine and Manila Chronicle. His first essay was published in the Philippine Graphic and his poem in
Poetry in 1934. He was a member of the UP Creative Writing Center, founder of the UP Diliman Review
and first president of the Philippine Writer’s Association.

D. Visual Arts

1. Napoleon V. Abueva (1976)

January 26, 1930 – February 16, 2018

Abueva's parents, involved in guerrilla activities, were executed by the Japanese when he was
young. He had minimal exposure to sculpture, with only a small bust of Rizal at home. During his
childhood, he crafted animal shapes from mud, inspired by carabaos. In his teens, he apprenticed with
Cebuano sculptor Fidel Araneta. He later earned a Pura Villanueva Kalaw scholarship to study fine arts at
the University of the Philippines (UP).

In 1951, he pioneered buoyant sculpture with a baby Moses floating in a pond. During the sixties
to seventies, he crafted works like Rice Planting, Water Buffalo, Birds, and To and From the Sea, reflecting
the idyllic life of his hometown. He also created neo-realist pieces like Kaganapan (Fulfillment) and Kiss
of Judas, the latter winning First Prize in the Religious Art Exhibition in Detroit in 1955.
2. Lauro Alcala (2018)
August 18, 1926 – June 24, 2002

Larry Alcala was an editorial cartoonist and illustrator who created over five hundred comic
characters and twenty comic strips in widely circulated publications. He pioneered the use of animated
cartoons for television commercials and raised the field of visual communication to the level of fine art,
which paved the way for the establishment of the Visual Communication Department at the College of
Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines.

In “Kalabog en Bosyo,” first published in Pilipino Komiksin 1947, Alcala was a bemoustached,
bespectacled youth in crew-cut and side-burns, witnessing the hilarious bungles of two adventurous
detectives. It led the trend of using Taglish in print communication; the strip eventually became the
longest running cartoon in print media. In 1957, it was adapted into film by Sampaguita Pictures with top
comedians Dolphy and Panchito playing the title role.

3. Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (2009)

June 6, 1932 – February 2, 2011

Federico Aguilar Alcuaz was already a passionate artist even as a student, taking a Fine Arts
Degree at the University of the Philippines in the mornings, and an Associate in Arts degree at San Beda
College in the evenings.

He won First Prize at the 1953 UP Art Competition, First Prize for Roadside Squattersat the 1954 Annual
Shell Art Competition, and Second Prize at the UP Art Competition in 1954.

He won First Prize at the Premio Moncadain 1957 and the Prix Francisco Goyain 1958 in Barcelona. In
Paris, he was awarded the Diploma of Honorat the International Exhibition of Art Libre in 1961, the Arts,
Letters, and Sciences Award from the French government in 1964, and the Order of French Geniusin
1964. His local awards include the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1965, Patnubay ng Sining at
Kalinangan by the City of Manila in 1966, and the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2007.

Alcuaz was a prolific abstract painter and a citizen of the world in constant search of excellence,
achievement, and fame in the arts. He inherited the European cubism’s vision of simplified geometric
structure where distinction between objects, subject matter, and background is blurred.

4. Fernando C. Amorsolo (1972)

May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972

Amorsolo apprenticed at the studio of his maternal uncle Fabian dela Rosa, a prominent master
painter. Though born in Manila, Amorsolo spent the first 13 years of his life in Daet, Camarines Sur.
Memories of his childhood in Bicol continued to live on in his canvases throughout his career.

He made his first landmark painting Rice Plantingin 1922, after which his art career peaked during the
Commonwealth years. He taught at the UP School of Fine Arts for 38 years, serving as its director from
1938 to 1952.

His Central and Southern Luzon roots are revealed in paintings of fields of rice, abaca, or sugarcane, and
sunsets along Mt. Arayat, Atimonan Quezon, Malabon, Nasugbu, Tagaytay, San Francisco Del Monte,
Mayon Volcano, and others. His pride in Philippine locations expanded during his research for historical
paintings of national significance such as Early Sulu Wedding, Sikatuna, Princess Urduja, Sale of Panay,
First Baptism in the Philippines, and First Mass in the Philippines.

Amorsolo’s landscapes with nipa huts, carabaos, planters, harvesters, fishers, women with jar, folk
dancers, native customs and traditions, and church plazas; his portraits of important personalities; and
paintings of historical events on canvas and murals are displayed in many public buildings and private
collections.

5. Ang Kiukok (2001)

March 1, 1931 – May 9, 2005

Ang Kiukok was born to immigrant Chinese parents in Davao. During World War II, his family was
forced to flee to the mountains to hide from the Japanese. Kiukok lived by painting advertisements for
movies. He studied at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) where he was taught by Victorio Edades,
Diosdado Lorenzo, Francesco Monti, and Galo Ocampo.

In 1955, he won Third Prize at the Fifth Shell National Students Art Competition for his painting Calesa.
Vicente Manansala encouraged him to hold his first one-man show at the Contemporary Arts Gallery in
Manila, and became his mentor and friend.

He assisted Manansala in painting a mural commissioned by the National Press Club. In 1959, he won a
special award at the Art Association of the Philippines’ 12th Annual Art Exhibition for his painting Blind
Musicians.

Ang Kiukok was neo-realist who developed his pictorial style into a universal figurative expressionism.
The human condition, its deepest despair and suffering, consistently inspired him.

He articulated tension, pain, and catharsis through a painterly system of perfect distortion. This he did
by deconstructing human, animal, and machine forms, then rebuilding them into unsettling pictures of
pain, torture, and dehumanization.

E. Fashion Design

Ramon Valera (2006)

August 31, 1912 – May 25, 1972

Ramon Valera was the Dean of Philippine Fashion as he was a creative innovator. He was highly regarded
for his ingenuity and craftsmanship, for revolutionizing the national costume, for his masterful
embroidery and beadwork and for translating Philippine motifs into contemporary fashion.

Ramon Valera never had any formal training in fashion design, but his works have been the standard of
fashion students for intricate sewing, embroidery, and handiwork. He would do the designing, cutting,
pasting, and sewing all by himself.

-Ramon contributes on the Philippine terno by performing his magical seminal innovations, producing a
single piece of clothing from a four-piece ensemble. (blouse, skirt, overskirt, and long scarf)

-Butterfly sleeves as the terno’s defining feature, giving them solid, built-in, but hidden support.
-He unified the components of the baro’t saya into a single dress with exaggerated bell sleeves, cinched
at the waist, grazing the ankle, and zipped up at the back.