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fernando zobel
Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo (1924-1984) was a leader in the Early Philippine Art genre who is best known for his abstract paintings that were frequently created in black and white. His works were influenced by Abstract Expressionism as well as Asian art and calligraphy. Along with Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Zobel is considered to be one of the most important artists of this genre from this era.
The Zóbel de Ayala family was well known and they were very successful in their business ventures. Fernando Zobel was born in Manila in the Philippines in 1924 and his father was a patron of the famous Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo. Zobel was Amorsolo's student, and he eventually went on to earn a degree in history and literature from Harvard University in 1949. During his time in Boston he experimented with various artistic techniques. His first solo exhibition was at the Philippine Art Gallery in Manila in 1953. While visiting the Rhode Island School of Design in 1954 he was introduced to the abstract paintings of Mark Rothko, and these works had a strong influence on his emerging unique style.
Zobel returned to the Philippines in the late 1950's and continued to create artworks while assisting his family with their business interests. He was loved and admired for his kind and generous nature as well as his artistic talents. He was a poet and avid art collector, and was very active in the art scene in his country, serving as President of the Philippine Art Association at one point. He helped to promote and encourage upcoming modern artists and was very influential.
In the 1960's he moved to Cuenca, Spain, and was eventually awarded a posthumous medal by the city after passing away in 1984 while visiting Rome. In 2006 was he also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit.
Additional Information/Biography:
Fernando Zobel de Ayala was one of the most dynamic and expressive modernist painters in the Philippines during the 20th century. He was the son of Enrique Zobel de Ayala and Fermina Montojo Y Torrontegui. As a young man he studied fine art with the renowned early Philippine impressionist painter, Fernando Amorsolo. Enrique Zobel de Ayala was instrumental in the career of Amorsolo as his patron and mentor.
Shortly after World War II, Zobel attended Harvard University and graduated in 1949 after studying literature and history. Thereafter, he remained in Boston and worked as a curator at the Houghton Library. By the mid 1950s, Zobel was heavily influenced by the abstract art movement, in particular, after visiting the Rhode Island School of Design in 1954 and seeing an exhibition of Mark Rothko paintings. Thereafter, he focused on developing his own form of abstract expressionism. Returning to Manila, Zobel promoted the modern art movement in the Philippines. He was president of the Philippine Art Association and had regular exhibitions. It was at this time that he began painting using a syringe to create a sense of dynamism in his canvases. His first works of this genre were titled his Saetas series, to be followed in 1959 by his Series Negra, which evoked the impression of movement and energy in his paintings.
After 1962 Zobel moved to Spain where he had studios in Madrid, Seville and Cuenca. In 1967 the Ayala Foundation established the Ayala Museum in Makati City. The museum displays many of Zobel’s finest works, his various art supplies and other historical artifacts from his career. The museum also displays fine ceramics and tapestries as well as a renowned exhibition of gold artifacts from early Philippine history. Zobel passed away in Rome in 1984. His work is in the permanent collection of many major museums and private collections including the Ayala Museum, the New York Public Library, the Fogg art Museum at Harvard University, the Museo de Arte Abstracto, Seville, Spain, the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila, the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, amongst many other institutions. His work was extensively exhibited including exhibitions in Paris, Cuenca, Seville, Bilbao, New York and Manila.
For additional information visit:
Fernando Zóbel de Ayala: Brief life of a peripatetic man of arts: 1924-1984 - Harvard Magazine
Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo on Wikipedia
Juan March Foundation - Learn about the collection of art works owned and exhibited by Zobel at the Museo de Arte Abstracto Español de Cuenca, his notebooks and diaries, photographic archive and his library.
How Fernando Zobel saved a dying Spanish city by opening a museum
”Icaro” Presented by the Virtual Collection of Asian Masterpieces
Fernando Zobel - Paintings - fernandozobel.es
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