National Artist for Painting Arturo Luz takes the centre stage this February onwards at the Ayala Museum as part of its continuing exhibition program featuring the works of the country’s premier national artists.

In celebration of the 90th birthday of Arturo Luz last November and his 60th year as a professional artist, Ayala Museum features the esteemed national artist’s masterpieces and other never-before-seen sketches in the exhibition, First Light. It will be showcasing his early works in the 1950s to the muted colours, and simplified lines and shapes in the 1960s. With this retrospective focusing on his early works and preliminary sketches of his popular masterpieces, the exhibition traces an arc from the genre, colour, and pictorial representation of Luz’s compositions. 

First Light is part of Ayala Museum’s Images of Nation program, which showcases the works by Filipino artists deemed as National Artists in the Visual Arts. Aimed to share the extraordinary vision and formal excellence embodied in this prestigious award, the continuing exhibition gathers works from institutional and private collections including those that have never been seen by artephiles. 

story-20150512184528-ArturoLuz.jpgExpect a fresh perspective on the distinguished artist’s collection of works as it showcases paintings of idyllic scenes from the life in the ‘50s Philippines onwards to his transition to minimal and architectural dimensions in the ‘60s, and most especially his exuberance of colour and simplification of lines and form. Indeed, those who have been familiar with his works will be falling in love with him more and understand better how he elevated Filipino aesthetic vision to new heights of sophisticated simplicity.

The exhibition runs until June 2017