Lesson 5:

NATIONAL ARTISTS
OF THE
PHILIPPINES
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

 Identify the works of National Artists and recognize their contributions to

Philippine art and culture through a research project report;
 Analyze the works of National Artists in relation to public sphere;
 Evaluate the criteria of the National Artists Award (NAA) through creative
group projects; and
 Explain issues related to the NAA through a report or a critical paper.
What is the National Artists Award?

Among the various institutional awards and recognition instruments, the

National Artists Award (NAA) bestows the highest form of recognition to Filipino
artists for their significant contributions in the arts and letters. It shares the same
prestige as the GAMABA and the National Scientist Award
The award is conferred every three years through a rigorous deliberation
and selection process jointly facilitated by two major cultural offices, the National
Commission on Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
NAA was established in 1972 under President Degree No. 1001 issued by
then President Ferdinand Marcos.
 Roster of National Artists

National Artist Year of Category

Jovita Fuentes 1976 Music
Conferment Leonor Orosa Goquingco 1976 Dance
Fernando C. Amorsolo 1972 Visual Arts
Nick Joaquin 1976 Literature
Francisca Reyes Aquino 1973 Dance Vicente S. Manansala 1981 Visual Arts
Gerardo de Leon 1982 Film
Carlos V. Francisco 1973 Visual Arts Carlos P. Romulo 1982 Literature
Amado V. Hernandez 1973 Literature Honorata “Atang” de la 1987 Theater/Mu
Rama sic
Antonio J. Molina 1973 Music
Antonino R. 1988 Music
Juan F. Nakpil 1973 Architecture Buenaventura
Guillermo E. Tolentino 1973 Visual Arts Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula 1988 Dance

Jose Garcia Villa 1973 Literature Lucrecia R. Kasilag 1989 Music

Napoleon V. Abueva 1976 Visual Arts Francisco Arcellana 1990 Literature
Pablo S. Antonio 1976 Architecture Cesar T. Legaspi 1990 Visual Arts
Lamberto V. Avellana 1976 Theater/Film Leandro V. Locsin 1990 Architecture
Hernando R. Ocampo 1991 Visual Arts
Victorio C. Edades 1976 Visual Arts
 Edith L. Tiempo 1999 Literature
Andrea O. Veneracion 1999 Music
Ang Kiukok 2001 Visual Arts
Lucio D. San Pedro 1991 Music
Ishmael Bernal 2001 Film
Lino O. Brocka 1997 Film/Broadcast Arts
F. Sionil Jose 2001 Literature
Levi Celerio 1997 Music/Literature
Severino Montano 2001 Theater
Felipe Padilla de Leon 1997 Music
Virgilio S. Almario 2003 Literature
N.V.M. Gonzalez 1997 Literature
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero 1997 Theater Salvador F. Bernal 2003 Theater and Design
Arturo R. Luz 1997 Visual Arts Jose T. Joya 2003 Visual Arts
Jose M. Maceda 1997 Music Alejandro R. Roces 2003 Literature
Carlos L. Quirino 1997 Historical Literature Eddie Romero 2003 Film/Broadcast Arts
Rolando S. Tinio 1997 Theater/Literature Bienvenido Lumbera 2006 Literature
Daisy H. Avellana 1999 Theater Ramon A. Obusan 2006 Dance
Ernani J. Cuenco 1999 Music Benedicto R. Cabrera 2006 Visual Arts
J. Elizalde Navarro 1999 Visual Arts Ildefonso P. Santos Jr. 2006 Architecture
Ronald Allan K. Poe 2006 Film
(Fernando Poe Jr.)

Ramon Valera 2006 Fashion Design

Abdulmari Asia Imao 2006 Visual Arts
Fernando Amorsolo- the first recipient who was conferred the award
posthumously. Much has changed since the institutionalization of
the award. As of his writing, the roster has included 66 awardees
from seven disciplinal areas, namely: (1) architecture, design, and
allied arts (2) film and broadcast arts (3) visual arts (4) literature (5)
dance (6)music, and (7) theater. In the history of the NAA, other
categories have been considered by virtue of the president’s
prerogative, among them, historical literature, and fashion design.
A. Works of National Artists in
Public Spaces
The iconic school symbol is based on
GUILLERMO TOLENTINO Oblation, a sculptural work by the
classically trained sculptor Guillermo
Tolentino (awarded 1973) depicting a
male nude with arms outstretched as a
gesture of sacrifice and freedom.
It was later cast in bronze also
by Guillermo Tolentino. In the
historical overview of lesson 2, we
remember Tolentino as proponent of
the academic tradition in sculpture
much like Fernando Amorsolo
(awarded 1972) is in painting.
Oblation, 1935
FERNANDO AMORSOLO (awarded 1972)
Amorsolo’s romantic paintings of
bucolic landscapes and idealized
portraits of prominent individuals from
the Commonwealth Period and the
Second World War

ABDULMARI ASIA IMAO (awarded 2006)

Abdulmari Imao is a sculptor of both classical
and modernist traditions, who studied under
Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva.
Imao made his mark by incorporating themes
and form from his Moro heritage into
modernist paintings and sculptures.
BENEDICTO CABRERA (awarded 2006)

Benedicto Cabrera is considered the

preeminent Filipino painter of his
generation. Primarily figurative, Cabrera’s
work often depicts woman and
occasionally men wrapped in swirling,
bundled fabrics and capes. His iconic Variations of Sabel
Variations of Sabel, 2015 made of
aluminum sheets can also be found at the
UP Theater.
JOSE JOYA (awarded 2003)

