Rodolfo Paras-Perez was born in the Philippines in 1934 and became one of the country’s most versatile cultural figures. He trained as a painter and printmaker, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines in 1957, before earning his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Minnesota in 1961. He later achieved a milestone as the first Filipino to receive a Ph.D. in Art History from Harvard University, cementing his reputation as both a practitioner and a scholar.
As an artist, Paras-Perez worked across painting, printmaking, collage, sculpture, and even moving image, producing experimental works that challenged conventions of his time. His woodcut prints were particularly influential—critics credit him with reviving the relief printing technique in the Philippines. His subjects often included intimate renderings of the human figure, as well as literary themes, such as his series of woodcuts illustrating Francisco Baltazar’s classic “Florante at Laura.”
Paras-Perez’s career was also marked by international recognition. He held his first solo exhibition at the Luz Gallery in 1962, and his prints were shown in major exhibitions in Geneva, Cracow, and Florence. He won multiple awards, including First Prize at the Art Association of the Philippines Annual Competition for works like The Kiss (1962) and Ethereal Glow (1963). In 1969, he received the Gold Medal at the II Internazional della Grafica in Florence, further establishing his global stature.
Beyond his studio practice, Paras-Perez was a prolific writer and critic, authoring books and essays on leading Filipino artists such as Vicente Manansala, Fernando Amorsolo, Juvenal Sansó, Guillermo Tolentino, Fernando Zóbel, and Federico Aguilar Alcuaz. His scholarship helped frame Philippine modern art within a broader Southeast Asian and international context. He also curated exhibitions that introduced Filipino and Southeast Asian artists, including Pacita Abad, to global audiences.
His works are now part of major collections, including the National Gallery of Singapore, the Harvard Museum, and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Posthumously, his life and contributions were celebrated in exhibitions at the Lopez Museum and the Ateneo Art Gallery in 2014.
