The Order of
National Artist
HISTORY
❑Started as differing awards such as the
Presidential Award of Merit and the Republic
Cultural Award.
❑Formalized into the National Artist Award by
President Ferdinand Marcos under Presidential
Proclamation No. 1001 on April 27, 1972 .
HISTORY
❑It's first awardee was Fernando Amorsolo,
It was awarded posthumously on 1972 for his
achievements in painting.
❑It Was elevated to the Order of National Artist on
2003 and is now managed by the National
Comission for Culture and the Arts.
SELECTION
1. Announcement of opening nominations
2. A series of screenings and deliberation by peers,
colleagues and the administration of both the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
and the Cultural Center of the Philippines
SELECTION
3. The list of nominees is then given to the Office
of the President which issues the proclamation
of the rank and title of the artist
4. Finally, the award is given in a ceremony
prepared by the Secretariat and led by the
President of the Republic
GUIDELINES OF SELECTION
1. The artist must be a Filipino Citizen;
2. The Artist must have contributed to the
development to the Filipino sense of
nationhood;
3. The Artist must have pioneered into the
improvement and evolution of their art, gaining
distinction internationally or locally impacting
future generations;
GUIDELINES OF SELECTION
4. The Artist must have created a significant body
of works which consistently manifested
excellence towards their particular expressions;
5. The Artist must have acceptance and
recognition from their peers nationally and
internationally, garnering critical acclaim for
their works.
BENEFITS
•Acclaim both Nationally and Internationally.
•Lifetime monetary benefits, such as a cash award
for Php 200,000 for living awardees and Php
150,000 for posthumous awardees.
•A monthly life pension, medical and
hospitalization benefits and lifetime insurance.
BENEFITS
•A state funeral and burial at the Libingan ng mga
Bayani.
•A place of honor in state functions and
recognition at cultural events.
National Artist
TANGIBLE
ARTS
•Introduced the building
Philosophy of
“Streamlining”: a theme
inspired by nautical designs,
such as rounded corners and
punctured porthole windows.
•Was posthumously awarded
in 1976.
•First major work was the
Ideal Theater, completed
on 1933.
•Has a total output of 60
residences, 48 commercial
and industrial buildings 11
theaters, 6 schools and 30
other structures of various
types.
•A visionary of clean, crisp
modernism.
•His works posses a
enigmatic duality of light
and heavy; massive yet
buoyant.
LEANDRO V. •Was awarded in 1990 by
LOCSIN
NATIONAL ARTIST FOR ARCHITECTURE
the late President Cory
Aquino
(AUGUST 15, 1928 – NOVEMBER 15, 1994)
• Church of the holy
sacrifice.(1955)
• His most iconic work is the
Tanghalang Pambansa of the
Cultural Center of Philippines.
(1969)
• Church of the monastery of
the transfiguration in
Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
•Introduced the building
Philosophy of
“Streamlining Moderne”:
a theme of audacious
geometries, streamlined
contours and dramatic
flourishes.
•Was awarded in 1973
•Known for his design of the
University of the Philippines'
Administration Building
known as the “Quezon Hall”.
•Created buildings that
synthesize strength,
function and beauty;
embodying the modern
heritage of the Filipino
•Known as the “Father of
Modern Philippine
Landscape Architecture”
•His works designs sprang
from the Filipino concept
of positive space as free
flowing and “Maaliwas.”
•Was awarded in 2006
•One of his works,
The Martyrdom of Jose
Rizal (1996) recreates the
last days of the national
hero through a
light-and-sound
presentation.
• His name is synonymous with
modern ecclesiastical
architecture.
• Used brise-soleil or the
reducing of heat gain within a
building by deflecting sunlight
in many of his works:
• Philippine Banking
JOSE MARIA ZARAGOZA
NATIONAL ARTIST FOR ARCHITECTURE
corporation (1968)
(AUGUST 15, 1928 – NOVEMBER 15, 1994)
• Meralco Building (1968)
• Was posthumously awarded in
2014
•Designed the Santo
V Domingo Church in
Quezon City, inspired by
European and Latin
American designs.
