ANG KIUKOK (b. Davao City, March 1, 1931 d.

May 9, 2005) Painter Ang Kiukok was born to immigrant Chinese parents, Vicente Ang and Chin Lim. He is married to Mary de Jesus with whom he has four children. Ang Kiukok took up art studies at the University of Santa Tomas from 1952 to 1954. For five years afterwards, he taught art in a school for children of overseas Chinese. In 1954 he held his first one person show at the Contemporary Arts Gallery. Since then, he has had many other solo shows . In 1990, he was featured with Onib Olmedo, and Solomon Saprid in a show entitled Three Figurative Expressionists held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP.) He is known for his expressionistic interpretations of a variety of themes including the mother and child, Christ crucified or suffering, heaps of junk, roosters crowing, dogs fighting, and couples making love. In 1953 he won the third prize in the Shell National Students Art Competition for Calesa He was several times honored by the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) first prize, "The Bird," 1959; honorable mention, "Still Life," 1951; third prize, "Still Life in Red," 1963; second prize, "Fish," 1963; and second prize, "Geometric Still-Life Fish," 1963. In 1961 he was recognized as Outstanding Overseas Chinese in Art. In 1976 he received the Patmabay ng Sining at KiLinangan Awarrd from the City of Manila. In 1978 he was given an outstanding alumnus award by the University of Santo Tomas, in 1980 his images of Modern Angst was a finalist in the Mobil Art Awards. His works are displayed in various collections, such as the Philippine National Museum, the Ateneo Art Gallery, the the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Historical Commission in Taipei.

The Philippine artist Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) was a portraitist and painter of rural landscapes. He is best known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light. Fernando Amorsolo was born May 30, 1892, in the Paco district of Manila. At 13 he was apprenticed to the noted Philippine artist Fabian de la Rosa, his mother's first cousin. In 1909 Amorsolo enrolled at the Liceo de Manila and then attended the fine-arts school at the University of the Philippines, graduating in 1914. After working three years as a commercial artist and parttime instructor at the university, he studied at the Escuela de San Fernando in Madrid. For seven months he sketched at the museums and on the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color. That winter he went to New York and discovered the works of the postwar impressionists and cubists, who became the major influence on his works. On his return to Manila, he set up his own studio. During this period, Amorsolo developed the use of light--actually, backlight--which is his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. Characteristically, an Amorsolo painting contains a glow against which the figures are outlined, and at one point of the canvas there is generally a burst of light that highlights the smallest detail. During the 1920s and 1930s Amorsolo's output of paintings was prodigious. In 1939 his oil Afternoon Meal of the Workers won first prize at the New York World's Fair. During World War II Amorsolo continued to paint. The Philippine collector Don Alfonso Ongpin commissioned him to execute a portrait in absentia of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, which he did at great personal risk. He also painted Japanese occupation soldiers and self-portraits. His wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacanang presidential palace in 1948. After the war Amorsolo served as director of the college of fine arts of the University of the Philippines, retiring in 1950. Married twice, he had 13 children, five of whom became painters. Amorsolo was noted for his portraits. He made oils of all the Philippine presidents, including the revolutionary leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and other noted Philippine figures. He also painted many wartime scenes, including Bataan, Corner of Hell, and One Casualty. Amorsolo, who died in 1972, is said to have painted more than 10,000 pieces. He continued to paint even in his late 70s, despite arthritis in his hands. Even his late works feature the classic Amorsolo tropical sunlight. He said he hated "sad and gloomy" paintings, and he executed only one painting in which rain appears.

CARLOS VILLALUZ FRANCISCO (aka Botong B. Angono) (b. Rizal, November 4, 1914, d. Angono, Rizal, March 31, 1969)

Carlos Villaluz Francisco, born in 1914, was the son of Felipe Francisco and Maria Villaluz of Angono, Rizal.

Francisco studied at the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Fine Arts. Before the war, he did illustrations for the Tribune and La Vanguardia, and later, with Victorio Edades and Fermin Sanchez painted sets for the Manila Grand Opera House, and the Clover Theater. He was also a member of the "Thirteen Moderns" a group formed in 1938.

After WWII, Francisco taught at the University of Santo Tomas, simultaneously working in filmmaking with Miguel conde, as the scriptwriter for "Ghenghis Khan, Putol na Kampilan" (Broken Sword) and "Tatlong Labuyo," (Three Wild Roosters). He also designed costumes for "Romeo at Julieta," (Romeo and Juliet) as well as "Prinsipe Tenoso," (Prince Tenoso) "Ibong Adarna," (Adarna Bird), "Siete Infantes de Lara," and the Juan Tamad series.