Joya’s mural in the Virata School

of Business titled Barter of Panay, 1978 is
rendered in the Abstract Expressionist style
and consist of soft, overlapping plnes of
black, white, orange, brown, and golden
yellow. Without rendering human forms,
the solid color palette establishes links to
the legend, referencing the trade between
Datu Puti and King Marikudo, the former
bearing gold accessories to purchase the
lowlands of Panay from the latter.
NAPOLEON ABUEVA (awarded 1976)
His abstract sculpture Spirit of
Business, 1979 seems to be drawn
from science fiction, composed of a
metal disk with sharp-looking poles
jutting through it. He produced
significant number of public
sculptures for the University using
various materials from wood, to
stone and metal; with themes
ranging from figurative tableaus to
abstract sculptures that embody the
spirit of the academic unit.
Both Joya and Abueva served as faculty and deans of the UP
College of Fine Arts and taught in UP. Gaining further art studies in
the United States, the two were influenced by modernist
sensibilities of the period. It is also worth noting that in 1964,
Abueva and Joya represented the Philippines in the Venice Art
Biennale, one of the oldest international art exhibitions
worldwide.
 Inaugurated in 1955, the Church of the Holy Sacrifice in UP Diliman is
credited as the first Catholic Church in the country to employ a circular
architecture with a thin shell dome.

LEANDRO LOCSIN (awarded 1990)

His architectural vision
drew inspiration from the spirit of
the times. Reminiscent of a flying
saucer, the spherical structure
indicated a keen interest in space
travel; and the advancements in
science and technology in 1950s.

The Church is recognized as a National Historical Landmark as well as a Cultural

Treasure by National Historical Institute (now known as National Historical
Commission of the Philippines) and by the National Museum, respectively. It
consolidates the works of five National Artist:
 NAPOLEON ABUEVA
LEANDRO LOCSIN
Hanging above the circular
Architecture and four other altar positioned at the
modernists in the visual arts, center is a double-sided
whose works are found crucifix carved in hardwood.
inside the chapel
ARTURO LUZ (awarded 1997)
Another work done in the
modernist style is a terrazzo
floor work suggesting flowing
rivers that terminate in the
altar as a whirling pattern of
planar forms. Stylistically, the
use of flay and angular shapes
find resonance in the 15
Stations of the Cross.
VICENTE MANANSALA (awarded 1981) and
ANG KIUKOK (awarded 2001)

15 Stations of the Cross,

murals which they both
painted. Christ and
characters surrounding his
passion are represented
with mildly distorted
figures- limbs are elongated,
and volume is suggested
through solid, hard-edged
shapes, lending the
compositions a cubist
quality.
JOSE MACEDA (awarded 1997)
This cutting-edge structure of the period housed a performance
in1968 led by the equally avant-garde composer, musician, and
ethnomusicologist who was eventually proclaimed National Artist for Music.
Maceda’s Pagsamba involved a hundred mixed voices, indigenous
musical instruments such as bamboo buzzers, clappers, and whistle flutes;
while incorporating a prayer sung in Tagalog.
He also founded the UP Center of Ethnomusicology, where he
donated his precious collections of sound recordings, field notes, and other
materials on ethnomusicology in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. For its
significance, the Maceda Archives received recognition from UNESCO
Memory of the World.
B. Translations and Collaborative Works
of National Artists
Artistic collaborations help develop projects involving
production work, as in the case of film or theater.

GENGHIS KHAN, 1950

• Worked by the actor, filmmaker, and producer Manuel Cone
(awarded 2009) with Carlos V. Francisco.
• The story tells the epic adventure of a Mongolian conqueror.
• This was filmed in Francisco’s native Angono. Although more
known for his magisterial murals, Francisco’s imaginative
production design likewise enriched Conde’s cinematic vision.
• The film was screened in many film festivals abroad and
translated into 16 languages for international distribution, the
most recent of which was at the 2015 Venice Biennale.
Tales of the Manuvu

 The pop-rock opera performed at the CCP in 1985 also benefited from the
efforts of several National Artists.
 Recounting the origins of Monobo people, the scholar, poet, and teacher
Bienvenido Lumbera, National Artist for Literature (awarded 2006) wrote the
libretto, while National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes (awarded 2014), founder of
Ballet Philippines, choreographed the performace.
 National Artist for Theater Salvador Bernal (awarded 2003) took charge of the
costume and set design.
 It reflected a confluence of genres normally perceived as belonging different
realms: ballet and opera on the other hand, popular music and folk culture, on
the other.
 Noong Unang Panahon, one of the song popularized, a melancholic
reminiscence of ecological transformation, still compelling in today’s context.
FRANCISCO CONCHING (awarded 2014)
 The combined drawings and stories popularized in comics, have inspired
filmmakers to create adaptations on the big screen.
 The young superhero Pedro Penduko first appeared in Conching’s work in
Liwayway comics.

GERARDO de LEON (awarded 1982

 National Artist for Film
 Animated Pedro Penduko into film
NICK JOAQUIN (awarded 1976)
 A poet, novelist and playwright National Artist for Literature
 Wrote A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino, 1950.
 The story revolves around painting of the same time, dedicated by a
crippled artist to his two unmarried daughters, Candida and Paula. The said
painting calls the attention of characters that take interest in the work of
once famous artist, and who give their varied appraisals of the work. Sent in
prewar Intramuros, the play forwards concerns about the value of art and
the plight of artists and the nostalgia for “peace” and glory days in Manila.
 This was adapted for film in 1965 by Lamberto Avellana, NA for Film
(awarded 1976). His wife and collaborator, the actress, director, and writer
Daisy Hontiveros Avellana, NA for Theater (awarded 1999) played the lead
character ( Candida Marasigan) in both film and theater.
THAT WOULD BE ALL
AND
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!