Edades lives on in Dagupan City

EIGHT ARTISTS, led by Manuel Baldemor, pose around the mural they worked on depicting the works of National Artist Victorio Edades, a native of Dagupan City. WILLIE LOMIBAO / CONTRIBUTOR

DAGUPAN CITY—There’s now a corner at the city museum here where the memorabilia of national artist for visual arts Victorio Edades are permanently displayed.

These include reproduction of his paintings, sketches, photographs and the gold medallion he received when he was named national artist in 1976.

Mayor Benjamin Lim says that through the display, he hopes Dagupeños will know Edades better and young people will be encouraged and inspired to follow in his footsteps.

“We would like more young people to see the works of Edades and at the same time be inspired to work even harder to become good artists,” he says.

Edades, the father of modern Philippine painting, was the first National Artist from this city. In 2003, Salvador Bernal, another Dagupeño, was named national artist for theater design. Bernal died in October last year.

Last month, the city government commissioned eight artists, led by Manuel Baldemor, to create an artwork to honor the late national artist.

The group created a mural that depicted the works of Edades against the backdrop of the city’s landmarks.

“They worked on it for free for three days,” says Honorata Siapno, head of the Metro Dagupan Culture and Arts Council.

Aside from Baldemor, other artists involved in the mural are Melencio Sapnu Jr., Rollie Yusi, Herson and Rhea de la Rosa, Fred Ramirez, Manuel Nim and Lualhati Sapnu.

Gerald Christian Yusi, owner of Gallery Y, donated the mural to the city government.

Edades was born on Dec. 23, 1895 in Dagupan. After completing his elementary and high school education in Pangasinan, he left for the United States in 1919 to study architecture and fine arts at the University of Washington in Seattle.

After his retirement from the University of Santo Tomas where he taught painting and architecture, he decided to settle in Davao with his wife, Jean Edades, in the late 1960s. He died in 1985 at the age of 89.