BUENAVENTURA, Cesar

Cesar Buenaventura was one of the most prolific and well-known Filipino painters during the 1950s to the 1970s. His impressionistic landscapes, glorious sunsets, and classical mastery adorned the homes and walls of prominent Filipino families of old.

Born in Torzo, Tondo in 1922, he was the second and youngest son of Prof Teodoro Buenaventura. A protégé of Amorsolo, he was once his “manchador,” an apprentice who “stained” the silhouette of the works of the master painter.

Hailed as the unofficial Ambassador of Philippine Visual Art, Cesar Buenaventura was the most well-known landscape painter of the country abroad from after the war until his death in 1983.

His canvasses generally convey a quiet, serene, and tranquil impression of Philippine rural life and culture that evoke joy and pride set amidst a pastoral scene. Each of his work manifests a degree of luminosity, a trademark of an expert whose dexterity in using ambient lighting is harnessed at its best. To view his works is to get a feel of the glorious past in both vivid and subdued colors.