VI VITALIS AND THE PHILIPPINE EMBASSY

VI

VITALIS AND THE PHILIPPINE EMBASSY

Much like his neighbors in Plestin-les-Grèves, the Philippine Embassy in Paris is fortunate enough to own a Marcario Vitalis painting. Donated to the Embassy by the artist in 1963, the painting— Bayanihan, an explosion of colors and recalls idyllic farm life in the Philippines—is displayed prominently at the official Residence of the Ambassador at 17bis Avenue Foch at the 16e Arrondissement and never fails to draw the admiration of those who see it.

Figure 221. 18 January 1963, Philippine Embassy in Paris, France. L-R: Philippine Chargé d’Affaires Amb. Felipe Mabilangan, Sr. with artist, Macario Vitalis. (Photo / Ada Ledesma Mabilangan)

Figure 222. Bayanihan by Macario Vitalis. Painting donated by the artist to the Philippine Embassy in Paris; currently on display at the Official Residence of the Philippine Ambassador in Paris. Oil on canvas, size 78 x 138 cm.

Macario Vitalis’ encounter with the Embassy did not happen by chance. In the early 1960s, he attended the Paris performances of the Bayanihan Dance Company. He befriended the dancers and captured their images, costumes and dances in the paintings he made thereafter. It was perhaps because of this experience that he later on reached out to the Embassy and the Filipino community.

The Philippine Embassy responded and sponsored an exhibition at the Académie Diplomatique Internationale in June of 1981. This exhibition showcased Philippine Contemporary Art and marked that year’s celebration of Philippine Independence. The exhibition featured Vitalis together with five other Filipino artists then living in France and London—Ben Cab, who was then based in London, Juvenal Sanso, Ofelia Gelvezon-Téqui, Egai Fernandez, and Nena Saguil. In 1985, the Embassy made possible the participation of Vitalis and Saguil at the Rencontre Artistique Picturale Internationale jointly sponsored by the Café de la Paix and the Grand Hôtel, two Parisian institutions closely identified with La Belle Époque.

Figure 223. 12 June 1981, Académie Diplomatique Internationale in Paris, France. L-R: Ada Ledesma Mabilangan, Nena Saguil, Amb. Felipe Mabilangan, Jr., Juvenal Sanso, BenCab, Egai Fernandez, and Ofelia Gelvezon-Téqui (Photo/Ada Ledesma Mabilangan)

Fast forward to 2017, the Philippine Embassy together with the PhilPost and La Poste chose the paintings of Macario Vitalis (Bayanihan) and that of French painter Jacques Villon—who influenced Vitalis early in his career—for the commemorative stamps celebrating 70 years of Philippines–France diplomatic relations, a fitting representation of the close people-topeople relations these two artists had between each other.

Figure 224. First day cover issued by La Poste to celebrate 70 years of Philippines-France diplomatic relations, June 2017.

Figure 225. First day cover issued by PhilPost showing se-tenant block of 12 stamps of the Vitalis and Villon paintings, June 2017.