Spanish-born Philippine artist Juvenal Sansó. Fundacion Sansó

Spanish-born Philippine artist Juvenal Sansó passed away on March 28, 2025. He was 95 years old. 

Sansó is survived by his niece, Carmen Montes. 

Born in Reus, Spain, on November 23, 1929, Sansó and his family emigrated to the Philippines in 1934 to escape civil unrest and settled in Manila. 

After narrowly surviving the horrors of World War II, Juvenal Sansó studied painting under Alejandro Celis at the age of 17, and took up Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines where he was taught by National Artists Fernando Amorsolo and Guillermo Tolentino, and by Irineo Miranda.

The Simpao Collection Of Sansó Art Is All About Putting Trends And Market Values Aside

Sansó discovered modernism by sitting in on the classes of Cesar Legaspi, Galo Ocampo, and Antonio Garcia-Llamas at the University of Santo Tomas. Soon after, Sansó garnered awards at the Art Association of the Philippines and at the Shell National Student Art Competition. 

It was after this period that Sansó left for Europe to pursue further studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in Italy and at l’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.  

His early student years transitioned into the artist exhibiting internationally in Paris, Rome, and London; being represented in prestigious museums and institutions here and abroad; and participating in multiple one-man shows, including a 25th-year retrospective at the CCP. 

In the late 1980s, Sansó was the feature of six exhibitions held at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Alliance Française de Manille, Finale Art File, Ayala Museum, the Lopez Museum and Library, and the Centro Cultural de España. 

Sansó’s career reached its peak with important state recognitions, including the Presidential Medal of Merit from the Republic of the Philippines, in 2006, the Distinguished King’s Cross of Isabela by King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 2007, and the conferment of the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France in 2008. 

In his twilight years, Sansó expressed his desire to create a foundation that would not only conserve his artistic contributions but support emerging young artists. 

This non-profit art foundation, archive, and library is Fundacion Sansó, which was established in 2014. It has since diversified, showcasing Philippine contemporary artists who participate in advocacy projects, launching the Fundacion Sansó Fine Arts Student Stipend Program, Art + Design = Empowerment, and public talks that have pivoted online in the New Normal. 

This under-the-radar San Juan café is a tribute to artist Sanso’s roots

Sansó never envisioned himself to be a force within the art community, but he enjoyed making art that became a primary outlet of his personal expressions—a slow and winding narrative of his life, between triumph and tragedy. The late art historian Rod. Paras-Perez perfectly sums it up: “Sansó believes that the act of painting is an intimate, private confession. The audience is always, for him, an intrusive eavesdropper…It is the point in Sansó’s solitary voyage to the self.”  

The legacy of Juvenal Sansó will not end with his passing, for his art and life will continue to inspire us. His works can be viewed in all the major Philippine art museums, and most especially in the foundation he co-built: Fundacion Sansó in San Juan City.