In the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Diliman campus, there is the 2.

2
kilometer elliptical road called the U.P. Academic Oval, where many of the major
academic buildings and institutions are located. The oval is comprised of two major
roads, with the Pres. Manuel A. Roxas Avenue (the 5th Philippine president) on the
eastbound way and the Pres. Sergio S. Osmeña Avenue (the 4th Philippine president)
on the westbound path. Entering the eastbound lane of Roxas Avenue, one is
immediately greeted with a wide green field to the right. Amidst the grass and trees, one
can spy odd and colorful forms jutting out from the green; this is the U.P. Sculpture
Garden. This garden came about in 1978-82, when the National Artist for Sculpture and
dean of the U.P. College of Fine Arts (CFA), Napoleón Isabelo Veloso Abueva (born
1930) constructed a sculpture foundry at the back of the nearby Vargas Museum. As
soon as it was constructed, Abueva and his students started installing their works on
the field, as part of their academic and creative exercises. Soon these pieces became a
permanent part of the U.P. landscape.

The first major work in this collection is Napoleón Abueva’s “Fredeswinda”, which
is also the last object that shows where Abueva’s foundry once stood. Completed in
1984, the sculpture is a second version of the design, which Abueva first made for the
ASEAN summit in Singapore, in 1981. Also entitled ”ASEAN Boat: Sailing to
Prosperity”, the original piece sits at the ASEAN Sculpture Garden in Fort Canning,
Singapore. To get to the artwork, one has to pass through the rocky path behind the
U.P. Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center parking lot.

Long before, another Abueva sculpture stood in the center of the field, which was
his 1978 “Bridge of Love”. It is a statue of a nude man and a woman stretching over in
an arch, as they touched each other’s private parts. Abueva moved this artwork back to
his home studio, in Culiat, Quezon City. There are two reported reasons why he
transferred the artwork, whether the general public was shocked by the risqué nature of
the piece, or Abueva was frustrated that the U.P. administration just allowed the
vegetation to overrun his work.
 Near the entrance driveway of the Vargas Museum, visitors are greeted by the
National Artist for Sculpture, Abdulmari Asia Imao’s untitled 1984 sculpture, which is
sometimes referred to as the “Allah Configuration”. Creating a monumental bronze
piece of a stylized Arabic script, Imao is also noted to the first Filipino Moslem to garner
the prestigious National Artist honor. Abdulmari Asia Imao (1936-2014) was born in the
island of Jolo, and proceeded to Manila, where he earned a degree in fine arts from the
University of the Philippines (UP) in 1959.

Imao later took a master of fine arts degree from the University of Kansas in
1962, and took further studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and Columbia
University in New York City. Imao’s sculptures and paintings draw inspiration from the
Tausug and Maranao people’s cultures, of which he is a part of. Imao received the Ten
Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award in 1968, the Gawad CCP para sa Sining from
the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1990, and the was honored as the 1st Moslem
National Artist in 2006.
 Napoleón Isabelo “Billy” Veloso Abueva (born 1930) studied at the U.P. School of
Fine Arts, under National Artist, Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (1890-1976), who was then
the director of the school. Although trained in the classical style of sculpting, Abueva
broke from its mold and began experimenting on modernist styles and techniques. Soon
he became known as and Godfather of Philippine Modern Sculpture. Aside from the
many historical monuments that are found all over the Philippines, Abueva has also
been commissioned to create sculptures around the world. In his youth, he was
awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) award; which
would herald more awards and distinctions in his life. He was proclaimed National Artist
for Sculpture in 1976, making him the youngest recipient of this distinction. And just like
his mentor, Abueva also served as dean of the U.P. College of Fine Arts

"Fishermen" by Ang Kiukok is the biggest easel painting of the

The depiction of the fishermen as they collect their haul from the ocean may be a
reference to the artist’s personal journey, and spiritual awakening. Look around you. So
much anger, sorrow, ugliness. estimates His audience could easily understand the
message of his paintings because he used passion.

Big paintings are almost always heart-stopping. Not only because there is so much to
take in in one go — the meticulous detail, the well-planned composition, the overall
effect — but because we intuit the kind of endurance and hectic physicality that enabled
the artist to crystallize his vision. The canvas becomes an arena of creation; the bigger
the scale, the greater the gamble and the possibility of failure. But once the artist
succeeds, we are awed by his having beat the artistic odds initially thought
insurmountable.

