Araceli Limcaco-Dans

Last updated
Araceli Limcaco-Dans
Cheloydans.png
Born(1929-12-09)December 9, 1929
Manila, Philippines
DiedMay 18, 2024(2024-05-18) (aged 94)
Quezon City, Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Other namesCheloy Dans
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines
StyleStill life, realism, portraits
Spouse(s)Jose P. Dans, Jr. (died in 1998)
AwardsCultural Center of the Phillppines' Centennial Award for the Arts
HonoursPresidential Medal of Merit

Araceli Limcaco-Dans (December 9, 1929 - May 18, 2024) was a Filipino painter and educator. She is renowned for her work using calado embroidery in different mediums. Her early work started with portraits, but soon moved to still life and realism later in her career.

Contents

Early life and education

Araceli Limcaco-Dans was born in Manila to Eleuterio Limcaco, an insurance salesman, and Regina Fernandez, a housewife. [1] Her childhood was strife with constant fighting between parents, financial difficulties, and economic instability due to war. At a young age, Araceli managed to find escape and solace through art, and soon found it to be a necessity once her parents separated and she became the sudden breadwinner. Her mother, now a single mother of four, needed to balance finances to support "Cely" and her siblings Fidelis, Ofelia, and Regina. Cely would help and earn extra money by selling portraits. Her brother Fidelis would grow up to be a priest and in 1975, was ordained by Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin as the first parish priest of the Good Shepherd Shrine and Parish, now known as the Novaliches Cathedral.

Seeing her advanced skills in drawing, Cely's father enrolled her at the Santa Rosa College in Intramuros, where she was the only child among adults in class. She started drawing propaganda comics during the Japanese occupation, and further honed her talent in commissioning portraits by drawing American soldiers during her high school years at the Philippine Women's University.

Her prodigious skills caught the attention of then-Dean and National Artist Fernando Amorsolo, who admitted her at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. Amorsolo became a mentor and friend, and would put Cely in the senior classes even though she was just a freshman. Eventually she was allowed to graduate after just three years in college. [2] Her classmates were Juvenal Sanso, Pitoy Moreno, Larry Alcala, and Napoleon Abueva, among others. [3]

Career

Simoy ng Pula, 2005, watercolor SimoyNgPula2005.jpg
Simoy ng Pula, 2005, watercolor

Now going by the nickname "Cheloy", she helped founded the Department of Fine Arts at the Philippine Women's University in 1950. Cheloy also helped re-establish the art program of the Ateneo de Manila Grade School Department in 1963. From 1964 to 1968, she hosted the Ateneo Educational Television. In 1968, she co-founded the Philippine Art Educators Association with Brenda Fajardo, serving as its first President. [4] In the late 90s, Cheloy served as President of the UP Fine Arts Alumni Association.

While she started with portraits, a vast majority of her works used still life by infusing inanimate objects with the subject of realism. Her favorite objects were ones usually found in her own garden - flowers, dry leaves, rakes, brooms, wire hangers, and cardboard boxes - which usually depicted Filipino life in poverty. Cheloy's own personal experiences were used as a theme throughout her career, as were womanhood, love, loss, faith, sin, and hope. Her art was mostly done in watercolor, acrylic, or oil.

Cheloy also experimented with paper clay sculpture, culminating in a 2016 exhibit called "Ang Mundo ni Inay". [5]

Sumbrero ni Mang Temyong, 1991, watercolor Sumbrero ni Mang Temyong 1991.jpg
Sumbrero ni Mang Temyong, 1991, watercolor

Her most acclaimed work was her intricate calado series of paintings. Calado is a traditional Filipino open thread pattern woven from pineapple fiber, usually used for making the barong tagalog . Cheloy's works are featured in many landmarks, such as the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Ayala Museum, BenCab Museum, the Coconut Palace, the Regina Rica, and Quiapo Church.

Cheloy received numerous awards recognizing her work, most notably, the Mariang Maya Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Arts by the UP Sigma Delta Phi in 1993, [6] and the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Centennial Award for Painting and Art Education in 1999. [7] In 2018, she became a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Merit. [8]

Family life and later years

Upon graduating in 1950, and heeding the advice of spiritual mentor, principal and dean Fr. John Delaney, Cheloy married her college sweetheart, engineer Jose P. Dans Jr. [9] They had 10 children and 29 grandchildren. Jose Jr. went on to serve under the Marcos administration as the country's first ever Secretary (then known as Minister) of Transportation and Communication. He died in 1998.

Cheloy died on May 18, 2024, at the age of 94. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorio Edades</span> Filipino painter (1895–1985)

Victorio Candido Edades was a Filipino painter. He led the revolutionary Thirteen Moderns, who engaged their classical compatriots in heated debate over the nature and function of art. He was named a National Artist in 1976. The history names Victorio Edades as “the father of Modern Philippine art". Schooled in the US upon his return he introduced an entirely new way of thinking about art. He argued that art can be more than representation of reality, it can be representation of reality as seen through the mind and emotions of the artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Luna</span> Filipino painter and sculptor

Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recognized Philippine artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando Amorsolo</span> Filipino painter

Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. Nicknamed the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art," he was the first-ever to be recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines. He was recognized as such for his "pioneering use of impressionistic technique" as well as his skill in the use of lighting and backlighting in his paintings, "significant not only in the development of Philippine art but also in the formation of Filipino notions of self and identity."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayala Museum</span> Art and history museum in Makati, Philippines

The Ayala Museum is a museum in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is run privately by the Ayala Foundation and houses archaeological, ethnographic, historical, fine arts, numismatics, and ecclesiastical exhibits. Since its establishment in April 1967, the museum has been committed to showcasing overseas collections and situating contemporary Philippine art in the global arena in a two-way highway of mutual cooperation and exchange with local and international associates. The museum was reopened on December 4, 2021, after a two-year renovation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guillermo Tolentino</span> Filipino sculptor (1890–1976)

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino was a Filipino sculptor and professor of the University of the Philippines. He was designated as a National Artist of the Philippines for Sculpture in 1973, three years before his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Félix Resurrección Hidalgo</span> Filipino painter (1855–1913)

Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an acquaintance and inspiration for members of the Philippine reform movement which included José Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, and Graciano López Jaena, although he neither involved himself directly in that movement, nor later associated himself with the First Philippine Republic under Emilio Aguinaldo.

