VICTORIO EDADES EDADES

EDADES, VICTORIO EDADES b. Dagupan, Pangasinan 23 Dec 1895 d. 7 Mar 1985. National artist in

Painting. He is the son of Hilario Edades and Cecilia Edades. He married Jean Garrott, an American who also

later taught English and drama at the University of the Philippines. He received his early education in barrio

schools. In 1919 he left for the 'United States, where he studied architecture and fine arts at the University of

Wisconsin in Seattle during the school year and worked in the salmon canneries of Alaska during summer. In

1922 the travelling exhibit of the Armory show opened his eyes and that of the American public to the artistic

ferment in Europe led by Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso', Duchamp, the surrealists, and the Dadaists.

While it drew outcries from the conservative public, it gave him the direction he was looking for. Deviating

from the academic style, although retaining much of its qualities, such as its somber palette, he did two key

paintings in 1928, The Sketch (sometimes called the Artist and His Model), and The Builders.

When Edades returned to the Philippines in 1928, he embarked on his crusade to change the course of

Philippine art which was then dominated by painter Fernando Amorsolo and sculptor Guillermo Tolentino.

Barely a month after his return he had a one person show in December at the Philippine Columbian Club. It

was met with shock and disdain by a public accustomed to Amorsolo's rural idylls. Edades decided to shift

strategy: it was through teaching, that he would conduct his campaign.

The year 1934 provided him with a new opportunity to reach the public through art when he was

commissioned by the architect Juan Nakpil to do a mural for the lobby of the Capitol Theater on Escolta st. For

his assistant Edades chose Carlos (botong) Francisco, the illustrator, f0r the Philippine Herald, who in turn

brought Galo B. Ocampo. Together, they formed the first triumvirate in modern Philippine art.

In the 1930's the famous press battle between the modernists and conservatives erupted. In an interview with

A. B. Saulo for an article in the Monday Mail, Edades fired the first shot by bewailing the conservative

orientation of art and its insistence on the bright aspects of life while excluding the dark side of reality as a

valid artistic subject. In addition to Edades, those who spoke for the modernists included Salvador P. Lopez

and Jose Garcia Villa; the conservatives had Ariston Estrada, Ignacio Manlapaz, and Fermin Sanchez on their

side. The debate was interrupted by WWII, but resumed in 1948, this time with Edades and Tolentino on

opposite poles, debating the news and demerits of modern art on the pages of The Sunday Times Magazine

and later This Week of the Manila Chronicle.

In 1937, Edades, Ocampo, and Diosdado Lorenzo organized the Atelier of Modern Art, which led to the

formation of the Thirteen Moderns, thus boosting, the cause of modernism with new talents. The support

system for modernism was further strengthened with the founding of the Art Association of the Philippines

(AAP) in 1948 and the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG) in 1951. The struggle between modernists and

conservatives came to a head in the AAP annual exhibition in1955, Which was marked by the walkout of the

conservatives when they realized that the modernists had won.

Modernism opened the way to new artistic idioms, as well as enlarged the subject of art to span the entire

range of human experience. Edades not only introduced modernism into the Philippines but also gave it his

guidance and related it to the issue of national identity. He envisioned an art in, which the artist was to pursue

his original vision, while discovering his identity as Filipino.

Edades received the Pro Patria Award during the Rizal Centennial Celebration in 1961 and the Patnubay ng

sinsing at Kalinangan award from the City of Manila in 1964. He was proclaimed National Artist in painting in

1976.