The following article expands the original posted here: https://libguides.nybg.org/c.php?g=1465030

Eduardo Arandia Salgado (1910–1987) was a Filipino painter and botanical illustrator born in Manila. He studied painting at the University of the Philippines, completing advanced courses between 1931 and 1932 under the direction of Fabian de la Rosa and Fernando Amorsolo. Trained in a classical style, Salgado produced rural landscapes and portraits, including a 1935 portrait of Philippine president Manuel L. Quezon. During his studies he also worked as a scientific illustrator in the university’s botany department, producing detailed studies of Philippine fruits and flowers.

Salgado migrated to the United States in 1940 and was affiliated with the University of Michigan from 1940 to 1946 as a graduate student and staff member in the Department of Botany. During this period he held a Rackham Fellowship in Painting and organized solo exhibitions in the Rackham Building featuring scenes of American life alongside subjects from the Philippines and Mexico. He also participated in the university’s Fifteenth Annual Exhibition of Sculpture, where he exhibited Liberation of the Philippines (1944), a work symbolizing the wartime alliance between the Philippines and the United States. His portrait work continued in the United States, including a life-size portrait of the University of Michigan professor J. Raleigh Nelson. Professor Nelson received the canvas and hung it in the school’s International Center lounge. Moreover, the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted Salgado’s “Corregidor” oil painting, “which portrays the stormed island of the Philippine Islands, with figureheads of liberty rising above the smoke and fire of battle. In the foreground, Philippine citizens are shown watching the battle, ready to do their part in the final victory drive of the Allies.” After Salgado sent the painting to the White House, President Roosevelt preserved the gift and to thank him, his private secretary Grace C. Tully, wrote a letter to Salgado:

“My dear Mr. Salgado: The President was touched by the thought which prompted you to send him that painting of “Corregidor.” This memento will ever be a reminder of the courage of all those brave soldiers who fought there. He asks me to thank you for the gift” (FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Sept 14, 1942).

In 1942 Salgado sent his oil painting Corregidor, commemorating the battle of Bataan and Corregidor, to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who accepted the work for the White House. Today, the painting is housed at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum which holds a vast collection of about 34,000  materials and artifacts.

After the Second World War Salgado worked as a botanical illustrator at the New York Botanical Garden, producing pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings for publications by botanists including Norman Taylor and Henry A. Gleason. His illustrations also appeared in works by Joseph Donald Novak, James Underwood Crockett, Cyrus Longworth Lundell, John Johnson Craighead, Ruth Chen-Ying Chou, and Chester A. Arnold. Salgado’s botanical drawings from the late 1940s are preserved in the New Britton and Brown Botanical Art Collection at the Mertz Library. In addition to his scientific illustration, he continued to exhibit paintings in the United States, including at the Bronx Artists’ Guild exhibitions (1948 and 1950), the Philippine Cultural Exhibition (1953), and the Hunt Institute’s Third International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration (1972–1973). Through his artistic work and exhibitions, Salgado sought to present Filipino culture to American audiences while developing a parallel career as a botanical artist.

During his studies at the University of Philippines, Salgado was also a scientific illustrator in the botany department, “where he spent much his time illustrating the history of botany making still life studies of Philippine fruits and flowers….” His knowledge and artistic versatility were deemed valuable at the New York Botanical Garden after Salgado took on multiple projects as a botanical artist (1946). At the Garden, his calligraphy design graced the front cover of the Garden Journal (1951) and illustrated the works of NYBG botanists: Norman Taylor and Henry A. Gleason. As a commercial artist, he also worked with Joseph Donald Novak (Cornell University Professor), James Underwood Crockett (gardener and author), Cyrus Longworth Lundell (botanist), John Johnson Craighead (environmentalist), Ruth Chen – Ying Chou and Chester A. Arnold (botanists).

Specializing in pen, ink and watercolor work, Salgado’s black, white and colored drawings displayed wildflowers, trees and gardening plants across the United States. At Mertz Library, Salgado’s black and white original ink drawings are in the New Britton and Brown Botanical Art Collection, 1946-1949.

Having migrated from the Philippines in 1940, Salgado’s objective to coming to the United States was “to let the American people learn the truth about the Filipino people and to correct the impression given by misinformed writers.” When he arrived to New York he wanted to study and have an art exhibition (NYBG Archives, 1950). Salgado reached his goals, presenting his work at the Bronx Artists’ Guild Exhibition (1948 & 1950), Philippine Cultural Exhibition (1953) and Hunt Institute Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration Artists: 3rd International Exhibition (1972-1973). Inspiring and grabbing the attention of Americans, he expressed his truth through visual education, highlighting people, plants and the Filipino culture.

Dispelling the negative narratives of his homeland, Salgado’s proven to be just as they described: “one of America’s leading botanical artist” and an “outstanding Filipino” artist.

Further reading

https://libguides.nybg.org/c.php?g=1465030

7 Years of the Philippine Art Gallery, 1951-1957. Manila: N.p., 1958. Print.

FDR Presidential Library and Museum Special Collections

“Filipino Artist.” Philippines, 1944, p.37.

Garden Journal, Vol.16, 1966, p.77.

Mertz Library Bronx Artists’ Guild ( VF)– Vertical File

Nicanor, Precioso M. Profiles of Notable Filipinos in the U.S.A. … Introd. by Melquiades Gamboa. Foreword by Mauro Baradi. Pre-Mer Pub. Co, 1963

NYBG Archives

Philippine Cultural Exhibition: 1953-1954. [s.l.: s.n., [9540?]

Yap, Diosdado. Lest We Forget: remember the Philippines, 1980, p. 135