PHILIPPINE

NATIONAL
ARTISTS

Prepared by:
Christopher Kim S. Castillo
NATIONAL ARTISTS
for
LITERATURE
Nick Joaquin
(Nicomedes Joaquin)

Born May4,1917, Paco,

Manila, Philippines—
died April 29, 2004,
San Juan

A Portrait of
the Artist as a
Filipino

Cave and
Shadows
José Rizal
José Protasio
RizalMercado y
AlonsoRealonda
born June 19, 1861, Calamba,
Philippines—died December 30,
1896, Manila, patriot, physician,

The
and man of letters who was an
inspiration to
the Philippine nationalist
movement.
Reign
Th of
Greed
e
So
cia
l
Ca
nc
Virginia Reyes Moreno
•
‘Virgie Moreno,’ ‘Piling Arkanghel,’
and ‘Aling Barang,’ was a poet and
playwright. Known as “The High
Priestess’’ or “Empress Dowager” of
Philippine Poetry, titles conferred by
no less than National Artist for
Literature Jose Garcia Villa, she was
a founding member of The Ravens, a
literary barkada from the University
of the Philippines (UP) Writers Club
which was formed after the Japanese
occupation. The Ravens would
continue to write and publish as
individuals and as a group through
the years.
 NATIONAL
ARTISTS
for
ARCHITECTURE
 JUAN F. NAKPIL
May 26, 1899 – May 7, 1986
• Juan F. Nakpil, architect, teacher and civic leader, is a
pioneer and innovator in Philippine architecture. In
essence, Nakpil’s greatest contribution is his belief
that there is such a thing as Philippine Architecture,
espousing architecture reflective of Philippine
traditions and culture. It is also largely due to his
zealous representation and efforts that private
Filipino architects and engineers, by law, are now able
to participate in the design and execution of
government projects. He has integrated strength,
function, and beauty in the buildings that are the
country’s heritage today. He designed the 1937
International Eucharistic Congress altar and rebuilt
and enlarged the Quiapo Church in 1930 adding a
dome and a second belfry to the original design.
• Among others, Nakpil’s major works are the
Geronimo de los Reyes Building,Magsaysay Building,
Rizal Theater, Capitol Theater, Captain Pepe
Building, Manila Jockey Club, Rufino Building,
Philippine Village Hotel, University of the Philippines
Administration and University Library, and the
reconstructed Rizal house in Calamba, Laguna.
 LEANDRO V. LOCSIN
August 15, 1928 – November 15, 1994
• Leandro V. Locsin reshaped the urban landscape with a
distinctive architecture reflective of Philippine Art and
Culture. He believes that the true Philippine Architecture is
“the product of two great streams of culture, the oriental
and the occidental… to produce a new object of profound
harmony.” It is this synthesis that underlies all his works,
with his achievements in concrete reflecting his mastery of
space and scale. Every Locsin Building is an original, and
identifiable as a Locsin with themes of floating volume, the
duality of light and heavy, buoyant and massive running in
his major works. From 1955 to 1994, Locsin has produced
75 residences and 88 buildings, including 11 churches and
chapels, 23 public buildings, 48 commercial buildings, six
major hotels, and an airport terminal building.
• Locsin’s largest single work is the Istana Nurul Iman, the
palace of the Sultan of Brunei, which has a floor area of 2.2
million square feet. The CCP Complex itself is a virtual
Locsin Complex with all five buildings designed by him —
the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theater,
Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and
The Westin Hotel (now Sofitel Philippine Plaza).
 ILDEFONSO P. SANTOS, JR.
September 5, 1929 – January 29, 2014
•Ildefonso Paez Santos, Jr., distinguished himself
by pioneering the practice of landscape
architecture–an allied field of architecture–in the
Philippines and then producing four decades of
exemplary and engaging work that has included
hundreds of parks, plazas, gardens, and a wide
range of outdoor settings that have enhanced
contemporary Filipino life.
•Santos, Jr., who grew up in Malabon, made his
first mark with the Makati Commercial Center
where he introduced a new concept of outdoor
shopping with landscaped walks, fountains and
sculptures as accents. Santos, Jr.’s contribution to
modern Filipino landscape architecture was the
seminal public landscape in Paco Park.
•Santos, Jr.’s most recent projects were
the Tagaytay Highland Resort, the Mt. Malarayat
Golf and Country Clubin Lipa, Batangas, and
the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Imus,
Cavite.
 NATIONAL
ARTISTS
for
VISUAL ARTS
 Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto
1892 - 1972
• was the Philippines’ first
National Artist and is officially
recognized as the “Grand Old
Man of Philippine Art”.
Renowned for his trademark
luminosity and ability to render
the iconic provincial Filipina,
Amorsolo’s paintings usually
feature scenes in glowing rural
landscapes-- such as farmers
ankle-deep in rice fields, women
in colorful baro’t sayas sorting
through mangoes, and vibrant
society portrait
 VICTORIO EDADES
(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.
 Juan Luna
Oct 23, 1857 - Dec 7, 1899
• Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta was a
Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of
the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th
century. He became one of the first recognized
Philippine artists.
His winning the gold medal in the 1884 Madrid
Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the silver win
of fellow Filipino painter Félix Resurrección
Hidalgo, prompted a celebration which was a
major highlight in the memoirs of members of the
Propaganda Movement, with the fellow Ilustrados
toasting to the two painters' good health and to
the brotherhood between Spain and the
Philippines.
Regarded for work done in the manner of
European academies of his time, Luna painted
literary and historical scenes, some with an
underscore of political commentary. His
allegorical works were inspired with classical
balance, and often showed figures in theatrical
poses.
NATIONAL
ARTISTS
for
THEATRE
 DAISY H. AVELLANA
January 26, 1917 – May 12, 2013

