Early life
Legaspi was born to Manuel Legaspi and Rosario Torrente in Tondo, Manila. He took up painting for one term at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts before he decided to take commercial art courses instead. There he received medals for perspective and illustration projects. He earned his Certificate of Proficiency in 1936, after which he continued his education in art under Pablo Amorsolo. He went to Madrid in 1953 and pursued Art Studies under a scholarship at the Cultura Hispanic until 1954. He also went to Paris to study at the Academie Ranson for one month under Henri Goetz. Back in the Philippines, he had his first one-man show at the Luz Gallery in 1963. While this led to an active phase with his major pieces, he also worked as a magazine illustrator and artistic director at an advertising agency. He finally left the agency in 1968 to focus on his painting.Later career
During his career as an artist, he had the opportunity to be part of several exhibits abroad, including the First Plastic Arts Conference in Rome in 1953, the São Paulo Biennial in Graphic Arts in 1967 and 1969, and the Wraxall Gallery in London with Filipino artists Mauro Malang Santos and Benedicto Cabrera in 1982. Apart from this, he holds the record of five retrospective exhibitions at different venues: the Museum of Philippine Art in 1978, the National Museum and the Metropolitan Museum in 1988, and the Luz Gallery and the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1990. He was an active member of the Art Association of the Philippines and was part of the Neo-Realists. He was also the head of the Saturday Group artists from 1978 until his death on April 7, 1994. Legaspi's major works include: * 1945 – ''Man and Woman'' * 1947 – ''Gadgets''Personal life
He was married to Betty/Vitaliana who kept them afloat with 5 children as he was still beginning to establish his art practice. Their children, in chronological order were Dennis, Rebecca, Maricelle/Celeste, Alicia, and Diana, the latter practiced as a lighting designer before migrating to the US. His middle daughter, Celeste Legaspi, is a singer, actress and theater-film producer.Death
At the age of 76, Cesar Legaspi died on April 7, 1994 due to prostate cancer.In popular culture
Portrayed by Ian Veneracion in the anthology series ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' episode "Portrait" (2018).References
See also
*Fernando Amorsolo *Vicente Manansala *Philippine Center, Art Collection of the Philippine Center, New York City {{DEFAULTSORT:Legaspi, Cesar Filipino people of Spanish descent Filipino people of Basque descent National Artists of the Philippines 1917 births 1994 deaths People from Tondo, Manila Artists from Metro Manila 20th-century Filipino painters Burials at the Libingan ng mga Bayani Deaths from cancer in the Philippines Deaths from prostate cancer