The Anthem Philatelist

Spring Lake, 1965, 48" x 26" , Avanzado Family Collection Growing up in our old home in Mandaue , Cebu in the early seventies, the centerpiece of our living room beside the piano was the beautiful 48"x26" Spring Lake, a 1965 impressionist painting by Nida Alcoseba Samaniego. Nida Alcoseba was originally from Carcar , Cebu but she lived her most of life in General Santos City .  She studied Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas and one of her professors was the National Artist Prof. Victor Edades . Her daughter Marite said that the painting in our living room was her signature painting style, which has elements of realism and impressionism .  She relayed to me that she has a similar painting, but the theme was in Autumn , (Autumn Lake) whereas our painting depicts Springtime.    Nida's daughter, Marite Samaniego Castro , is also a well-respected artist who manages an art gallery in Manila . From my correspondence with her, I learned that Nida pas...

Victorio C. Edades (1895-1985). Made National Artist in Painting in 1976, Victorio C. Edades was the pioneer in modernism in the Philippine art scene. In fact, he is known as the Father of Modern Philippine Painting . A lot of his paintings portrayed the hardships of the working class, using dark and somber colors and bold strokes. Edades was born on December 23, 1895 in Dagupan , Pangasinan to Hilario Edades and Cecilia Edades. He obtained his early education in barrio schools and went to a high school in Lingayen . In 1919, he left for the United States to study Architecture and Fine Arts at the University of Washington in Seattle. During the summer, he worked in the salmon canneries of Alaska . It was also during his stay in the U.S. that he married American Jean Garrott, with whom he had his only daughter, Joan. He returned to the Philippines in 1928 and in the same year had his first one-man show at the Philippine Columbian Club . He also came up with two of his most well-kno...

Maxcel Puentenegra Migallos is a  painter who was born and grew up in Davao City . His is a of Fine Arts Major in advertising at the Philippine Women's University in Manila in 1980 where he was named Most Outstanding Art Student. In 1981, he was featured in the "Ten Young Artists" art exhibit at Greenhills Art Center .      Barung-Barung sa Dagat, Watercolor, 2009 In 1983 he move to Cebu . However, a year later he pursued another discipline and took up Architecture and finished the course in 1987. He practiced architecture and taught at the University of San Carlos both in architecture and fine arts program of the University.    He has participated in numerous group shows in and around Cebu as a member of the group first in Cebu Art Association and later Kolor Sugbu where he is currently its president. In 1997, he was featured as one of the five Visayan artists in the third part of Manuel Duldulao's art book "Century of Philippine Realism"....