• is an actor, director and writer. Born in

Roxas City, Capiz on January 26, 1917,
she elevated legitimate theater and
dramatic arts to a new level of excellence
by staging and performing in
breakthrough productions of classic
Filipino and foreign plays and by
encouraging the establishment of
performing groups and the
professionalization of Filipino theater.
Together with her husband, National
Artist Lamberto Avellana and other
artists, she co-founded the Barangay
Theatre Guild in 1939 which paved the
way for the popularization of theatre and
dramatic arts in the country, utilizing
radio and television.
 SEVERINO MONTANO
(January 3, 1915 – December 12, 1980)
• Playwright, director, actor, and theater
organizer, Severino Montano is the forerunner in
institutionalizing “legitimate theater” in the
Philippines. Taking up courses and graduate
degrees abroad, he honed and shared his
expertise with his countrymates.
• As Dean of Instruction of the Philippine Normal
College, Montano organized the Arena Theater to
bring drama to the masses. He trained and
directed the new generations of dramatists
including Rolando S. Tinio, Emmanuel Borlaza,
Joonee Gamboa, and Behn Cervantes.
• He established a graduate program at the
Philippine Normal College for the training of
playwrights, directors, technicians, actors, and
designers. He also established the Arena Theater
Playwriting Contest that led to the discovery of
Wilfrido Nolledo, Jesus T. Peralta, and Estrella
Alfon.
 HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA
January 11, 1902 – July 11, 1991

• Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama was formally

honored as the Queen of Kundiman in 1979,
then already 74 years old singing the same
song (“Nabasag na Banga”) that she sang as a
15-year old girl in the sarsuela Dalagang
Bukid. Atang became the very first actress in
the very first locally produced Filipino film
when she essayed the same role in the
sarsuela’s film version. As early as age seven,
Atang was already being cast in Spanish
zarzuelas such as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals,
and Marina. She counts the role though of an
orphan in Pangarap ni Rosa as her most
rewarding and satisfying role that she played
with realism, the stage sparkling with silver
coins tossed by a teary-eyed audience. Atang
firmly believes that the sarswela and the
kundiman expresses best the Filipino soul, and
even performed kundiman and other Filipino
songs for the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales
and the Sierra Madre, the Bagobos of Davao
and other Lumad of Mindanao.
NATIONAL
ARTISTS
for
MUSIC
 ANTONIO R. BUENAVENTURA
(May 4, 1904 – January 25, 1996)
• vigorously pursued a musical career that
spanned seven decades of unwavering
commitment to advancing the frontiers
of Philippine music. In 1935,
Buenaventura joined Francisca Reyes-
Aquino to conduct research on folksongs
and dances that led to its popularization.
Buenaventura composed songs,
compositions, for solo instruments as
well as symphonic and orchestral works
based on the folksongs of various
Philippine ethnic groups. He was also a
conductor and restored the Philippine
Army Band to its former prestige as one
of the finest military bands in the world
making it “the only band that can sound
like a symphony orchestra”.
 JOSE MACEDA
(January 31, 1917 – May 5, 2004)

