BIOGRAPHY OF A NATIONAL ARTIST FOR VISUALS
(VICTORIO C. EDADES)
Victorio C. Edades (born on December 23, 1895) was the son of Hilario Edades and
Cecilia Edades. He was the youngest of 10 children, 6 of whom died of smallpox. He
received his early education in barrio schools. By 7th grade he was considered the
“apprentice teacher” in art class due to his talent.
After high school, Edades and his friends traveled to the United States. Before
enrolling in Seattle, Edades incidentally made a detour to Alaska and experienced
working in salmon canneries. Nonetheless, he moved on to Seattle and enrolled at the
University of Washington where he took up architecture and later earned a Master of
Fine Arts in Painting.
He married Jean Garrott, an American who also later taught English and drama
at the University of the Philippines.
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 Edades the artistic direction he was looking for. Deviating
from the academic style, while retaining some of its characteristics, he executed two
paintings in 1928: “The Sketch,” (also 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 strategies: it was through teaching
that he would conduct his campaign for advanced art.
Edades helped organized the University of Sto. Tomas Department of
Architecture in 1930 and was its acting head. In 1935, he was appointed as Director of
the UST College of Architecture and Fine Arts, which he organized under the
Architecture Department.
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 Street. For his assistant Edades chose Carlos
(Botong) Francisco, an illustrator for the Philippine Herald, who in turn brought Galo B.
Ocampo to the project. Together, they formed the first triumvirate in Philippine modern
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
