PERSONALITIES

Napoleón Isabelo Veloso-Abueva

Profile (Brief History)

Napoleon Abueva, nicknamed Billy, was born on January 26, 1930 in
Tagbilaran, Bohol to Teodoro Abueva and Purificacion (Nena) Veloso. Both of
his parents died serving their country. During the World War II, he became an
unwilling victim of the atrocities of the Japanese. His parents were captured,
tortured, and killed in Valencia. When he was only 14 years old, he accompanied
his grandmother to Ilaya where they were captured by some Japanese soldiers.
Abueva has helped shape the local sculpture scene in the Philippines. Being
adept in both academic representational style and modern abstract, he has
utilized almost all kinds of materials from hard wood (molave, acacia, langka
wood, ipil, kamagong, palm wood and bamboo) to adobe, metal, stainless
steel, cement, marble, bronze, iron, alabaster, coral and brass. He is married to
Cherry Abueva, a psychiatrist, and has three children.
Category: Art and Culture

Achievements:

Awards
 First Prize, Sculptural Exhibition by the Art Association of the
Philippines (1951)
 First Prize in the Fifth Annual Art Exhibition (1974)
 First Prize and Special Award on the Fourth Sculptural Exhibition (1952)
 Awardee, "The Unknown Political Prisoner" in the International
Sculpture Competition by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
(1953)
 First Prize and Special Award, Kaganapan (Marble), in the Semi-Annual
Art Exhibition by the Art Association of the Philippines (1953)
 First Prize, "Kiss of Judas" (Wood) in the Religious Art Exhibition in
Detroit, Michigan, USA (1955)
 First Prize, "Figure" (Wood) in the Annual Show of the Art Association
of the Philippines (1957)
 Most Outstanding Alumnus of the School of Fine Arts, U.P. Golden
Jubilee (1958)
 Winner, U.P. Gateway Design Competition (1962)
 Winner, Cultural Heritage Award (1966)
 ASEAN Awards for Visual Arts in Bangkok (1987)
 Fourth ASEAN Achievement Award for Visual Arts in Singapore (July
1995).

Works
  Kaganapan (1953)
 Kiss of Judas (1955)
 UP Gateway (1967)
 Thirty Pieces of Silver
 The Transfiguration (Eternal Gardens Memorial Park) (1979)
 Sandugo (Blood Compact)
 Siyam na Diwata ng Sining (Nine Muses) (1994)
 UP Faculty Center
 Sunburst (The Peninsula Manila Hotel) (1994)

Ang Diwata
ng Dagat

Sandugo Monument

Abueva’s House in San

Antonio, Duero