Macario Vitalis

(1898-1990)

Of the many artists past and present, it is but to a small number that the artistic calling is perceived clearly and purely from the very start. Many come to their vocation as artist by chance, force of circumstance, or by long circuituous routes. In the case of Vitalis, who was born in Lapog, Ilocos Sur,

his birth place is a small northern town without galleries nor museums to encourage a youth of the turn of the century, born a few towns farther north, it was no less than a gripping personal vision for the young man, to know accept, and then to pursue his art, single-mindedly, and steadfastly, through time and changing cultures.

When he left the country for the United States with his brother Estel-at a time when Filipinos sought adventure and opportunity abroad as migrant workers in the pineapple plantations of California and the cannaries of Alaska-the first thing Vitalis did as soon as he set foot on new soil was to enlist for art school in San Francisco.

Necessity demanded a taxing dual role: art student by day, elavator boy by night, and saving for art material by diet of ice cream. Meanwhile, Paris the art center of the world, beconed and he left the United States for France in 1926. There he studied at the academie de Montmartre and set up his studio in the Paris suburb of Puteaux. There he met important modernist painters including Pablo Picasso, and created works that depicted the pleasures and moods of pre-war Parisian life. In the 1950's, he was living in Brittany were he created a series of Breton seascapes that featured Post-Impressionist color schemes. Returning to the Philippines in 1963 after an absence of 45 years, his works were shown at the National Library. While there, Vitalis painted works with religious and spiritual themes. 

In 1975, he was declared "the only honorary citizen" of Ple'stin-les-Gre'ves, Brittany where he settled and in 1984, he was honored with the medal of excellence from the Institut Academique de Paris. In 1981 his works, along with works of Nena Saquil, and Ofelia Gelveson Tequi, were shown in an exhibition Six Artistes Contemporain Philippine en Europe at the Academie Diplomatique Internationale in Paris. In 1984, he was honored with the medal of excellence from the Institut Academique de Paris. He was also the subject of a retrospective at the CCP main gallery in 1986, where works as far back as 1936 were shown. Vitalis died in 1990 during his last trip to the Philippines. 

Kulay-Diwa  is a venue for Philippines and Southeast Asian Contemporary Art. Inaugurated on February 7, 1987, Kulay-Diwa, is strategically located within a cluster of communities South of Manila.  It has five independent exhibition areas able to accommodate large-scale works and a garden ideal for programs, performances and sculpture installations.  The goal of the gallery is to discover and promote the works of young, talented but deserving Filipino Artists and to foster cultural interaction and exchanges with the local regions and other countries.

Kulay (Colour)

Diwa  (Spirit, Thought)

Available works:

Vitalis 1

Vitalis 2

Vitalis 3

Vitalis 4

Vitalis 5

Vitalis 6

Vitalis 7

Vitalis 8

Vitalis 9

Vitalis 10

Vitalis 11

Vitalis 12

Vitalis 13

Vitalis 14

Vitalis 15

Vitalis 16

Vitalis 17

Vitalis 18

Vitalis 19

Vitalis 20

Vitalis 21

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