By Jenny Ortuoste
National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto Cabrera, better known as ‘BenCab’, turned 79 yesterday (Saturday, April 10), according to a greeting posted by the Cultural Center of the Philippines on their official Facebook page.
In the post, he was described as “a distinguished Filipino painter widely hailed as a master of contemporary Philippine art” in an excerpt from the CCP’s Encyclopedia of Philippine Art.
Regarding the iconic figure often seen in his paintings, the same excerpt reads: “His artworks often portrayed ‘Sabel,’ a figure inspired by a woman he encountered rummaging through scraps in 1965, who has become the artist’s vehicle to explore shapes, lines, and composition.”
BenCab was made National Artist for Visual Arts in 2006. Prior to that, he received the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining (Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for the Arts) in 1992.
According to information at BenCab’s website (bencabmuseum.org), he was born April 10, 1942 in Malabon, Manila, “at the onset of the Japanese occupation,” the youngest of nine children born to Democrito Cabrera and Isabel Reyes of Pampanga.
In 1949, at the age of seven, he began painting on pavements and walls, influenced by his older brother Salvador, who was already an established artist.
The future National Artist was described as “quiet, timid, and shy” on his school report card.
In 1963, he received his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines.
He lived for many years in London, where he married his English fiancee in 1969 and raised their family of three children. His talents were soon recognized and he shot to fame in international art circles. He exhibited in London, New York, Macau, and other places, and won several major art awards over the course of his decades-long career.
He returned to the Philippines in 1985 and resides in Baguio City, where he established the BenCab Museum, and continues to work with and for his community in art-related activities.
According to information from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Order of National Artists (Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the highest national recognition given to Filipino artists.
NA’s are “individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts; namely, music, dance, theater, visual arts, literature, film, broadcast arts, and architecture and allied arts.”
The order is jointly administered by the NCCA and CCP, and “conferred by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation by both institutions.”