Francisco belonged to the first generation modernists who, with Edades and Galo B. Ocampo, constituted the pioneering triumvirate which attempted to change the direction of Philippine art from the tenacious influence of the Amorsolo school in new and fresh idioms of visual expression. In the struggle for modern art, Francisco was one of the artists/protagonists in the center of the fray.

His painting :Kaingin" (Swidden), a modernist composition with strong design and rhythm, won him the first prize in the

historic first national art exhibition of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) held at the National Museum in 1948.

Francisco, along with Edades and Ocampo were commissioned to do a number of murals for lobbies and for private residences such as that of the architect Juan Nakpil. These murals featured stylized figures in flowing curvilinear lines: nymphs dancing or playing the flute, often against a background of tropical vegetation.

Through these works, the artists contributed towards developing a Filipino imagery, drawing inspiration from the the customs and traditions of the Philippine people, as well as from familiar environments.

In the quest for a Filipino modernist idiom, Francisco, who chose to be based in his fishing village of Agono, observed Philippine folk aesthetics and researched Philippine histon,, customs, and traditions. He arrived at an idiom which was both Filipino and Asian. Francisco employed bold folk colors, flowing rhythmic lines and decorative patterns often covering the entire field of the painting. He evoked the communal life of Philippine gatherings and celebrations.

His images of women were drawn from mythology. such as Mariang Makiling; from history and legend, such as Princesa Urduja; from customs of the past, such as the maiden carried on a hammock across the mountain in Antipolo; and from contemporary folk, such as the woman preparing fish for sinigang. Fisherfolk were among

his favorite subjects since he lived in a fishing village. He showed his closeness to the folk in paintings such as the "Camote Eaters," his last and unfinished work.

Francisco's first important mural was done for the 1953 International Fair held in Manila. On the theme of 500 years of Philippine History, its scope covered the legendary origin of the Filipino with the first man and woman Malakas and Maganda springing from the primal bamboo, up to the administration of then incumbent President Elpidio Quirino. The mural was finely executed in wood by the Paete woodcarvers.

Foreign visitors to the Fair were impressed by Francisco's mural which received full Newsweek, but local sentiment was lukewarm and the work was promptly carelessly disposed of after the fair.

Francisco's major masterpiece is the mural for the Bulwagang Katipunan of the Manila City Hall, commissioned by Manila mayor Antonio Villegas during his administration. "Filipino Struggles through History" chronicles the history of Manila from the first great Rajahs of Tondo, the Spanish colonial period, Balagtas, Rizal and the Revolution of 1896, up to the American colonial period which becomes the history of the entire nation itself.

In this work Francisco often integrated several historical episodes, in smaller scale, under one period. The episode groups, however, are not static but flow into each other by means of various linking devices, such as a winding river,

flames branching out, or clouds coiling in spirals. The murals are marked by artistic vigor and inexhaustible inventiveness, a lively characterization of the numerous historical figures, and unifying all, a strong sense of design. Andres Bonifacio's figure makes a compelling visual impact as he is shown forging forward, leading the Katpunero with their long bamboo spears, rifles, and bolos. Among the many dynanic scenes is the encounter between Limahong and the Spanish soldiers as they thrust their weapons at each other.

A smaller mural is the Pageant of Commerce in four sections: two sides on the history of Philippine trade, from commercial relations with China and Arabia to the Manila Acapulco galleon trade: a section on the development of modern industry in factories, travel and communication; and the central one of a Filipino couple in native costume, the woman slipping a coin into a bamboo alkansya, with the spirit of commerce hovering above.

Francisco also did the murals on the Life and Miracles of St Dominic for Santo Domingo Church, 1954; and the Stations of the Cross for Far Eastern University, 1956. He worked with Victorio Edades and Galo B. Ocampo on the mural of Rising Philippines for the Capitol Theater and murals for the Golden Gate Exposition, the State Theater, the houses of Pres Manuel Quezon, Ernesto Rufino, and Vicente Rufino.

Francisco's Kaingin won first prize in the 1948 painting competition of the Art Association of the Philippines. He

received the Patnubav ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1964. He was proclaimed National Artist in painting in 1973.