• Nephew of Former President
Elpido Quirino
• Enlisted into the army during
World War 2, was captured by
the Japanese and forced and
escaped from the Bataan Death
March, joining the underground
resistance in Pampanga
• Was awarded in 1997 .
• Wrote works on World War 2
and the Filipino heritage,
famously translating the Boxer
Codex, A book that contains
illustrations of ethnic groups in
the Philippines at the time of
their initial contact with the
Spaniards.
• Known for his pen name, Rio Alma.
• Was Executive Director of the National
Commision for Culture and the Arts
during 1998-2001, and was appointed as
Chairman in 2017
• Was awarded in 2003
• Makinasyon, Pergrinasyon,
Doktrinang Anakpawis,
Mga Retrato at Rekwardo, and
Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa
• Was more commonly known as “Franz”.
• Was the first Chairman of the first UP
National Works in 1965, becoming the
founding director of the Up Creative
Writing Center in 1979 and remaining
director until 1982
• Was awarded in 1990
• “The Man who could be Poe”, his first work
while still being a student, “Frankie”,
“Death in a Factory”, “Lina” and much more.
• Became a literary editor of the
UST's official publication The
Varsitarian during his tenure there.
• Worked for the late President
Ferdinand Marcos in the Presidential
Institute for Special Studies, noted
the flourishing of arts and literature
in the local scene.
• Was awarded in 2014.
• Honored as the pioneer of Social
Realist tradition in Philippine Fiction,
embodying his novels with a
commitment to nationalism.
• Established the Kapatiran ng mga
Alagad ng Wikang Filipino in 1958 to
elevate the use of the Filipino
Language as a tool for nationalism.
• Was posthumously awarded on 2009
• Famous for articulating the Filipino spirit in
rural and urban landscapes, using the
English Language to express. reflect and
shape Philippine culture and sensibility.
• Was a member of the UP Creative Writing
Center, founder of the UP Diliman Review
and first president of the Philippine Writer's
Association
• Some of his more popular works include, A
Grammar of Dreams, Look Stranger on this
Island Now, The Novel of Justice and much
more
• Was awarded on 1997
• Well-known for his advocacy for
exposing social injustice and pushing
for freedom and independence from
neocolonial rule
• His works, motivated by his tenure in
prison and involvement in a guerilla
movement include, “Isang Dipang
Langit”, “Malaya”, “Panata sa
Kalayaan”, “Bartolina” and much
more.
• Was posthumously awarded on 1973
• Known as The Greatest Filipino Writer
in English during the 20th century
• Known for his Filipinozation of the
English Langauge, being described as
“Spanish-flavored Language” and his
innovation of the language based on
“Filipinisms” known today as
Joaquinesquerie
• An inimitable force in Filipino
Literature
• Was awarded on 1976
• Known for imbuing his works with
the consciousness of the class
struggle and colonial experience in
the country, focusing in themes of
nationalism and social justice.
• His masterpiece, The Rosales Saga, is
composed of five Novels, The
Pretenders(1962), My Brother, My
Executioner(1973), Mass(1973),
Tree(1978) and Po-on(1984)
• Was awarded on 2001
• Considered as one of the pillars of
contemporary literature, theater, film
and cultural studies
• His famous works include, “Tales of
Manuvu”, “Rama Hari”, “Ang Palabas
Bukas”, “Bayani” and 'Hibik at
Himagsik nina Victoria Laktaw”
• Was awarded on 2006
• Known as the country's best writer of
comic short stories, focusing on the
neglected aspects of Filipino heritage.
• Brought to public attention the
aesthetics of the country's fiestas.
• His famous works include, “My
Brother's Peculiar Chicken”, “We
Filipinos are Mild Drinkers”, “Of Cocks
and Kites”, “Fiesta” and “Something
to Crow About”
• Was awarded on 2003
• Was the only Asian to win America's
Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series
of articles predicting the outbreak of
World War 2.
