Raymundo R. Valencia is a Filipino modernist artist best known for his distinctive focus on birds, a subject that earned him the nickname “The Birdman.” A graduate of the University of Santo Tomas College of Fine Arts, he emerged in the 1960s as a young painter with a strong sense of form, rhythm, and movement, often expressed through stylized avian imagery.
Valencia’s achievements include being recognized in the Art Association of the Philippines’ Ginto publication for winning Best in Photography in the 1964 annual competition with his work Bird Woman II, which has been noted as part of the National Museum collection. His long‑standing fascination with birds appears throughout his career, from early modernist canvases to later works that highlight the grace and symbolic presence of these creatures.
One of his untitled bird paintings from the 1960s was featured in Lutak at Papak, an environmental advocacy exhibition organized by Liongoren Gallery in 2008 to promote awareness and care for the natural world. This inclusion reflects how Valencia’s imagery resonates not only as art but also as a reminder of the country’s ecological heritage.
Across decades of practice, Valencia developed a recognizable visual language built on movement, pattern, and the expressive character of birds, securing his place among notable Filipino modernist painters.
