The #NationalMuseumPh celebrates the 113th birth anniversary of National Artist for Painting Vicente Silva Manansala.

Born in Macabebe, Pampanga, Manansala earned his Fine Arts degree at the University of the Philippines. He pursued further studies at Ecole de Beaux Arts in Montreal, France and the University of Paris through the UNESCO scholarship grant and French government scholarship, respectively. He was mentored by French artist Fernand Léger who advised him to simplify the shapes and colors in his works. He eventually rendered figures and objects and simplified them into basic geometric shapes while applying layers of colors. This style, which he pioneered and developed, is called transparent cubism. 

For his birth anniversary, we feature his memorabilia of paintbrushes and a serial palette he used to create his pieces. These memorabilia give us a glimpse and make us wonder about the artist’s process in creating their masterpieces. These tell us that Manansala was fastidious about cleaning his materials and equipment, as he would scrape and scrub his hardwood palettes after each use. In contrast, some artists would clean workspaces only after finishing each series of paintings as though they were wiping the slate to start afresh. As you may notice, Manansala may have opted to mix various colors on this particular palette, especially when he was creating larger paintings.

Manansala’s paintbrushes and serial palettes are on loan from the Manansala family. These are on view at the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Northwest Hall Gallery at the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA), along with some of his works from the National Fine Arts and GSIS collections. You may view other works of National Artist Vicente Manansala at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Hall and the PHILAM Life Hall also found on the third floor of the NMFA.

#OnThisDay

Text and photos by NMP-FAD

© 2023 National Museum of the Philippines

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the 95^th birth anniversary of cartoonist and modernist painter Mauro Malang Santos #OnThisDay in 1928.

Mauro Malang Santos (1928-2017) belonged to the group of artists who took inspiration from folk art and whose works are characterized by geometric shapes, simplified figures, festive colors, and decorative forms. The National Fine Arts Collection has four of his works. One of these is an undated serigraph entitled “Sampaguita Vendor (93/249)” which depicts a simplified figure of a woman portrayed with long black hair dressed in a blue blouse with white sleeves and a red skirt. The woman holds a bagful of flowers and stands under the opening of an arched structure with a cross at its summit. In the background are images of houses, plants, trees, and a mountain at the end using solid geometric shapes. This work by Malang was donated to the National Museum in 2018 by Ms. Dora C. Afable.

Malang was born on January 20, 1928, in Santa Cruz, Manila. His artistic training started when he took drawing lessons from Teodoro Buenaventura (1863-1950). He later continued his studies at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. Malang’s talent was recognized when he won awards in art competitions organized by the Art Association of the Philippines, the Society of Philippine Illustrators and Cartoonists, and the Art Directors Guild. He was also awarded the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining in 1995. Mauro Malang Santos, who signed his works with Malang, passed away on June 10, 2017, leaving behind a legacy of works representing his artistic style and his contribution to Philippine art. 

You may view his artworks at the Pillars of Philippine Modernism (Gallery XVIII) and The Philippine Center New York Core Collection: A Homecoming Exhibition (Galleries XXVII and XXVIII) at the National Museum of Fine Arts. For visitor guidelines, please visit https://bit.ly/3pqZ2iJ. 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!

#MauroMalangSantos #OnThisDay

Text and photo by NMP-FAD

© 2023 National Museum of the Philippines

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the 87th birth anniversary of National Artist Abdulmari Asia Imao, the first National Artist from Mindanao who was born #OnThisDay in 1936.

For his birth anniversary, we are featuring his bronze sculpture, The Bust of Antonio L. Tambunting (1908-1976), completed in 2009, which is the newest addition to the National Fine Arts Collection. Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting and his family donated this sculpture in 2022. The donor, Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting, commissioned National Artist Imao to create a bust of his father, Antonio L. Tambunting. The figure used to be displayed in the Head Office of Planters Development Bank, where Ambassador Tambunting served as the board’s first chairperson. You may view the bust at the Antonio and Aurora Tambunting Gallery entrance at the National Museum of Anthropology.

NA Imao was a sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist, filmmaker, researcher, and writer. He was born in Siasi, Sulu. He earned his fine arts degree at the University of the Philippines. He pursued graduate studies at Kansas University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Columbia University. He produced several photojournalistic and research work about the people of Mindanao. He also studied and promoted indigenous brass casting techniques. His works displayed the indigenous okir or ukkil, sarimanok, and other motifs from Southern Philippines. In 2006, Imao was declared a National Artist for Visual Arts. He passed away on December 16, 2014, at the age of 78 years old. 

The National Fine Arts Collection holds five other artworks of NA Imao. Found in the exhibition galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts are the following: Sarimanok (1975, acrylic on canvas), Sarimanok (1969, bronze), Fishes (1976, bronze, two pieces), and Sarimanok (1996, pounded brass).

You may view these artworks when you visit the #NationalMuseumPh! We are open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 9 AM to 6 PM. Entrance is free!

Text by NMP-FAD

Photo by NMP-EEMPSD

©National Museum of the Philippines (2022)

The value of rice in the Philippines goes beyond its role as a staple food in the country and other neighboring countries in Asia. In its many forms and state, rice is deeply embedded in the daily routines as well as in rituals and festivities among several ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines. As we end the celebration of National Rice Awareness Month, we highlight today the socio-cultural significance of rice by featuring the most popular effigy associated with it – the bulul/bulol of the Ifugao in northern Philippines.

