Romulo Olazo entered the Fine Arts program of the University of Santo Tomas in 1951, and went on first to make a name as a major printmaker, winning numerous awards and exhibiting widely both in the Philippines, and representing the Philippines internationally as far afield as Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo and Sao Paolo.
He began his career as an artist at a critical juncture, when the foundations of a modernist tradition were being laid, by key figures such as Vicente Manansala, Victorio Edades, HR Ocampo and Fernando Zobel. Olazo first came to the fore as a printmaker who made striking innovations in this field. This fed into the development of his Diaphanous series, a unique body of abstract paintings that “are veritable visions of light. They have been likened to dragonfly wings, sheets of gossamer veil or gauze, and even a symphony.”
In 1972, he was awarded the coveted Thirteen Artists Award by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP). In the 1970s, he developed his renowned Diaphanous series of paintings. He has held regular solo exhibitions at pioneering galleries such as the Luz Gallery, and Finale Art File and major institutions such as the CCP in the Philippines since 1974. He was recently included in the book 13 Painters for the 21st Century.
Provenance: Private Collection, Manila