For someone who is responsible for the legacy of Philippine contemporary printmaking, Manuel Rodriquez Sr. is one of the most highly underrated artists in the country’s modernist period of art. His extensive campaign on printmaking alone had developed a new generation of printmakers. So much that Purita Kalaw-Ledesma was moved to attribute, “That the graphic arts became a major art form in the Philippines in only 25 years may be attributed to the works of one man, Manuel Rodriguez.”
His presence was mostly felt from the 50’s to the 70’s prior to his move to the U.S. when the country was under Martial Law. Before that he conducted printmaking workshops and mounted exhibits all over the country in an effort to inspire a community of artists. Perhaps because of his absence in the local scene, the present generation is not that exposed to his work nor have they experienced the importance of his art. Of course, New York became the ideal foil for the artist to continue his unique type of art. Not only did his subjects develop from rural scenes of Philippine madonnas and children on carabaos, he also created paintings depicting New York street life and important building landmarks that soon developed into a technique termed “color vibrations” in a style considered as abstract impressionistic realism.
The writer Eva Florentino has sketched an autobiographical book on Manuel Rodriguez which celebrates the artist who continues to live the life he has always stood for. The book’s afterword is written by iconoclastic artist David Medalla which is a nostalgic account of the Ermita Days. It reads like a memoir of those times when Ermita in the 50’s was considered a cosmopolitan district. Manuel Rodriquez played an important part in Medalla’s imprint on the old Ermita mindset. He recalled that the art then, in retrospect, was a result expressed of an optimism that came after our country’s liberation at the end of World War II.
