Victor C. Edades

was born in Pangasinan, Philippines on December 13, 1895 and died on March 7, 1985, Davao, Philippines. He was a Filipino painter who was the leader of the revolutionary Thirteen Moderns who engaged their classical compatriots in heated debate over the nature and function of art. He was named National Artist in 1976. During his journey to America, he participated in art competitions, one of which was the Annual Exhibition of North American Artists. His entry, "The Sketch" 1927, won second prize.

Victor C. Edades

 “The Sketch”

1928

Oil on Canvas

96x117cm

Victor Edades expressed his individual emotion, the artist is privileged to create in that distinctive form that best interprets his own experience. And the distortion of plastic elements of art such as line, mass and color – is one of the many ways of expressing one’s rhythmic form. That was the reason why his disproportionate figures are made that way – for the sake of composition.

I chose this artwork because Victorio Edades introduced modern ideas into the Philippine art scene, managed to destroy the conventions of domestic art, and also got rid of the clichéd ideology he believed stunted the development of Philippine art. His defiance to what the Conservatives structured, as ‘art’ was a conscious call for real artistic expression. He attested that "art" is ever the expression of man’s emotion, and not a mere photographic likeness of nature.