Martino Abellana (1914–1988), known as "Noy Tinong", was a renowned Cebuano painter from Carcar. Dubbed "The Dean of Cebuano Painters", he was born to an artistic family. His main influence was his father, who was a school principal and a sculptor. Martino, along with his four brothers, including renowned sculptor and composer Dr. Ramon Abellana, were exposed to art early, and they helped their father with his sculptures.

Marilou Correa Diaz-Abaya was a Filipina multi-award winning film director. She was posthumously conferred the Order of National Artists of the Philippines for Film and Broadcast Arts in 2022, she was the founder and president of the Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center, a film school based in Antipolo, Philippines. She was the director of the 1998 film José Rizal, a biographical film on the Philippines' national hero of the same name. She was part of the Second Golden Age of Philippine Cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pablo Amorsolo</span> Filipino painter

Pablo Cueto Amorsolo was a Filipino painter. He was the younger brother of the Philippine National Artist Fernando Amorsolo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabián de la Rosa</span> Filipino painter (1869–1937)

Don Fabián de la Rosa y Cueto was a Filipino painter. He was the uncle and mentor to the Philippines' national artist in painting, Fernando Amorsolo, and to his brother Pablo. He is regarded as a "master of genre" in Philippine art.

Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo Torrontegui, also known as Fernando M. Zóbel, was a Spanish Filipino painter, businessman, art collector and museum founder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ateneo Art Gallery</span> University museum in Quezon City, Philippines

The Ateneo Art Gallery is a museum of modern art of the Ateneo de Manila University. It is the first of its kind in the Philippines. It serves as an art resource for the university community and the general public as well. The Gallery is located at the Arts Wing, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

Women in Philippine art is the many forms of art in the Philippines that utilizes women in the Philippines and even women from other parts of the world as the main subject depending on the purpose of the Filipino artist. The portrayal of women in the visual arts depend on the context on how Philippine society perceives women and their roles in human communities, such as their own.

Geraldine Javier is a contemporary Filipina Visual Artist whose work is best known for her work which blends of painting with various media, and is "recognized as one of the most celebrated Southeast Asian artists both in the academic world and in the art market."

Norma Belleza is a Filipino painter. She was born in San Fernando, Pampanga. Back then, her family was composed of billboard designers. Married to the Filipino artist, Angelito Antonio, with their children Fatima Baquiran, Emil Antonio, and Marcel Antonio. She studied at the University of Santo Tomas in 1962 and obtained her bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.

Anita Magsaysay-Ho was a Filipina painter who specialized in Social Realism and post-Cubism in regard to women in Filipino culture. Magsaysay-Ho's work appeals to Modernism by utilizing more abstract designs and styles rather than realistic approaches. She was the only female member of the "Thirteen Moderns," a standing group of Filipino modernist artists, and in 1958 was chosen by a panel of experts as one of the six major painters of the country's history. The most famous work of Magsaysay-Ho are subject to the beauty of Filipino women dealing with everyday issues. Collections of her artwork can be found in museums around the Philippines.

Celeste Lecaroz-Aceron y Salud, also known as Celeste Lecaroz, is a Filipino visual artist who is known for her works in the spontaneous realism style.

Nena Saguil was a Filipina artist of modernist and abstract paintings and ink drawings. She was most known for her cosmic, organic, and spiritual abstract works depicting internal landscapes of feeling and imagination. For these, Saguil is considered a pioneer of Filipino abstract art.

Enrique Malaya Belo was a Filipino lawyer, educator, diplomat, and politician. He was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention. He served to the Batasang Pambansa from 1984 to 1986, as representative for Capiz.

Brenda Fajardo was a Filipino art teacher, visual artist, and printmaker. Her work centered on social issues, women's issues, and the colonial history of the Philippines, with focus on the "aesthetics of poverty and the art of the people". She was a professor Emerita in the department of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines.

References

  1. "Stories of Araceli Dans". Art+ Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  2. "Painting to Live: The Remarkable Story of 90-Year-Old Filipina Artist Araceli Dans". UP Alumni Website. 2018-11-19. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  3. Singian, Lala (2024-05-22). "In memoriam: Filipina artist Araceli Dans". Lifestyle.INQ. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  4. "In Loving Memory of Araceli Limcaco-Dans". UP College of Fine Arts. 2024-05-20. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  5. Lee, Gabriela (2016-09-10). "Araceli Limcaco Dans vivifies 'Ang Mundo ni Inay' at ArtistSpace". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  6. "Mariang Maya Awardees - UP Sigma Delta Phi". 2021-09-14. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  7. "Lace and Legacy: Araceli Limcaco Dans (1929-2024)". Kanto - Creative Corners. 2024-05-21. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  8. CEDTyClea (2024-05-21). "Artist of calado embroidery Araceli Dans, 95". BusinessWorld Online. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  9. "Araceli Dans at 86: 'I just paint and paint'". Lifestyle.INQ. 2016-10-22. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  10. Abad, Ysa (2024-05-21). "Renowned painter Araceli Limcaco-Dans dies at 94". RAPPLER. Retrieved 2024-05-23.