Nati o n a l
Art i s ts
of th e
Ph i l i p p i n e s
Order of the
The order is
National Artists
Award (Orden ng
concurrent
Gawad administered by the
Pambansang National Commission
Alagad ng Sining) for Culture and the
Arts (NCCA) and
is the highest Cultural Center of the
national recognition Philippines (CCP) and
given to Filipino conferred by the
individuals who have President of the
made significant
Philippines upon
contributions to the
development of
recommendation by
both institutions.
The award is one of the Honors conferred by
the Republic of the Philippines that represents
the nation’s highest ideals in the humanities
and aesthetic expression through the
recognizable achievements of individual
citizens.
The said achievements are measured in terms
of their vision, unusual insight, creativity and
imagination, technical proficiency of the
highest order in expressing Filipino culture and
traditions, history, way of life, and aspirations.
Under the Proclamation No.1001 dated April
27, 1072 the Order of the National Artist
Award (Orden ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad
ng Sining was established. It gives an
appropriate recognition and prestige to
Filipinos who have acclaimed themselves and
made a remarkable contribution to Philippine
arts and letters.
The first award was given to Fernando
Amorsolo. On May 15, 1973 under the
Proclamation No. 1144, CCP Board of Trustees
was named as the National Artist Awards
Committee. The Presidential Decree No.28 that
was issued on June 7, 1973 reiterated the
mandate of CCP to administer the National
The Order of National Artists
aims to recognize:
2.The Filipino artistic 3.The Filipino artists
1.The Filipino who have dedicated
accomplishment at its
artists who have highest level and to their lives to their
made significant promote creative works to forge new
contributions to expression as paths and directions
significant to the for future
the cultural development of a generations of
heritage of the national cultural
Filipino artists.
country. identity. .
SEVEN CATEGORIES UNDER WHICH NATIONAL ARTISTS CAN BE RECOGNIZED:
2. Film and
1. Literature – poetry, Broadcasting /
fiction, essay, Broadcast Arts –
playwriting, journalism direction, writing,
and/or literary criticism; production design,
cinematography, editing,
camera work, and/or
3. Architecture, performance
4. Music - singing,
Design and Allied composition, direction, 7. Visual Arts –
Arts– architecture and/or performance; painting, sculpture,
design, interior 5. Dance - choreography, printmaking,
design, industrial arts direction and/or photography, installation
design, landscape performance;
art, mixed media works,
architecture and 6. Theater – direction,
performance and/or
illustration, graphic arts,
fashion design. performance art and/or
production design;
Qualifications for the National Artist
Award
The qualifications for a Filipino to be nominated and
selected are rigorous. Below are the qualifications
for the National Artist Award.
1. Living artists who are natural-born Filipino
citizens.
2. The content and form of their work have procured
in building a Filipino sense of nationhood.
3. An artist who have developed a mode of creative
expression or style and living a legend on
succeeding generations of artists.
4. An artist who manifest excellence in the practice
of their art form
5. The artwork made has attained an international
Insignia of the Order of the National
Artists
The insignia of the Order of the National Artists
is formed from a Grand Collar featuring circular
links depicting the arts and an eight-pointed
sunburst suspended from a sampaguita wreath
in green and white enamel. The center of the
badge is divided into three equal portions, in
red, white and blue representing the Philippine
Flag with three stylized letter K’s that stands for
the CCP’s motto “ Katotohanan, Kabutihan at
Kagandahan “ ( The true, the good and the
beautiful ). The Grand Collar is made from silver
gilt bronze.
1987 Honorata " Atang" de la 1972 Fernando C. Amorsolo
1973 Carlos " Botong" V. Francisco
Rama 2001 Ang Kiukok
1973 Guillermo E. Tolentino
1997 Levi Celerio 1976 Victorio C. Edades 2003 Jose T. Joya
1997 Wlfrido Ma. Guerero 1976 Napoleon V. Abueva 2006 Abdulmari Asia Imao
1997 Rolando S. Tinio 1981 Vicente Manansala 2006 Bencab
1999 Daisy Avellana 1990 Cesar Legaspi 2009 Federico Aguillar
2001 Severino Montano 1991 Hernando R. Ocampo Alcuaz
THEATER 1997 Arturo R. Luz 2014 Francisco Coching
1999 J. Elizalde Navarro
VISUAL ARTIST
NATIONAL ARTIST IN THE
PHILIPPINES
ARCHITECTURE DANCE FILM LITERATURE MUSIC
1973 Juan Nakpil 1973 1982 Gerardo 1973 Amado V. 1973 Antonio J.
Hernadez Molina
1976 Pablo Francisca de Leon 1976 Jovita Fuentes
1973 Jose Garcia Villa
Antonio Reyes Aquino 1997 Lino 1976 Nick Joaquin 1988 Antonio R.
1990 Leondro V. 1982 Calos P. Romulo Buenaventura
Locsin
1976 Leonor Brocka 1989 Lucrecia R.
1990 Francisco
2006 Ramon Orosa- 2001 Ishmael Arcellana Kasilag
Goquingco Bernal 1997 N.V. M Gonzales 1991 Lucio D. San
Valera
1997 Carlos Quirino Pedro
2014 Jose Maria 1988 2003 Eddie S. 1999 Edith L. Tiempo 1997 Felipe Padilla
Zaragoza Lucrecia Romero 2001 F. Sionil Jose de Leon
2006 I.P Santos Reyes Urtula 2009 Manuel 2003 Virgilio S. Almario 1997 Jose Maceda
2006 Bienvenido 1997 Levi Celerio
2006 Ramon Conde Lumbera 1999 Ernani Joson
Obusan 2009 Lazaro Francisco Cuenco
2014 Cirilo F. Bautista 1999 Andrea O.
Some works of Filipino National Artist
Oblation
made by the sculptor Guillermo Tolentino.
The University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
This work of art depicts a male nude with arms outstretched that
represents a gesture of sacrifice and freedom.
Guillermo Tolentino is a pioneer of academic tradition in sculpture
like Fernando Amorsolo in Painting.
Fernando Amorsolo is known for its romantic paintings of bucolic
landscapes and idealized portraits of well-known individuals from the
Commonwealth Period and the Second World War.
His works can be seen also at the National Museum. Awarded in
1976, Napoleon Abueva had contributed to the University’s Visual
Arts Heritage.
In the Virata School of Business, Jose Tanig Joya’s mural
can be seen entitled Barter of Panay (1978).
This work of art is rendered in the Abstract expressionist
style and it consists of soft, overlapping planes of black,
white, orange, brown and golden yellow.
The Church of the Holy Sacrifice in UP Diliman which was
inaugurated in 1955 was credited to be the First Catholic
Church in the country that were able to employ a circular
architecture with a fine thin shell dome. Intricate
mathematical computations with the increasing popularity
of concrete that serve as the building material enabled the
smooth rounded church construction.
The said church is recognized as a National Historical
Landmark as well as a Cultural Treasure by the National
Historical Institute.
Jose Maceda’s Pagsamba involved a
hundred mixed voices and indigenous
musical instruments like bamboo
buzzers, clappers and the like.
UP center for Ethnomusicology was
also founded by him where he donated
his valuable collections of sound
recordings, field notes and the like in
Ethnomusicology in the Philippines and
South East Asia.
He was recognized by the UNESCO
Memory of the World.