• 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.
 LUCRESIA R. KASILAG
(August 31, 1918 – August 16, 2008)

• as educator, composer,
performing artist, administrator
and cultural entrepreneur of
national and international
caliber, had involved herself
wholly in sharpening the
Filipino audience’s appreciation
of music. Kasilag’s pioneering
task to discover the Filipino
roots through ethnic music and
fusing it with Western influences
has led many Filipino composers
to experiment with such an
approach.
NATIONAL
ARTISTS
for
DANCE
 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.
 Francisca Reyes Aquino
March 9, 1899 – November 21, 1983
• is acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer. This
Bulakeña began her research on folk dances in
the 1920s making trips to remote barrios in
Central and Northern Luzon. Her research on
the unrecorded forms of local celebration, ritual,
and sport resulted into a 1926 thesis titled
“Philippine Folk Dances and Games,” and
arranged specifically for use by teachers and
playground instructors in public and private
schools.
• In the 1940s, she served as supervisor of physical
education at the Bureau of Education that
distributed her work and adapted the teaching of
folk dancing as a medium of making young
Filipinos aware of their cultural heritage. In
1954, she received the Republic Award of Merit
given by the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay for
“outstanding contribution toward the
advancement of Filipino culture”, one among the
many awards and recognition given to her.
 RAMON OBUSAN
( June 16, 1938 – December 21, 2006)

• was a dancer, choreographer, stage

designer, and artistic director. He
achieved phenomenal success in
Philippine dance and cultural work.*
He was also acknowledged as a
researcher, archivist and documentary
filmmaker who broadened and
deepened the Filipino understanding
of his own cultural life and
expressions. Through the Ramon
Obusan Folkloric Grop (ROFG), he
had effected cultural and diplomatic
exchanges using the multifarious
aspects and dimensions of the art of
dance.
NATIONAL
ARTISTS
for
FILM
 Lamberto V. Avellana 
 (1915 - 1991)
• Lamberto V. Avellana, director for theater and
film, has the distinction of being called "The
Boy Wonder of Philippine Movies"
• As early as 1939. He was the first to use the
motion picture camera to establish a point-of-
view, a move that revolutionized the
techniques of film narration. Avellana, who at
20 portrayed Joan of Arc in time for Ateneo's
diamond jubilee, initially set out to establish a
Filipino theater. Together with Daisy
Hontiveros, star of many UP plays and his
future wife. It was after seeing such plays that
Carlos P. Romulo, then president of Philippine
Films, encouraged him to try his hand at
directing films. In his first film Sakay,
Avellana demonstrated a kind of visual
rhythm that established a new filmic language.
 Gerardo de Leon
(1913 - 1981)

• Nicknamed "Manong", de
León holds the sole
distinction of being the most
awarded film director in the
history of the Filipino
Academy of Movie Arts and
Sciences' FAMAS Awards.
From 1952 to 1971, he was
awarded seven FAMAS
Awards, three of them he
received three years in a row.
 Catalino Ortiz Brocka
(April 3, 1939 – May 21, 1991)

• On May 21, 1991, Brocka met an

untimely death in a car accident
in Quezon City, Metro Manila. In
1997, he was given the
posthumous distinction of
National Artist for Film.
• Lino Brocka (1939 - 1991)
• Catalino Ortiz Brocka (April 3,
1939 – May 21, 1991) is known as
one of the greatest film directors
of the Philippines. Brocka was
openly gay and many of his films
incorporated LGBT themes into
their often dramatic storylines.