Ochre III by Arturo Luz, acrylic on paper, 23 inches x 36 inches, 1981. In the Art Collection Samito Jalbuena
Arturo Rogerio Dimayuga Luz (November 26, 1926 – May 26, 2021[1]) was a Filipino visual artist. He was also a known printmaker, sculptor, designer and art administrator.
A founding member of the modern Neo-realist school in Philippine art, he received the Philippine National Artist Award, the country's highest accolade in the arts, in 1997.[2]
While Luz was pursuing college, he began exhibiting his works. At the 1962 International Art Salon in Saigon, South Vietnam, Luz won first prize for his work. He also garnered an award from the California Art Association, and was a recipient of the Republic Cultural Heritage Award for Painting of the Philippine Republic in 1966. He was also recognized as the Outstanding Young Man In Art by The Manila Times.[1]
Luz produced art pieces through a disciplined economy of means. His early drawings were described as "playful linear works" influenced by Paul Klee. His best masterpieces were minimalist, geometric abstracts, alluding to the modernist "virtues" of competence, order and elegance; and had been further described as evoking universal reality and mirrors an aspiration for an acme of true Asian modernity.[4]
Arturo was married to Teresita Ojeda (February 16, 1930 – April 28, 2019), with whom he had 4 daughters, including the late singer Paola Luz, (February 11, 1964, – August 26, 1991) at age 27, and former actress and model Angela Luz.[6][7] He has a granddaughter named Paulina Sotto, the daughter of Angela Luz, who would also become a visual artist.[8]
^Endaya, Imelda Cajipe (artist and independent curator) and Cecilia B. Rebong (Philippine Consul-General). "Pamana: Modernong Sining" (A Heritage of Modern Art), An Art Exhibit from the Collection of the Philippine Center in New York, Printed Catalogue, The Consulate General of the Philippines, Philippine Center Management Board, and PCGNY.net, June 11, 2007, 12 pages.