At the “Spectacular Midyear Auction: Grand Independence Day Sale” happening this
Saturday (June 10, 2 p.m.) and with a preview that starts today, Leon Gallery highlights
some of the biggest — and the best — works by National Artists Ang Kiukok, Jose
Joya, and Vicente Manansala as well as Romulo Olazo and Fabian de la Rosa, among
others. Jaime Ponce de Leon, director of the auction house, promises it to be as “the
most breathtaking selection of highly important works in a single sale to date.”
Leading the pack is “Fishermen” by Ang Kiukok, which he painted in 1981. At 40 x 80
inches, it is the biggest easel painting of the master to enter the market to date. Owned
by an art patron who has bequeathed the painting to his philanthropic organization,
whose main vision is to help young artists find their place in the art world, the work also
signals the maturation of the auction market of the country, given that the owner could
have chosen to send the work to an international auction house where an Ang Kiukok
remains to be bluechip. Today, no one doubts the robustness of an auction house such
as Leon Gallery to deliver: it is expected to fetch at least fourfold of the low price
estimate of P12 million. If the work just fetches a hammer price of P20 million, it will still
be the most expensive Ang Kiukok painting ever.

Composed of three figures pulling the diagonal lines of a net straining with the harvest
of fish as the red disc of a sun hovers above them, it spells out the surname of the
master. “Fishermen” is a modern-day letras y figuras. “It may be a subliminal signature
of the artist,” says Ramon V. Villegas, curator of the auction. “We can certainly assume
that the artist was conscious of what he was doing, and it doesn’t hurt the meaning of
the painting.”

Ang Kiukok was a Filipino painter known for his expressive, Cubist-like works. He often
chose dynamic or disturbing subject matter, frequently depicting rabid dogs,
crucifixions, and screaming figures in an abstracted geometric style. When asked why
he often chose subjects full of such angry he once replied "Why not? Open your eyes.
Look around you. So much anger, sorrow, ugliness. And also madness." Born on March
1, 1931 in Davao City, the Philippines, Kiukok gained both critical and commercial
success in his home country throughout the 1960s.

Some of his most gruesome paintings were made during the rule of Ferdinand Marcos,
who held the Phillipines under martial law throughout the 1970s. Kiukok was awarded
the title of National Artist by his home country in 2001, and continued to exhibit with
success until his death on May 9, 2005 in Quezon City, the Philippines.
A popular Filipino artist best known for his depictions of violent imagery and for
originating the style of figurative expressionism. Equally at home on canvas and paper,
Ang's versatility helped the elevation of sketches from medium simply for the production
of studies to a well-respected art form in their own right. Early encouragement of his art
led to Ang's enrollment in the University of Santo Tomas in Fine Art in 1952. There,
notable Filipino painters such as Vicente Manansala recognized his talent; Manansala
would become Ang's primary mentor and lifelong friend. After his time at university, Ang
spent his time teaching and participating in art shows. He held his first solo exhibition in
1954 and won numerous awards during this period. In 1965, a trip to New York led to a
shift in Ang's style, influenced by the abstract art that he saw there. His artwork
continued to portray the anger that he saw in the world around him.

As Ang worked mostly during the repressive dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, his art
often reflects the political strife of the time, veiled in shrouds of metaphor in order to
avoid being detected and censored. Although he never expressed his opposition to the
Marcos regime, his artwork nevertheless reflects what many see as animosity towards
the dictator while Ang himself maintained a calm composure. Despite his later, more
robotic pieces being rejected by the public fancy, he nevertheless persisted in staying
true to himself and painting without regard for public opinion. After this period, his
paintings again grew in popularity in the 1970s, leading to a period of celebration of
Ang's work that would persist beyond his passing.

In 1976, Ang was awarded the Outstanding Citizen Award which led to the 1978
Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, and in 2001, he was awarded the
Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas (National Artists of the Philippines) order,
the highest honor bestowed for artistic achievement in the Philippines. A retrospective
of Ang's work was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in 2000; he was only the
third person in the history of the museum to receive this honor. He died from prostate
cancer in 2005 and was buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani, Manila's national cemetery
for Filipino heroes. Today, Ang remains one of the most recognizable and sought-after
Filipino