Ayala Museum paid tribute to the late Fernando Zobel on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary on August 27.
The eponymous museum owned by the bilyonaryo clan shared an insightful quote from Zobel in a Facebook post. Writing to painter Pancho Ortuño in 1977, he said: “I don’t paint what I see, I paint what I remember seeing.”
“Through his research on the history of colonial Philippine art, he expounded on the multicultural character of Filipino art. This idea of culture being a melting pot of various influences would become central to his artistic practice,” the museum’s caption read.
The Harvard-educated Zobel is known for his unique and cosmopolitan painting style. After years of living in Spain, he returned to Manila in 1951 to teach, as well as collect and criticize art in his pursuit of “Filipino artistic expression.”
Zobel’s artwork and vast art collection inspired the establishment of Ayala Museum, which continues to be one of the prominent art spaces in the country to this day.
