About the life of H.R. Ocampo and Fernando Zobel.

1.  
Laririt. Lee. Madamba. Poblete. Rivera
4 IND-1

2. 
National Artist for the Visual Arts

3. Hernando Ruiz Ocampo- or H.R. Ocampo, as widely-
known by art enthusiasts, was born on April 18, 1911in
Manila.
He was a son Delfina Ruiz and Emilio Ocampo, a section
chief in the Department of Public Works and to help his
family earn money, he started to engage in various jobs
when he was 12 years old until he was 17.
Although he attended and finished high school, he never
went to college.

4. From 1930s to 60s, he became a poet and a short story
writer of consequence, associate editor of the Herald Mid-
Week Magazine, editor of This Week (the Manila
Chronicle magazine), director of a government media
organization and vice president of a large advertising firm
(Philprom).
He was a founding member of a pre-war group of writers
called the Veronicans before he became a painter.
Three of his stories landed on Jose Garcia Villa’s annual
honor roll of the best stories for 1936 and 1937.

5. EXAMPLE WORKS AS A WRITER:
SCENES AND SPACES – during the post-war period about
the imperialism of the United States.
RICE AND BULLETS (1937) – story about the protagonist
“Tura”, joining his fellow peasants in a protest against rice hoarders
but eventually shot and killed during the clash with the police.

6.  It has been said that he made the most original Filipino paintings because he
was self taught.
 He taught himself how to paint though study and experiment, looking at the
best of the world’s art through books and magazines, exchanging views with
friends who had the edge of a formal fine arts training.
 He quoted that “the strongest influence on my paintings are the things that I
see around me everyday”.

7. One of the Thirteen Moderns.
Formed the nucleus of the Neo-Realist Group wherein he
emerged as the spokesman.
A regular exhibitor at the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG).
Founder of the Saturday Group, an informal club of artists
and art lovers.

8.  “Unity, coherence and
emphasis in dynamic
equilibrium.. To me these
three are the basic principles
of a good design, a good
painting.”
 “More than my paintings, I
think those principles are my
main contributions to
Philippine Art. Every time I
attend a symposium or
conference, I hear people
 “If Edades opened the door to art, he opened it
a “little”. But it was Ocampo who kicked the
door wide open for other artists to walk
through.” -Manansala

9. His artworks were greatly influenced
by the traumas he experienced.
He painted with his own style wherein
his paintings were of poverty‐stricken
humanity. There was a sense of
melancholy and bitterness in the
reduced and distorted images.
Viewers were turned off with his idea
of art as an escape.

10. When Ocampo came into terms with his traumatic
experience, he proved that art could be a liberating
experience.
His works circled around poverty, hunger and
oppression and he can be described as a realist.
His earlier themes also depicted surrealistic themes
which shows images in ruins.

11.  In the 50s, he started to produce
masterpieces of still lifes exalting simple
domestic objects such as earthen pot and
stove, fish and mango, in an abstract style
which was controlled and rational.
 It can be seen in his works a familiar
Philippine theme which was seen in the
form and strong choice of colors (such as
the strong, vibrant yellows, purples and
greens- a Muslim chromatic triad).
 Philippine Baroque was created, with
Ocampo as its leading exponent in
abstract art.

12. During the 60s and 70s,
Ocampo’s works
showcases a
paradoxical order.
His works are in
subtlety gradating in
colors and the shapes
are irregular.  Genesis

13. Ocampo remained fixated to
human figures from from 50s
(Fixty-Six E) until the 70s.
Ocampo’s art can be described
as humanist and oftentimes,
Christian elements such as
nativities, crucifixions and
pentecosts are present in it.

14. He was the painter of Imelda Marcos’ monument in the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

15. PLANTSADORA
-presents the hardwork of a Filipina
ironing men’s top clothing and how hard it was
considering the material of the clothing and the
type of iron she was using.

16. TATLONG LARAWAN
-presents Jesus Christ dying
on the cross in between the two
sinners, and also the piece where
Fernando Amorsolo told Ocampo that
he is already a Painter.

17. He had a basic grasp of the principles of modernist color theories, and
intuitively derived techniques based on a unique personal sensibility. He used
color not as a static compositional element; by skilfully exploiting completion
and juxtaposition, he directed the viewer’s eye movement. He meticulously
wielded the fine end of a palette knife and a small blunt brush to create tone
and texture. He also favoured dynamic shapes and forms that motivated his
color values. He produced paintings that pulsate.

