Antonio Blanco
Antonio Blanco (left) in his Bali home.
Born
Antonio Blanco

15 September 1912
Manila, Philippines
Died10 December 1999 (aged 87)
Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
NationalitySpanish and American
Known forPainting, drawing

Antonio Maria Blanco (15 September 1912 – 10 December 1999)[1] was a painter of born in Manila.Antonio Maria Blanco was born in the Ermita district of Manila, Philippines. He initially lived and worked in Florida and California in the United States. Don Antonio Maria Blanco died on December 10, 1999, in Denpasar, Bali.

Biography

Antonio Maria Blanco was born in the Ermita district of Manila, Philippines. He initially lived and worked in Florida and California in the United States, until he became interested in exploring the islands of the Pacific Ocean that had been a source of inspiration for painters such as Paul Gauguin, José Miguel Covarrubias and others before him. He planned to go to Tahiti, but fate brought him to Hawaii, Japan and Cambodia, where he was a guest of honor of Prince Norodom Sihanouk. From Cambodia he went to Bali in 1952 and married a traditional Balinese dancer named Ni Ronji in 1953. Bali gave Blanco important elements that he needed to develop his artistic gifts: the beautiful scenery, the dreamlike atmosphere of the environment and the pervasive art and great love.

Settled in Bali, Blanco began to realize his dreams in life and work. He built a house and museum in Ubud which contains many of his paintings.

The land on which the construction was erected was given to Blanco by the King of Ubud Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati. Women are the focal point of his paintings and one could say that Blanco was a painter of the eternal feminine and his style is romantic-expressive and dreamy.

Blanco received numerous awards, including the Tiffany Fellowship (special award from The Society of Honolulu Artists), Chevalier du Sahametrai of Cambodia, the Society of Painters of Fine Art Quality of President Sukarno and the Prize of the Art Critique in Spain. Blanco was also awarded the order of Cruz de Caballero from the King of Spain Juan Carlos I, giving him the title of "Don" in front of his name.

Many collectors have appreciated his paintings, including the actress Ingrid Bergman, Mexican telenovela queen Thalia (Ariadna Thalia Sodi Miranda), Sukarno (the first President of Indonesia), Suharto (the second president of Indonesia), the former Indonesian Vice President Adam Malik, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Michael Jackson and many more.

The Blanco Renaissance Museum, Blanco's lifetime dream, was opened on December 28, 1998, at his residence in a beautiful environment, where more than 300 works of Blanco are exposed in chronological order to show his artistic development. The sumptuous and impressive building offers a glimpse of the theatrical character of the artist. He emulated the flamboyance of Dali, to whom he has been compared.

Don Antonio Maria Blanco died on December 10, 1999, in Denpasar, Bali, from heart and kidney disease, survived by his wife and four children: Cempaka, Mario, Orchid and Mahadewi. Since Blanco converted to Hinduism, he had a cremation ceremony Balinese style in Ubud, finished on 28 December 1999.[2]

His house on a hill in Ubud is now a museum devoted to him.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Visited on 3 June 2011 Archived August 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Don Antonio Blanco - In Memoriam Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed on 15 January 2008.
  3. ↑ "Voyage Bali villa Premium – location maison ou villa de luxe à Bali". Archived from the original on 2011-02-04. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
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