National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Veloso Abueva (1930-2018) was the youngest to
have received the award for his prodigious and prolific artistry. He has had an interesting yet
complicated early personal history that may have compelled him to work and articulate his
creative genius. This background had become entangled not only in his art but also as an artist,
inspiring him to experiment with a wide array of materials and delve into profound subjects
depicted through his masterpieces. To appreciate these, it is valuable to look into his upbringing
in the idyllic island of Bohol.
He was born Esabelio Veloso Abueva on January 26, 1930 to parents, Teodoro Abueva
– a politician – and Purificacion Veloso Abueva. Although born in Manila he spent his early years
in his parents’ hometown in Duero, Bohol. During gardening class in primary school he had his
initial contact with clay and made his first creations, which were animal forms, especially the
carabao. While his childhood was easy and comfortable, this abruptly changed during the war
when his parents were captured, tortured and murdered. He himself endured physical torment
at the hands of the Japanese and incarcerated.
Interestingly, only a few realize that “Napoleon” was a name given to and adopted by
him only later. When he was about six years old, a nun at the exclusive Catholic school he
attended called him as such. The name may have resonated with him and he was said to have
referenced a quote from the French statesman and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte, “If I
weren’t a conqueror, I would wish to be a sculptor”. And indeed, he became an eminent sculptor
and in a way, he conquered and dominated the local sculpture scene and was eventually
referred to as the “Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture”.
Abueva as genius as an artist took years of experimentation, exploration and
experience. It was a process that started with his garden clay carabaos to the monumental
sculptures that are now found in museums and public spaces throughout the country and
around the world. In an interview (during or in ___date or circumstances_), he cited his
experience as an assistant shipbuilder, constructing small boats in Imo Ponce’s machinery in
Cebu, which urged him to experiment with almost any kind of media – from wood to metal,
stone to cement and fiberglass. He also worked in two-dimensional art forms, including working
part-time to paint movie advertisements on street billboards before the time of printed digital
images.
Abueva’s spirituality had also manifested in many of his artworks. Throughout his
working life, he developed a fascination for religious images. It is worthy to note that growing up
in Bohol and worshipping in outstandingly beautiful churches may have inspired him, as have
many artists around the world with Roman Catholic backgrounds. Within these churches were
impressive ceiling paintings and elaborate retablos which hold beautifully carved holy images
that would have awed any child, especially one with an artistic flair. It is worth examining, how
Abueva sought to use local idioms and styles to make those colonial art expressions our own.
On February 16, 2018, after six decades of dedicating himself to the arts, the National
Artist passed away. That same year, the National Museum of the Philippines sought to honor
him with an exhibition here in Bohol. The exhibition Pagpauli:
A Homecoming Exhibition of
National Artist Napoleon Abueva was inaugurated on July 22. On display are pieces from the
artist’s personal collection, focusing on Abueva’s mastery of his craft and revealing his character
as a family man, a spiritual person and as a humanist. His portrait busts of famous historical
figures, projects his relationship with the subject and his interpretation of their personalities.
As
father of modern Philippine Sculpture, the exhibition also shows his gift for abstraction and how
he could suggest forms from them such as the family groups. In addition, pieces of his
“sculptural furniture” were selected from the materials, which according to the artist are primarily
sculptural and incidentally functional.
The Boholanos can take pride in not only having a President of the Republic, Carlos P.
Garcia, but also a National Artist, Napoleon Abueva. Very few provinces in the Philippines can
boast of such.
This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of the latter and to honor the island on
which became the fertile ground for one of the most prodigious and prolific artists in the country.
The Pagpauli Exhibition will run until July, 2020. The National Museum Bohol is open
Tuesdays to Sundays from 8:30am to 5:00pm. Admission is free.
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