Artist shares touching encounter with Angel Cacnio, the man behind the designs of ₱20 & ₱100 banknotes

How wonderful is it to encounter an individual who became a part of national history?

Artist Sofia Cope had the most wonderful opportunity to meet Mr. Angel Cacnio, a Filipino artist known for designing the Php 20 and Php 100 banknotes. His other famous work includes the “Reporma”. She shared her encounter with him on a Facebook post. The Malabon native is now 87 years old.

“I don’t think I have ever truly known the look of happiness after seeing it on his face that day,” she writes.

The Inquirer reports that he drew the Php 20 and Php 100 bill with the faces of Presidents Manuel Quezon and Manuel Roxas respectively, “on a commission by the then Central Bank of the Philippines in the 1980’s”.

“My friend Clarisse and I have this thing where we visit artists in their abode,” Cope tells WHEN IN MANILA. “Last June, we went to Ms.Patis Tesoro’s beautiful home — she is also Clarisse’s friend. I’d document these trips via IG Stories.”

In the first video,  Cacnio draws a sketch for Cope as a token of visiting him at his humble abode. She said the man was almost in tears of joy.

The second video shows framed versions of the Php 20 and Php 100 paper bills. The first drafts of the bills were seen, as well as the final outcome of the banknotes.

Cope also shared Cacnio’s “Reporma”, an oil in canvas masterpiece completed in 1971. She says that if she stared at it long enough, she could almost hear the screams of the people in the painting, thus giving her goosebumps.

Cacnio could not contain his happiness when Clarisse, who went with Cope to visit the artist, gifted him an easel.

 

“I love capturing the artists in their most raw moments. My viewers, albeit few, always love it and share it with their friends — they didn’t even know these artists exist,” Cope happily tells WHEN IN MANILA.  “And that’s important for the preservation of culture, for the younger generation’s awareness. Other than that, I believe art and stories are empathy machines.”

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Disclaimer: WheninManila.com does not own the images above. Credits go to Sofia Cope.