• Wrote 18 books, including “The
Untitled”, “I walked with Heroes”, “I
saw the Fall of the Philippines,
Mother America” and “I See the
Philippines Rise”
• Was awarded on 1999
• The lone female National Artist for
Literature so far. entitled as “Grand
Dame of Poetry in English”
• Her poety was descibed as “an
intellectual poetry of deep moral
feeling”
• Wrote many famous works, including,
“The Little Marmoset”, “Lament for
the Littlest Fellow”, “Bonsai”, “A
Blade of Fern”, “His Native Coast” and
much more.
• Was awarded on 1999
• Known as Doveglion, he was inspired to
write after reading Winesburg, Ohio by
Sherwood Anderson.
• Published, a collection of poems
entitled “Man Songs”, wherein its erotic
content resulted in a one-year
suspension from the University of the
Philippines.
• famous works “Footnote to Youth”,
“Mir-i-nisa”, “Have Come, Am Here”,
“Volume Two”, “Appasionate Poems in
Praise of Love”, and much more.
• Was awarded on 1973
• Known for his versatility, he carves,
models, casts, solders and combines
different methods to construct
architectural sculpture monuments,
establishing himself as the country's
pioneering modernists.
• Introduced the bouyant sculpture in
1951; a floating baby moses in a pond.
• Was awarded on 1976
Some of his famous works
include,
• “Rice Planting”
• “Water Buffalo”
• “To and From the Sea”
• “Nine Muses of the Arts”.
• He was a prolific abstract painter and
constantly in search of excellence,
achievement and fame in the arts.
• Inherited the European Cubism's vision
of simplified geometric structure where
distinction between objects, subject
matter and background is blurred.
• Was awarded on 2009
Some of his famous works include,
• “Still Life with Cups and Lemons”,
• “Still Life with Lemons”
• “Berries”
• “Jars”
• “Still Life with Landscape” and
much more.
• A classical realist who masterfully
painted rural scenes with farmers,
maidens and children full of serenity,
charm, joy and pure native
sentiment, His works established the
Filipino standard of figure and facial
anatomy as well as proper color
rendering of “kayumanggi” skin
• Was posthumously awarded on 1972
Some of his famous works
include
• “Under the Mango Tree”,
• “Planting Rice”
• “Oracion”
• “Dalagang Bukid”
• “History of Philippine
Music” and much more.
• A Neo-realist who specialized his style
into a universal figurative expressionism,
containing themes of deep human despair
and suffering, giving feelings of pain
tension and catharsis through a perfect
system distortion
• His works focused on the perfect
rendition of ugliness, while displaying
refined decorative craftmanship elevating
human agony.
• Was awarded on 2001
Some of his famous works
include,
• “Crucifixion”
• “Junkscape”
• “Man on Fire”
• “Screaming Figures”
• “Clowns” and much more.
• He is praised as an architect of human
form, whose body of work has
synthesized a graphic design-based
perspective of the gentrified masa and
indigenous peoples proud of their
Filipino identity
• One of the founders of the Baguio Arts
Guild and Baguio Arts festival, organized
the Bencab Foundation and built the
Bencab Museum
• Was awarded on 2006
Some of his famous works include,
• “Anxiety”
• “Manila Gentlemen”
• “1900”
• “Metamorphosis”
• ”The Oriental Fan”
• “Scavenger”
• “family” and much more.
• Highly regarded as the “Dean of
Philippine Comics” and “Dean of
Illustrators”
• Known as a maestro of the
action-adventure genre which he
often enriched with fantasy, his
comics expressed the
socio-historical collective
consciousness of the Filipino
masses.
• Was posthumously awarded on
2014
His famous works include
• “El Indio”
• “Bertong Balutan”
• “Don Carbado”
• “Pedro Penduko”
• “Ang Kaluluwa ni
Dante” and much more.
• Known as “The Father of Modern
Philippine Painting”
• Helped organize the University of
Santo Tomas Department of
Architecture in 1930 and become its
director.
