Born on January 22, 1910 in Macabebe, Pampanga, Vicente Silva Manansala was a painter and illustrator known for his distinctive use of transparent cubism in his works that depicted everyday scenes of post-war city life. As a young child, he was known to exercise his creativity through activities such as kite making and charcoal sketching. At the age of 15, he began to study the basics of painting under the tutelage of painter Ramon Peralta.

After earning a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1930, Manansala received several grants that allowed him to pursue further studies abroad, among them a UNESCO scholarship grant to study at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Montreal, Canada, a French government scholarship grant to study at the University of Paris, a Smith-Mundt Specialist Grant to study stained glass techniques in New York, and another grant to study at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.

Manansala was an instrumental figure in leading the Modernist movement in the Philippines, included in Victorio Edades’ list of “Thirteen Moderns” and regarded as one of the pioneers of Neo-Realism. He taught at the University of Santo Tomas, in the early years of its fine arts program. Among his students was Ang Kiukok who assisted him in the major commission for the UP Chapel Stations of the Cross.

Manansala was the recipient of multiple awards, among them the Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1963), the City of Manila's Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award (1970), and the National Artist Award (1982), conferred posthumously.

Manansala passed away on August 22, 1981 at the age of 71.

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