Spanish-born, long-time Philippine resident, Maestro Juvenal Garrit Sansó died on March 28. He was 95 years old. He is survived by his niece, Carmen Montes.
Throughout most of his life, Sansó was known as one of the foremost Philippine modernist artists. He was respected by his peers in the art community and by many artists from different generations; and in his later years, he was honored by prestigious institutions.
Sansó was born in Reus, Spain, on November 23, 1929. He and his family emigrated to the Philippines in 1934 to escape civil unrest and settled in Manila. The Sansós lived a peaceful and comfortable existence until the advent of World War II, which scarred the teenage Juvenal physically and emotionally.
These horrific wartime experiences later influenced his art; the trauma reflected in his early works showing dark and grotesque subjects.
In the post-war years, Sansó took up fine arts at the University of the Philippines where he was in the classes of National Artists Fernando Amorsolo and Guillermo Tolentino.
He also discovered modernism sitting in at classes with the likes of Cesar Legaspi, Galo Ocampo, and Antonio Garcia-Llamas at the University of Santo Tomas.
Sansó’s early student years eventually blossomed into a long artistic career, exhibiting in Europe; being represented in prestigious museums and institutions locally and internationally; participating in countless one-man shows, and celebrated in major retrospectives leading to his 70th year in art in 2016.
Although collectors and enthusiasts admired him for his floral and expressionist paintings and landscapes, Sansó’s body of work spans illustration, printmaking and etching, textile design, costume and stage design, and photography.
Sansó has had a long and stellar career capped by a number of awards and recognitions including the King’s Cross of Isabella, knighthood from the King of Spain, membership into the Order of Chevalier for Arts and Letters from the French government, and a Presidential Medal of Merit from the Republic of the Philippines.
The culmination of Sansó’s life was the creation of Fundacion Sansó in 2014. Located in San Juan City, it is not only an archive and library of his works, but also a non-profit foundation that supports emerging young artists, art students, and advocacies within the industry, all of which were Sansó willed.