• Was awarded on 1976
Some of his famous works
include
• “The Builders”
• “Poinsettia Girl”
• “Tribute to Farmers and
Music”
• “Bringing in the Catch”
• “Rising Philippines” and
much more
• Known for his strong sense of design,
making use of robust, human figures
in flowing elegance and astute
confidence. He harmonized these into
compositions rich with tropical colors
and shapes defined by graceful lines,
rhythm and movement.
• Was posthumously awarded on 1973
Some of his famous works
include,
• “Harana”
• “Sandugo”
• “Muslim Betrothal”
• “Blood Compact”
• “First Mass at
Limasawa”
• “The Martydom of Rizal”
and much more.
• He was a sculptor and painter who
bought the culture of Muslim
Mindanao to a modern national
He was a sculptor and painter who bought
the culture of Muslim Mindanao to a modern
consciousness by using indigenous
national consciousness by using indigenous
motifs of ukkil, sarimanok and naga motifs of ukkil, sarimanok and naga.
Helped in improving the pre-colonial heritage
of Maranao and Tausug metalworking, and • Helped in improving the pre-colonial
held workshops
heritage of Maranao and Tausug
Some of his famous works include, “Industry
Brass Mural”, “Mural Relief on Filmaking”,
metalworking, and held workshops
“Sarimanok Series”, “Sulu Warriors” and
much more
• Was awarded on 2006
Was awarded on 2006
Some of his famous
works include,
• “Industry Brass
Mural”
• “Mural Relief on
Filmaking”
• “Sarimanok Series”
• “Sulu Warriors” and
much more
• Served as a dean and mentor to young
artists, helping the promote Philippine
contemporary art to the world through
exhibitions he organized in Philippine
embassies and consulates in New York,
Tokyo, and Madrid
• Became the first Head of the National
Committe on Visual Arts of the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts
• His style is characterized by swift
gestures of action brushwork swept with
controlled drips over thick impasto
strewn with sand.
Some of his famous works
include:
• “Makiling Interlude”
• “Granadean Arabesque”
• “Pastures”
• “Dimensions of Fear”
• “Hills of Nikko” and much
more.
• One of the pioneering Neo-Realists,
painting disquieting pictures of
torment and suffering.
• One of the Thirteen Moderns who
promoted free visual expression,
unrestricted by the shackles of
conservatism in academic art.
• Was awarded on 1990
Some of his famous works include
• “Combancheros”
• “Man and Woman”
• “Gadgets I”
• “Gadgets II”
• “Diggers”
• Was handpicked by former First Lady
Imelda, in the seventies to establish
and head art institutions such as the
Design Center, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, and the defunct
Museum of Philippine Art.
• His works have been a visual voice for
Asian aspiration for contemporary
elegance, technical excellence, and
universal order.
• Was awarded on 1997
Some of his works include
• “Trio Performance”
• “Candle Vendors”
• “Magbabanig”
• “Bagong Toan” and much
more
• One of the Thirteen Moderns, he
was the Neo-realist who imbued its
cubistic attitude with a masterful
build-up of interlocking and
overlapping layers of translucent
tones.
• This technique was dubbed as
transparent cubism.
• Was awarded on 1981
Some of his famous works
include,
• “Tres Marias”
• “Madonna of the Slums”
• “Jeepneys”
• “Kalabaw”
• “Market Vendors” and
much more.
• He was adept at painting life-like portaits, integrating them
with highly imaginative design.
• It is said that his integrative figurative-abstract paintings
capture the regional character that is distincly contemporary
Southeast Asian.
• Was awarded on 1999
Some of his famous works
include
• “Passengers on to Central
Station”
• “Homage to Dodjie Laurel”
• “Ilongot War Dance”
• “The Kecak Dancer” and
much more
• One of the Thirteen Modersn who
first broke away from the Amorsolo
influence, and then from the
Neorealist sway in painting.
• His works are influenced by fantasy
and science fiction, creating abstract
complications of biological forms that
appeared to oscillate and multiply.
• Was posthumously awarded on 1991
Some of his famous works include
• “Mother and Child”
• “Sarimanok”
• “Starward”
• “Fiesta”
• “Calvary” and much more.
• Was the greatest master and advocate
of Philippine classical sculpture.
