EP35: National Artist Napoleon Abueva Sculpting the Social Consciousness | Kagampan, Castrillo, U.P.

ArticulatePH is thrilled to present Lost Conversations, a series of interviews conducted 40–50 years ago by publisher, art critic, and artist Cid Reyes. Cid recently rediscovered these cassette tape recordings of conversations with established artists, masters, and National Artists, and articulatePH has now digitized them for today's art enthusiasts. These invaluable sound bites, now carefully restored, are truly national treasures, transporting us to an era on the brink of a Philippine contemporary art revolution. “To be a sculptor, you must also be a carpenter, a mason, a welder, and a weightlifter.” Later, he added that a sculptor should also embody the alertness of a prizefighter and the grace of a matador. Napoleon Abueva, a National Artist for Sculpture, was all of these and more. He recalled that the only sculpture in their home was a portrait bust of National Hero Jose Rizal. From his early childhood spent in Tacloban, Bohol, he never lost sight of his calling as a sculptor. His first inspiration came during gardening, when he began playing with mud and molding it into human figures and animals. This initial experience gave him the unique excitement of working with his hands. As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice in a workshop that produced religious statuary. In 1949, Abueva moved to Manila and enrolled at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, where his mentor in sculpture was Guillermo Tolentino, who would later become a National Artist himself. At that time, Tolentino was a close colleague of then-dean Fernando Amorsolo, and he represented a conservative and classic style of sculpture characterized by plaster casts of Graeco-Roman art. His most famous work is the Bonifacio Monument, located at the rotunda of Caloocan, but he is perhaps better known as the sculptor of "The Oblation" at U.P. Abueva, however, was already leaning towards modernism; he created a piece titled “The Kiss,” which depicted a male and female visage with interlocked lips in adobe. When he presented this work to Tolentino, the mentor deemed it “a monstrosity.” Abueva shared his working process, saying, “I sketch directly on the wood. That’s why I have very few sketches on paper. To me, the real spirit of sculpture lies in direct carving, where the form gradually emerges from a solid block of wood or stone.” #philippineart #philippinecontemporaryart #philippinepainting #philippinesculpture #mastersinart #philippineartscene #philippineartists #philippinegallerists #artists #gallerists #oiloncanvas #acryliconcanvas #art #philippineartandculture #philippineheritage #philippinehertiageconservation #auction #auctiondarling #angkiukok #nationalartist #philippinenationalartist #lostconversations #articulateph #cidreyes #cubism #melvinmangada #nationalmuseumofthephilippines #museumfoundationofthephilippines #mfpi #victorioedades #edades #firstasianmodernist #firstfilipinomodernist #thirteenmoderns #artmovement #fernandoamorsolo #hernandoocampo #hrocampo #isalorenzo #silverlens #silverlensgallery #silverlensnewyork #art #angelitoantonio #marcelantonio #normabelleza #bencab #benedictocabrera #bencabmuseum #napoleonabueva #abueva #abuevasculpture