Victorio Candido Edades

(National Artist)
A Filipino painter by the name of Victorio Candido Edades. He was the leader of the
Thirteen Moderns, a group of radicals who engaged his classical countrymen in spirited
discussion about the nature and purpose of art. Victorio Edades is referred to throughout history
as the "founder" of Modern Philippine art. He was declared a National Artist in 1976. After
receiving his education in the US, he brought a completely different perspective on art to the
world. He maintained that art may represent truth, but it could also represent reality as viewed
through the eyes and feelings of the creator. Hilario and Cecilia Edades welcomed Victorio into
the world on December 23, 1895. He was the tenth and youngest child (six of whom died of
smallpox). He was raised in Dagupan, Pangasinan's Barrio Bolosan.
His early years saw the development of his artistic talent. His teachers were so impressed
with him by the seventh grade that he earned the nickname "apprentice teacher" in his painting
class. He was also an achiever from the outset, taking home prizes in writing and debate events
at the school. His early styles after his time as an architect already reveal an affinity for the
impressionism style. His earlier works already demonstrated his affinity for the Post-
Impressionist movement and his choice of subject matter in The Market and The Picnic does not
depart from pleasant everyday scenery, but his brushstrokes and attention to non-proportionality
in the figures led his teachers to label him as "very ambitious." His explosive breakthrough into
Philippine art in 1928 with his solo exhibition at the Philippine Columbia Club marked the
pinnacle of his artistic growth. He mounted The Builders, his most well-known piece, here. The
collection of all the other pieces in the exhibition results in this piece. They differ greatly from
the works of Fernando Amorsolo, the first national artist of the Philippines and its best-known
painter, and the other classicists, who created happy, upbeat images of perfect Filipinos going
about their idealized daily lives. Edades, on the other hand, displayed figures in muted earth
tones such as raw sienna and yellow ochre that were accentuated by strong black contours.
Edades paints with restless, aggressive brushstrokes and uses twisted figures as her subjects
(those whose proportions defy conventional measurement). His choice of topic also generated a
lot of discussion among those who watched the program. He represented hard-working, unkempt
construction workers and regular people grappling in manure and dust. Even his naked body
does not like Amorsolo's image of the ideal Filipina. Edades realized that his thoughts have
caused a stir and that he cannot support himself by painting anything he pleases. He earned
money by doing works for commission, mainly murals. He painted murals for illustrious people
and organizations, including Juan Nakpil. It is said that his latter paintings are "flatter."His genre
and portrait paintings in Davao don't appear to be as substantial or hefty as his earlier work with
The Builders. Following Cézanne, Edades had a greater interest in the work of Japanese artist
Utamaro and other artists whose appeal is found in color rather than solidity.
 Victorio Edades was able to dismantle domestic art norms and eradicate the clichéd
mentality that, in his opinion, prevented the advancement of Philippine art by integrating new
concepts into the country's art scene. His deliberate opposition to what the Conservatives defined
as "art" was a call for genuine artistic expression. To express his individual emotion, the artist is
privileged to create in that distinctive form that best interprets his own experience, and the
distortion of plastic elements of art such as line, mass, and color - is one of the many ways of
expressing one's rhythmic form, according to him. Art is always the expression of man's
emotion, and not just a simple photographic likeness of nature. His figures are produced in such
a way for compositional reasons, which is why they are disproportionate. Edades demonstrated
that modernists were not deceiving people as Guillermo Tolentino claimed by continuously
promoting modern art as evidenced by his works and lessons. Edades argued dialectically that
modern art is not anti-classical. In contrast to the academic view of art, he made art accessible to
the general public by saying, "From the technical point of view, Modern Art is an outgrowth of
Classical Art. Modern Art is the interpretation of the Classical concept conditioned by the artist's
new experience with the aid of improved means of aesthetic expression." Edades established a
link between the past and the present by being adamant about upholding his beliefs.

The Sketch, 1928, Oil on canvas

 Eduardo Mutuc
(GAMABA AWARDEE)
There has only ever been one Kapampangan recipient of the Gawad ng Manlilikha ng
Bayan Awards, Mr. Eduardo Tubig Mutuc of Apalit, Pampanga, who received this honor in
2004.Similar to the National Artist award, the GAMABA or National Living Treasure award is
one of the highest honors presented to traditional artists in the Philippines. Only ten Filipinos
have received this distinguished accolade to date, and the people of Pampanga should be proud
to count one of them among themselves. The wealth held within Tatang Eddie's residence-cum-
workshop is not immediately apparent from a first glance. Even the Mutuc family's neighbors in
Tabuyuc, Apalit, Pampanga are unaware of the prominence of the modest elder who has
dedicated his entire life to the traditional craft of "pinukpuk," or metal crafting. Tatang Eddie
himself is quite modest and reserved; he doesn't extol his virtues. Beginning with the fact that his
parents were farmers and that the family included nine other children, he describes his
impoverished upbringing. He never finished high school and started working on the family farm
as soon as he finished primary school. Tatang Eddie wed at the age of 20. In his late 20s, he
began an apprenticeship as an assistant in an antique shop run by his relatives, the Lozano
family. He studied wood carving basics under a particular Mr. Carlos Quiros during this time.
Later, he dabbled in the metal craft known locally as "pinukpuk" due to the technique used to
emboss motifs onto metal sheets, which are then utilized as decorations in predominantly
ecclesiastical things. He initially honed his skills by imitating existing patterns, but as the years
passed, he improved at introducing his original ideas. The so-called callado, which features
entwined leaves and flowers embossed on silver-plated, is one of his current favorite designs.
Tatang Eddie has established himself as one of the best metalworkers in the nation for more than
thirty years at this point. His commissions have ranged from collector's goods like candelabras,
picture frames, and even salakots to ecclesiastical pieces like altar tables and tabernacles. In
Manila, Tesoro's sells a few of his goods. Tatang Eddie's history might go undetected and
unpreserved in his town, where kids are more likely to play basketball than learn the centuries-
old pinukpuk custom, if it weren't for his sons, who continue the family practice. It won't be
shocking if we soon have another national living treasure thanks to the inherent artistic talent of
the Kapampangans. But we haven't yet begun to value the person who is already here.