Vicente Manansala
Quick Facts
Biography
Vicente Silva Manansala (January 22, 1910 – August 22, 1981) was a Filipino cubist painter and illustrator.
Early life
Manansala was born in Macabebe, Pampanga.From 1926 to 1930, he studied at the U.P. School of Fine Arts.In 1949, Manansala received a six-month grant by UNESCO to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Banff and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 1950, he received a nine-month scholarship to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris by the French government.
Later Painting Career
Manansala's paintings are the best and were celebrated as the best of the barrio and the city together.His Madonna of the Slums is a portrayal of a mother and child from the countryside who became urban shanty residents once in the city.In his Jeepneys, Manansala combined the elements of provincial folk culture with the congestion issues of the city.
Manansala developed transparent cubism, wherein the "delicate tones, shapes, and patterns of figure and environment are masterfully superimposed".A fine example of Manansala using this "transparent and translucent" technique is his composition, Kalabaw (Carabao).
Vicente Manansala, a National Artist of the Philippines in Visual Arts, was a direct influence to his fellow Filipino neo-realists: Malang, Angelito Antonio, Norma Belleza and Manuel Baldemor.The Honolulu Museum of Art, the Lopez Memorial Museum (Manila), the Philippine Center (New York City), the Singapore Art Museum and Holy Angel University (Angeles City, Philippines) are among the public collections holding work by Vicente Manansala. Holy Angel University recently opened a section of its museum called The Vicente Manansala Collection, holding most of the estate left by the artist.
Death
He died on August 22, 1981 in Manila, Philippines due to lung cancer.
Works
- Madonna of the Slums
- Jeepneys
- Kalabaw (Carabao), oil on canvas, 28.5 inches x 38 inches, 1965
- Murals "Stations of the cross " in the Church of the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice
- Bangkusay Seascape. 1940. Oil on canvas. 14 x 18 inches.
- Pila Pila sa Bigas (Left and Right), 1980. Oil on canvas. 51 x 84 inches.
- Planting the First Cross
- Seal of Arellano University
- Slum Dwellers
- Bayanihan
- Balut Vendors
- Jansen Rodriguez
- Pamilya
- Reclining Mother and Child
- Dambana