Bulul/bulol are carved anthropomorphic figures serving as granary idols believed to protect against pests and assure good harvest for the Ifugaos in the Cordillera. They are effigies of one’s ancestors and guardian spirits. Once they are given proper rituals by the descendant community, their status becomes bulul, transcending beyond being tag-tagu or human figures devoid of any social constructs or signification.

Christian missions in Ifugao in the 19^th century, though sporadic, resulted in the scarcity of the bulul as some families began to discard them; its production was reduced if not halted, making it difficult to obtain them starting from the 20^th century. Among the tradition-bound Ifugaos, only wealthy families could afford to commission and maintain a bulul since the required rituals are often lavish. This situation led some locals to re-appropriate tourist art from the market by performing new libations of blood and grease for ritual use. Various opinions on what makes a bulul “authentic” have surfaced, primarily due to its different production methods, yet some of these may have become conceptually “authentic,” having been superseded by the ritual performance and the ascribed value given by the descendant community.

The rise in demand for the currently limited number of original bulul (i.e. those that underwent ritual and were actually used by the community for their intended purpose) in antique shops from the early 1960s to late 1970s triggered the production of imitations and replicas. Some of the newly carved figures were buried in mud or ground to achieve the old and dark color of the wood. These bulul are often prized possessions as these have been passed down from generations. Acquiring them often required owners to spend for costly rituals to sort of remove their attachment to the divine. Moreover, retiring a bulul also obliges them to build and ritually cleanse another statue to serve as the deity’s new dwelling place.

This level of importance that we accord to the bulul/bulol has been the motivation for us at the National Museum of the Philippines to include them in our National Ethnographic Collection, along with hipag (war deities) and other anthropomorphic figures. While continuing debates on the authenticity of a bulul and expertise on Ifugao culture abound, what remains clear is the unceasing respect of our indigenous people for our ancestors, for nature, and for their sense of community. The bulul/bulol will forever be a testimony to the artistry and craftsmanship of the Ifugaos which we hope is still being passed on to the younger generations.

Learn more about the Philippines’ rice culture by visiting the newly upgraded Pakhey, Humay, Palay: Rice, Biodiversity and Climate Change gallery at the 4F, National Museum of Anthropology.

#Bulul
#RiceAwarenessMonth2022
#MuseumFromHome

Article and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the 93^rd birthday of modernist painter Juvenal Sansó.

Born in 1929, Sansó is a Spanish artist who has lived all his life in Manila. He is a multi-faceted artist who has worked with various media such as oil, acrylic, ink and dry brush, textile, printmaking, and photography. Aside from being a visual artist, he has also ventured into production design by creating set and costume designs for operas in France and the Philippines. Immediately after World War II, his art was affected mainly by his traumatic experience resulting in his Black Period.  It is characterized by works representing surreal bouquets of faces and heads in black and white. This period was later replaced by his colorful and genuine bloom series which gained popularity and admiration.

One of these bloom series is an acrylic on canvas created in 1965 entitled “Blue Floral.” It shows an arrangement of bright red flowers nestled in leaves of various sizes and shades of green and blue against a soft blue background. The painting, which is on loan from the Government Service Insurance System collection, can be viewed at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Gallery XIV, as part of the “Pillars of Modernism I ” exhibition. This exhibition features works created between the 1920s to 1970s by modernist painters such as National Artist Victorio Edades (1895-1985), Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. (1912-2017), Galo Ocampo (1913-1985), Diosdado Lorenzo (1906-1984) and Juvenal Sansó (b. 1929).

Sansó was born on November 23, 1929, in Reus, Catalonia, Spain. His family moved to Manila when he was five years old, where they started their wrought-iron business. However, this business fell through during World War II when his father refused to work for the Japanese war effort. After the war, he enrolled as a special student at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts from 1948 to 1951 where he was taught by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) as well as by Dominador Castañeda (1904-1967) and Ireneo Miranda (1896-1964). Aside from this, he also took special classes at the University of Santo Tomas. 

In 1950, he was awarded first prize in the watercolor category of the Art Association of the Philippines Annual Art Competition for his work entitled “Incubus.” He won the first prize again in 1951 but this time in the oil category for his work “Sorcerer.” The same year, Sansó went to Rome to study at the Academia di Belle Arti. It was followed by further studies in Paris at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts from 1953 to 1961. He held his first solo exhibition in Paris in 1956 and then his first solo exhibition in Manila in 1957 at the Philippine Art Gallery. These exhibitions were followed by more solo exhibitions in Italy, the United States, England, and Mexico. In 1964, his work entitled “Leuers” was awarded the Print of the Year award by the Cleveland Museum of Art, sharing the distinction with previous winners like Henri Matisse and Salvador Dali. 

Sansó was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit on May 20, 2006, for his significant contributions to Philippine art. As a way of giving back to the Philippine art community, he has found ways to encourage young Filipino artists by serving as an artist in residence for the Art Interaction program of the Shell National Students Art Competition from 2008 to 2009 and through his museum, Fundacion Sansó, which was launched in 2015. 

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!

#JuvenalSansó
#OnThisDay