Anita Magsaysay-Ho
Anita Magsaysay-Ho (May 25, 1914 – May 5, 2012) was a Filipino painter known for her vivid depictions of Filipina women and for shaping Modern Philippine art. Working in Social Realism and post-Cubism, she moved toward modernist styles with abstract touches rather than strict realism. She was the only woman member of the pioneering Filipino modernist group called the Thirteen Moderns, and in 1958 a panel named her one of the six major painters in Philippine history.
Born in 1914 in the Philippines, Magsaysay-Ho came from a family connected to public life; a cousin was President Ramon Magsaysay. She began studying art at the University of the Philippines at age 13, learning under prominent painters such as Fabian de la Rosa and Fernando Amorsolo, and later studied at UP’s School of Design with Victorio Edades. In the 1930s she moved to the United States to study further, attending Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and the Art Students League in New York City, where she met her husband, Robert Ho. The couple had five children and lived in many countries because of Ho’s work.
Her paintings celebrate Filipina women at work—cooking, harvesting, mending nets, and caring for children—portrayed with strength and warmth. She painted from memory of the Philippines even as she traveled widely. Early in her career she was influenced by Amorsolo, earning the nickname “the Female Amorsolo.” Magsaysay-Ho favored egg tempera in her early years but later used oils, acrylics, drawings, and lithographs. Her work combines Social Realism with semi-abstract, Cubist-influenced forms and gradually evolved toward Modernism.
In the 1950s she exhibited with other Neo-Realist artists, producing some of her best-known works that highlight light and dark contrasts among Filipina workers. In the 1960s her figures became more spaced and articulated with softened tones. A decade later she drew inspiration from Chinese calligraphy, using ink blots to depict nature and objects. In the 1980s she often used green hues to portray fruits and vegetables that resemble women.
Her most famous paintings include Two Women (two Filipina women with white head-wraps shucking corn), Cooks (three women with pots of food), and Mending the Nets (two women talking while mending a net); these works won first prizes at The Philippine Art Association. In 1999, her painting In the Marketplace sold for SGD 669,250 (about US$405,000) in Singapore, a record price for a Filipino artist at the time. She continued painting into old age until a stroke in 2009, and died in Manila in 2012 at age 97.
Her contributions to Filipino modern art are widely recognized, and biographies such as Alfredo Roces’s In Praise of Women celebrate her life and work. Her paintings are held in collections across the Philippines.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 22:33 (CET).