Fernando Zóbel (b. 1924 Manila, d. 1984 Rome), patron of the arts, contributed greatly to the emergence of modern art in the Philippines. Zobel experimented in a variety of art forms including pure abstraction, Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, abstract and non-objective modern art which would be showcased in Madrid, New York, and Paris. Prior to this, Zobel attended Harvard University to pursue history and literature, and experimented with aquatints, etchings and serigraphs. He graduated as magna cum laude before working as a curator for the Houghton Library.

When Zobel returned to the Philippines, he set up shows for Filipino contemporary modernists, and set up his own exhibit at the Philippine Art Gallery and the Swetzoff Gallery in Boston (while attending the Rhode Island School of Design). He was a lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University graduate school program from 1954 to 1955, where he earned an honorary doctorate and honorary directorship of the Ateneo Art Gallery. Zobel founded the Museo de Arte Abstracto Espanol in Cuenca, Spain, and the Ayala Museum in Makati City to promote the works of Filipino artists. He was honored by King Juan Carlos of Spain in 1983 the Medalla de Oro al Merito en las Bella Artes. His notable works include Saetas (utilizing a surgical syringe to apply superbly fine lines of paint), Serie Negra (influenced by calligraphy), Dialogos (abstract reconstructions of museum paintings he liked) and Las Orillas (river theme).

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