18. Abstract is usually associated with the word chaos and in Ocampo’s case, his works
are “chaotic in an orderly manner”. If you look at his paintings closely, you would notice
the neatness and accuracy of every line and curve. Every stroke is done carefully;
there is a flow and rhythm to every stroke. Every color was planned to the precise
gradation and complements each other perfectly; there is subtleness in the gradation
of colors. His works also possessed textures which are either smooth or seemingly
rough. He has a persuasive sense of design. Above all, what immediately grabs one’s
attention is the harmony and balance of the whole.
His nationalistic character can be recognized in the color schemes that he used which
was typically in vibrant hues such as red, green yellow. He shows nationalism indirectly

19. 
Painter of the Most Expensive Philippine Artwork

20. Fernando Zobel was born in Manila on August 27, 1924.
He was the son of Enrique Zobel de Ayala, a Spanish
businessman and Fermina Montojo Torrontegui.
He pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Philippines
and studied Medicine at the University of Santo Tomas
during the Japanese occupation, World War II.
He entered Harvard University as a student of Philosophy
and Letters and graduated as magna cum laude.

21.  He became acquainted to Boston artists such as Reed Champion, Jack
Pfeufer and Hyman Bloom.
 He discovered the new wave of young Spanish artists and established
friendships with Gerardo Rueda, Luis Feito, Guillermo Delgado and
Antonio Lorenzo.
 In Madrid, he established a studio which he shared with the Spanish
artist Gerardo Rueda and established friendships with Saura,
Sempere, Chirino and Antonio Magaz.
 With the help of Gustavo Torner, Gerardo Rueda, Eusebio Sempere
and Antonio Lorenzo, he established the Musuem of Abstract Spanish
Art in Cuenca.
 He established friendships with Carmen Laffon, Gerardo Delgado,

22. Boston Artist
 Zobel started painting in the
year 1942 when he acquired a
spinal ailment. He became
acquainted to Boston artists
such as Reed Champion, Jack
Pfeufer and Hyman Bloom
and his paintings were highly
influenced by the said Boston
artists and painted that way for
a while.
Filipino Artist
 The Boston influence
disappeared from his work
and he employed Philippine
themes and motifs in his
painting which used vivid hues
and are characterized by
strong lines and simple
compositions.

23.  Mark Rothko’s works
convinced Zobel that it was
possible to paint in abstract.
The realization eventually led
to Zobel’s Saeta series.
 The Saeta series fell under the
category of Abstract
Expressionism which was also
called action painting.
 “I spend some time fixing a view point.
Then I begin with quick heavy strokes to
indicate the pattern of colors within the
composition. Not stressing my abstract
coloration, but rather emphasizing form
through relating close-value planes, I
enforce personally-designed shapes.”

24.  Zobel’s work was primarily
defined by the effects of light
and its capacity to suggest
volume or its illusion of depth.
 “Limited to black and white, I tried to find a
substitute for the vibrations formerly
produced by contrasts of color. I managed
this to a certain extent by using a dry brush
to blur some of my lines; blurs and streaks
that changed the linear nature of Saetas
and instead suggested direction, changes
in tempo, effects of light, a sense of
volume, etc. Inevitably, when a painting
begins to suggest light and volume, and to
extent that it does, it stops being abstract.
This is not always voluntary process not a
fully conscious one. At any rate, my
paintings were beginning to turn into
something else; something more
suggestive and less abstract.”
Escalona
(1961)

25.  In his Dialogues and Conversations,
Zobel attained his artistic composure. The
said painting manifested the context of
dynamic symmetry.
 “I think that painters paint the world they
live in. My world has to do with the history
of art. It would be absurd for me to
attempt social realism; I’m the sort of
person who lives in museums or at home
surrounded by books and paintings.”


26.  Zobel began
painting landscapes inspired by
the river Júcar.
 Fernando Zobel took inspiration
from Cuenca, the Spanish town
where he lived until his death in,
and it is apparent in many of his
paintings.
 He uses the palette of neutral
browns and greys.
 JUCAR XII

27.  His White paintings were actually
exercises in the abstracting capacity of
vision. He was not particular and he
did not use colors. Only greys, in warm
and cool contrasts, were used to
indicate the ultimate basic form.
 La Piedra del Caballo (1971)

28.  “When a picture looks fresh, people tend to think that it was improvised. I’m
pretty sure that exactly the opposite took place. In the widest sense of the
word, order is one of the secrets of what I recognize as beauty. Years ago,
someone told me that in Japanese, the same word can mean clean and
beautiful. I have given that a lot of thought.”
 “Order, and a certain simplicity of composition, probably account for a good
deal of tranquility you seem to find in my pictures. Incidentally, that may
explain why I can’t seem to work directly from a model. There is too much
going on. I prefer to trust the abbreviated sense of order imposed by memory.
Memory selects and organizes. It seems to whisper, ‘This is worthwhile’, and
I try to listen. It isn’t all as easy as it sounds. But when I recognize the results
in my work, I feel very pleased.”

29. On May 24, 2008, Zobel's
work titled Noche
Clara was sold
at Christie’s in Hong
Kong was sold
for PHP 6,000,000,
making it the most
expensive Philippine
artwork.

30. His works were done in neat precision. There is beauty
and charm in the simplicity of his works. His works are
distinctive because of his style; bold strokes against a
luminous background. Every work was done meticulously,
as if every stroke was done with intent. His works depicts
cleanliness, serenity, softness, and subtlety. There is life
in his works for there is movement in the strokes done.

31.  