Highest national recognition given to Filipino individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts
Order of the National Artists
Established under Proclamation No. 1001, s. 1972
Administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
The president of the Philippines grants this award to a person that is recommended by both institutions every three (3) years
National Artists
Filipino individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts
National Artists - Architecture
Pablo S. Antonio
Juan F. Nakpil
Ildefonso P. Santos
Jose Maria V. Zaragoza
Leandro V. Locsin
Edades' favorite subject matter
Laborers, factory workers or the simple folk in all their dirt, sweat and grime
Guillermo Tolentino
Hailed as the "Father of Philippine Arts"
Tolentino's famous works
Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan
UP Oblation in Diliman, Quezon City
Other works by Tolentino
Gold and bronze medals for the Ramon Magsaysay Award
Seal of the Republic of the Philippines
Vicente Manansala
Cubist painter and illustrator from Macabebe, Pampanga
Manansala's paintings
Visions of reality teetering on the edge of abstraction
Manansala's view on art
The beauty of art is in the process, in the moment of doing a particular painting, closely associating it with the act of making love. "The climax is just when it's really finished."
Manansala's works
A Cluster of Nipa Hut
San Francisco Del Monte
Banaklaot
I Believe in God
Market Venders
Madonna of the Slums
Still Life with Green Guitar
Via Crucis
Whirr
Nude
Carlos "Botong" Francisco
A poet from Angono who single-handedly revived the forgotten art of mural and was best known for his historical pieces
J. Elizalde Navarro
A versatile artist, being both a proficient painter and sculptor, with a devotion to the visual arts spanning 40 years of drawing, printmaking, graphic designing, painting, and sculpting
Navarro's major mixed media works
I'm Sorry Jesus, I Can't Attend Christmas This Year (1965)
Homage to Dodjie Laurel (1969: Ateneo Art Gallery collection)
A Flying Contraption for Mr. Icarus (1984: Lopez Museum)
Napoleon Abueva
The "Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture", adept in either academic representational style or modern abstract
Abueva's major works
Kaganapan (1953)
Kiss of Judas (1955)
Thirty Pieces of Silver
The Transfiguration (1979)
Eternal Garden Memorial Park
UP Gateway (1967)
Nine Muses (1994)
UP Faculty Center
Sunburst (1994)-Peninsula Manila Hotel
Bronze figure of Teodoro M. Kalaw in front of National Library
Murals in marble at the National Heroes Shrine, Mt. Samat, Bataan
Ang Kiukok
A painter from Davao City who fused influences from cubism, surrealism, and expressionism in his style, favoring subjects such as fighting cocks, rabid dogs, and people enraptured by rage, as well as multiple depictions of the crucified Christ
Ang Kiukok's works
Geometric Landscape (1969)
Pieta, which won the bronze medal in the 1st International Art Exhibition held in Saigon (1962)
Seated Figure (1979), auctioned at Sotheby's in Singapore
Abdulmari Asia Imao
A native of Sulu, he is a sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist, documentary film maker, cultural researcher, writer, and articulator of Philippine Muslim art and culture
Ramon Valera
A fashion designer from Abra, known for his tradition of excellence and commitment to his profession, performing magical seminal innovations on the Philippine terno
Jose Garcia Villa
Considered one of the finest contemporary poets, he introduced reversed consonance rhyme scheme, including the comma poems that made full use of the punctuation mark in an innovative, poetic way
Villa's published works
Footnote to Youth
Many Voices
Poems by Doveglion
Poems 55
Poems in Praise of Love: The Best Love Poems of Jose Garcia Villa as Chosen By Himself
Selected Stories
The Portable Villa
The Essential Villa
Mir-i-nisa
Storymasters 3: Selected Stories from Footnote to Youth
55 Poems: Selected and Translated into Tagalog by Hilario S. Francia
Nick Joaquin
Considered the most distinguished Filipino writer in English, he has enriched the English language with critics coining "Joaquinesque" to describe his baroque Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of English based on Filipinisms
Joaquin's works
The Woman Who Had Two Navels
A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino
Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young
The Ballad of the Five Battles
Rizal in Saga
Almanac for Manileños
Cave and Shadows
Francisco Arcellana
Pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form, believing that the pride of fiction is "that it is able to render truth that is able to present reality"
Arcellana's published works
Selected Stories (1962)
Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1977)
The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1990)
Arcellana's short stories and poems
Frankie
The Man Who Would Be Poe
Death in a Factory
Lina
A Clown Remembers
Divided by Two
The Mats
The Other Woman
This Being the Third Poem This Poem is for Mathilda
To Touch You and I Touched Her
Levi Celerio
National Artist for Literature and Music, a prolific lyricist and composer who made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the only person able to make music using just a leaf
Celerio's works
O Maliwanag Na Buwan (Iloko)
Ako ay May Singsing (Pampango)
Alibangbang (Visaya)
Rolando S. Tinio
National Artist for Theater and Literature, a playwright, thespian, poet, teacher, critic, and translator who marked his career with prolific artistic productions
Tinio's works
Sitsit sa Kuliglig
Dunung – Dunungan
Kristal na Uniberso
A Trick of Mirrors
Film scripts for Now and Forever, Gamitin Mo Ako, Bayad Puri and Milagros
Sarswelas Ang Mestisa, Ako, Ang Kiri, Ana Maria
Komedya Orosman at Zafira
Musical Larawan
Alejandro Roces
Considered the country's best writer of comic short stories, a champion of the Filipino culture who was instrumental in popularizing several local fiestas and led the campaign to change the country's Independence Day and the language used in Philippine passports, currency, and diplomas
Cirilo F. Bautista
A multi-awarded poet, fictionist and essayist who founded the Philippine Literary Arts Council, the Iligan National Writers Workshop, and the Baguio Writers Group, holding regular funded and unfunded workshops throughout the country
Bautista's major works
Summer Suns (1963)
Words and Battlefields (1998)
The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus (2001)
Galaw ng Asoge (2003)
Francisco Sionil Jose
One of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language, whose novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in our society
Jose's awards and recognitions
CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts (1999)
Outstanding Fulbrighters Award for Literature (1988)
Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts (1980)
Edith L. Tiempo
A poet, fictionist, teacher, and literary critic who founded the Siliman National Writers Workshop, known for a remarkable fusion of style and substance in her works
Tiempo's published works
The novel A Blade of Fern (1978), The Native Coast (1979), and The Alien Corn (1992)
Poetry collections The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966), and The Charmer's Box and Other Poems(1993)
Short story collection Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964)
Amado V. Hernandez
A poet, playwright, and novelist from Hagonoy, Bulacan who believes that "the function of the writer is to act as the conscience of society and to affirm the greatness of the human spirit in the face of inequity and oppression", contributing to the development of Tagalog prose through the use of colloquial style