Legarda Honors Renowned Visual Artist Edsel Moscoso

To celebrate her kasimanwa who brought pride to the Province of Antique, Senator Loren Legarda yesterday filed Senate Resolution No. 999, honoring the late visual artist Edsel Moscoso for his lifelong love for the arts and masterful depiction of the rural life of the Filipino people.

Moscoso, who was born to parents Dr. Julito Moscoso and Remedios Atillo Hermoso on January 30, 1952 in Bugasong, Antique, died at the age of 55 due to leukemia. He left a legacy of masterpieces that depicted the rural life of simple Filipinos and which made him, at the age of 23, one of the 13 Outstanding Young Artists of the Art Association of the Philippines.

“As a prominent painter, his works are uniquely characterized for their washed sepia images of Filipino rural life, placed against a contrasting colorful background. His paintings were observations of daily rural life, of fisherfolk, farmers and of women, and were described by National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin as ‘manscapes’,” Legarda said.

“All throughout his life, he has remained a steadfast champion of the cultural identity of Filipinos, through art,” she added.

In 1993, he was given the honor of Bugal kang Antique (“Pride of Antique”) for making a name for himself while being grounded and proud of his roots. During one of his exhibits, Moscoso proudly declared his Antique roots and revealed that the images in his paintings were Antiqueños.