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About

R. Bitanga is iconic as the Philippines' first and foremost woman abstract artist.​



Rosario Bitanga Peralta is a Philippine painter, sculptor, and printmaker who signs her work R. Bitanga.

 

A graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA, she was inspired and started to work on abstract painting. Her first abstract work "Galloping Horses" won third prize in the Art Competition sponsored by the Pontiac Society of Artsits. Her paintings range from miniature expressionistic landscapes, still lifes, life studies to mural-sized abstracts depicting arrested motion in a form of Futurism.

 

Her sculptures consist of metal and terracotta pieces. She also creates one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and other ornaments. Her works are in museums and prominent public and private collections in the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, the Vatican, Italy, Canada and the United States.

 

Personal background

Born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, she began painting while still in high school. She won her first national award for painting when she garnered Third Place in the Shell art competition in her next-to-last year of college. She is married to playwright Jesus T. Peralta.

 

Affiliations

She has been Dean of the Institute of Fine Arts and Design of the Philippine Women's University, and Consultant in Sculpture at the School of Fine Arts, University of Santo Tomas.

 

She has served on the Board of Directors of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), the Visual Arts Cooperative of the Philippines, and the Christian Art Society of the Philippines. Other involvements include the Print Association of the Philippines, the Society of Philippine Sculptors, KASIBULAN Women's Art Group, and UGNAYAN '80.

 

Some of her exhibits

  • 2001 Araw ng Maynila Exhibit, Manila, Philippines

  • 2001 Apostolate Center, New York, USA

  • 2001 Daley Center, Chicago, USA

  • 2001 Rizal Center, Chicago, USA

 

Some of her accomplishments

  • Listed in the World Who's Who of Women by the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England (1991)

  • Listed in Artists and Masters of the 20th Century published by Les Editions Arts et Images du Monde, Paris, France (1994)

  • Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) Award for Sculpture (1960)

  • 3rd Place, Shell Art Competition (1957)

 

References

R. Bitanga 
   painter
   sculptor
   printmaker
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