“Men at Work” by National Artist Ang Kiukok

The #NationalMuseumPH salutes all the Filipino working men and women in the country and around the world this Labor Day, May 1, 2022, featuring a painting by National Artist Ang Kiukok entitled “Men at Work” (1979).

“Men at Work” is a large-scale triptych oil on canvas painting created in 1979 by Ang Kiukok (1931-2005). This semiabstract painting depicting solid, heavy, and muscular human limbs and torso in tones of black and white and engaged in physical work represents the strength of the labor force. It was created in 1979 as a commissioned painting for the National Manpower and Youth Commission (NMYC) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). This was before the NMYC merged with the Bureau of Technical and Vocational Education (BTVE) of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS). The Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) of DOLE formed the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA in 1994. The painting used to be displayed at the auditorium entrance of the TESDA-NCR Office in Taguig.

The painting is currently loaned to the National Museum of the Philippines by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and can be viewed at the Spoliarium Hall. In 2021, Ang Kiukok’s “Men at Work” (1979) was declared a National Cultural Treasure (NCT) and Important Cultural Property (ICT) by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). 

Ang Kiukok (1931-2005) was born on March 1, 1931 in Davao City. His parents were Chinese immigrants. He attended a Chinese high school where he learned Chinese calligraphy. A commercial artist also taught him how to make charcoal portraits. In 1952, he flew to Manila and took art classes at the University of Santo Tomas (UST). While studying at UST, his work “Calesa” was awarded third place at the Shell National Students Art Competition in 1953. In 1954, he was forced to stop his studies due to financial constraints. He then ventured to produce watercolor works and held his first one-man exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Gallery in 1954, where he featured more than twenty watercolor pieces. Ang Kiukok’s proficiency in this medium was noticed by one of his mentors at UST, National Artist Vicente Manansala (1910-1981), who even showed Ang Kiukok’s watercolors to his students. In the succeeding years, he earned awards at the Art Association of the Philippines Annual Competition, such as the first prize for “The Bird” (1959), third prize for “Still Life in Red” (1963), second prize for “Fish” (1963), and second prize for “Geometric Still-Life Fish” (1963). His works in the 1960s gained popularity with a distinct style that combines influences from cubism and expressionism. 

His contribution to Philippine art was recognized with the conferment of the National Artist for Visual Arts in 2001. Four years later, Ang Kiukok passed away due to cancer on May 9, 2005. 

The National Museum of Fine Arts is now open for walk-in visitors! For visitor guidelines, please visit www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph. You may also view the 360 degrees virtual tour of selected NMFA galleries on the link https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nmfa360/HTML5/NMFA360.html. See you at your National Museum!

#AngKiukok
#LaborDay
#BeatCOVID19

Text and photo by NMP FAD

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines