National Artist Ang Kiukok, 74

He opened the eyes of art patrons to a brutal reality beyond the scenes of fiestas and farm life that had long been the staple of the Philippine art market.

A painter of sometimes violent visual integrity, National Artist Ang Kiukok died after a lingering illness Monday night at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. He was 74.

Named National Artist for the Visual Arts in 2001, Ang was regarded as a "major force in the national arts scene" and a "cultural star" of the Chinese—Filipino community.

In its citation, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) described Ang as one of the "pioneering modernists" that "blazed a formal and iconographic path of his own through expressionistic works of high visual impact and compelling meaning."

NCCA executive director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez said Ang’s works expressed the "political turmoil" of the Philippines during and after the declaration of martial law in 1972.

"In the 1970s, he crystallized in vivid, cubistic figures the terror and angst of the times," she said.

Born in Davao in 1931, Ang is the only son of immigrant Chinese parents Vicente Ang and Chin Lim.

From 1952 to 1954, he attended the University of Sto. Tomas School of Fine Arts.

Recognition came slowly for Ang, whose works were a marked contrast to the pastoral themes championed by artists like Fernando Amorsolo.

His paintings - known for depicting ugly or mundane subjects such as dogfights and junk - gained favor among art collectors only in the mid-1980s, when the Philippines began to suffer from an economic crisis.

Some of Ang’s most famous works are "Geometric Landscape" (1969), "Pieta" (1962) and the "Seated Figure" (1979).

Ang represented the Philippines in international exhibitions in Asia, Europe and the United States.

According to the book "Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining," the works of Ang became a regular feature in auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s International in Singapore, as much sought after as those of Amorsolo.

Prized by private collectors, his works can also be found in major national collections, including those of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Historical Museum in Taiwan and the National Museum of Singapore.

Ang’s remains lie in state at the Funeraria Paz on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City, and will be brought to the CCP Main Theater on May 16 for necrological services. – With AP