• His works demonstrated a keen sense
of nationalism, featuring national
heroes of the Philippine Revolutionary
• Was awarded on 1973
Some of his works include
• “The Oblation”, “Liwayway”
• “Filipinas in Bondage”
• “Foure Horsemen of the
Apocalypse”
• “Noli me Tangere”
• “Bonifacio Monument”
• Known for his masterful manipulation
of cutting, producing improvements to
the Philippine terno, a single piece of
clothing from a four-piece ensemble.
• Was highly regarded for his ingenuity,
and craftsmanship, revolutionizing the
national costume with masterful
embroidery and beadwork and for
translating Philippine motifs into
contemporary fashion.
• Was posthumously awarded on 2006
National Artist
INTANGIBLE
ARTS
Catalino “Lino” Ortiz Brocka
• director for film and broadcast
arts, espoused the term “freedom
of expression” in the Philippine
Constitution.
• he garnered awards and
recognition from institutions like
the CCP, FAMAS, TOYM, and
Cannes Film Festival.
Brocka’s films include the following:
“Santiago” (1970), “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang”
(1974), “Macho Dancer” (1989), and “Makiusap Ka
sa Diyos” (1991
Ishmael Bernal
• was a filmmaker of the first order
and one of the very few who can be
truly called a maestro. Critics have
hailed him as “the genius of
Philippine cinema.”
• director of films that serve as social
commentaries and bold reflections
on the existing realities of the
struggle of the Filipino.
Among his notable films are:
“Pahiram ng Isang Umaga” (1989), “Broken
Marriage” (1983), “Himala” (1982), “City After
Dark” (1980), and “Nunal sa Tubig” (1976).
Rolland Allan K. Poe
• The image of the underdog was
projected in his films such as Apollo
Robles(1961), Batang Maynila (1962)
and Ang Probisyano (1996).
• The mythical hero, on the other hand,
was highlighted in Ang Alamat (1972)
and Ang Pagbabalik ng Lawin(1975)
including his Panday series (1980,
1981, 1982, 1984)
Manuel Conde
• National Artist for Cinema (2009)
• Through the more than forty films
he created from 1940 to 1963,
Manuel Conde contributed in no
small measure to the indigenization
of the cinema.
Major works: Ibong Adarna (1941), Si Juan Tamad
(1947), Siete Infantes de Lara (1950), Genghis Khan
(1950), Ikaw Kasi! (1955) Juan Tamad Goes To Congress
(1959).
Alice Reyes
• has become a significant part of
Philippine dance parlance.
• Her dance legacy is evident in the
dance companies, teachers,
choreographers and the exciting
Filipino modern dance repertoire of
our country today.
Ramon Obusan
• achieved phenomenal success in
Philippine dance and cultural work
• Among the full-length productions he
choreographed are the following: “Vamos
a Belen! Series” (1998-2004) Philippine
Dances Tradition, “Noon Po sa Amin,”
tableaux of Philippine History in song,
drama and dance, “Obra Maestra,” a
collection of Ramon Obusan’s dance
masterpieces
Francisca Reyes Aquino
• acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer.
• thesis titled “Philippine Folk Dances and
Games,”
• In 1954, she received the Republic Award
of Merit given by the late Pres. Ramon
Magsaysay for “outstanding contribution
toward the advancement of Filipino
culture”
Her books include the following: Philippine National
Dances (1946); Gymnastics for Girls (1947); Fundamental
Dance Steps and Music (1948);Foreign Folk Dances
(1949); Dances for all Occasion (1950); Playground
Demonstration (1951); and Philippine Folk Dances,
Volumes I to VI.
Leonor Orosa Goquingco
• pioneer Filipino choreographer in balletic
folkloric and Asian styles, produced for
over 50 years highly original,
first-of-a-kind choreographies, mostly to
her own storylines.
• She was the Honorary Chair of the
Association of Ballet Academies of the
Philippines (ABAP), and was a founding
member of the Philippine Ballet Theater.
Seen as her most ambitious work is the dance epic
“Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend and Lore.”