Nestor Garcia Leynes, Sr (February 26, 1922 – March 18, 2016) was a Filipino realist painter. Leynes is regarded as one of the leaders of the “Magic Realist” movement of the Philippines. He was born in Santa Cruz, Manila.
Leynes’ parents owned several paintings, including some by the Filipino master painter Fabián Cueto de la Rosa, a distant relative of the family. Probably influenced by his environment, Leynes already expressed the desire to be an artist from a young age. His parents discouraged this ambition, fearing a life of hardship for him.
Nevertheless, Leynes was already taking art lessons in grade school and highschool. He graduated from the Arellano High School and entered the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines. His studies were cut short in his fourth year by the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in World War II. Two days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he married Amalia Alcantara, a childhood neighbor and sweetheart.
Being already married, Leynes never returned to school after the war and thus never graduated. He found work as an illustrator for Ramon Roces Publications. He created illustrations for magazines like Liwayway and Philippine comics. He was hired as a staff artist for the Philippine Advertising Counsel. Later on, he became the executive vice president for the art department of the J. Romero and Associates Advertising Agency. Leynes resumed painting full-time after retiring in 1980 at the age of fifty eight. He died in March 2016 at the age of 94.
Source: Wikipedia
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