Anita Magsaysay-Ho

Anita Magsaysay was born in 1914 in Manila. Her parents were Armilla Corpus and Ambrosio Magsaysay, an engineer. A cousin of Anita was the later Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, whose father Exequiel was a brother of Anita's father Ambrosio. She studied at the School of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines (UP), where she took instruction from prominent Filipino painters like Fabian de la Rosa, Fernando Amorsolo and his brother Pablo Amorsolo. Then she followed UP's School of Design, with teachers as Victorio Edades and Enrique Ruiz. After her studies at UP, she left in the 1930s to the United States, where she studied at the Cranbrook Academy in Michigan and gave painting and drawing lessons in New York City. In New York she met Robert Ho from Hong Kong. They married and moved to China, where Ho's shipping industry company, Magsaysay Inc., began. The years after the couple had five children and they moved because of Ho's work frequently. They lived in Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. Wherever she lived, Anita had access to a studio, where she spent a lot of time to paint.

In the early 1940s, the influence of her teacher Fenando Amorsolo was clearly visible, both in terms of subject and brightness of the paintings. Later, her work evolved toward modernism, which, among other things, expressed in its Cubist style. She was one of the Thirteen Moderns, a group of Filipino modernist artists.

On October 3, 1999, the sale of her painting 'In the Marketplace "in 1955 at Christie's in Singapore $ 669,250 (US $ 405,360) on.[2] This was a record for a Filipino artist during his lifetime. In 2005, Alfredo Roces wrote a biography of her, called "In Praise of Women". She painted through to old age, until her 2009 stroke. She died three years later, just three weeks before her 98th birthday. A senate resolution was filed by Senator Franklin Drilon recommending Magsaysay-Ho to be conferred the National Artist Award for her contributions to Filipino modern art.

The resolution ultimately did not pass as Magsaysay-Ho died a Canadian citizen, Ho died on September 9, 2012 in Manila, Philippines. [3]

2nd prize at the Manila Grand Opera House Exhibition (1950) for "Five Senses" 1st prize of The Philippine Art Association (PAG) (1952) for "The Cooks" 2nd prize of The Philippine Art Association (PAG) (1953) for "Fruit Vendors" 1st prize of The Philippine Art Association (PAG) (1959) for "Mending the Nets" 1st prize of The Philippine Art Association (PAG) (1960) for "Two Women" 2nd prize of The Philippine Art Association (PAG) (1962) for "Trio"

There are collections of Anita Magsaysay-Ho in:

• The Ateneo Art Gallery, Manila, Philippines.

• The Lopez Memorial Museum and Library, Pasig, Philippines.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Manila Philippines.

• The Yuchengco Museum, Makati City, Philippines.