A Monumental New Book on Sansó
Six hundred artworks, decades-long interviews, and rare archival material are released for the first time in Sansó: Prized and Personal.
By Art+ Magazine Team
Photos courtesy of Fundacion Sansó
November 26, 2025
A landmark in Philippine art publishing has arrived—and it is already being called essential. SANSÓ: Prized and Personal, a sweeping, 464-page volume from Fundacion Sansó, brings together more than 600 full-color artworks by Juvenal Sansó—many never exhibited or published, making it the most extensive visual compendium of the artist to date. For scholars, collectors, curators, and enthusiasts, this book is not merely desirable; it is indispensable.
What sets this volume apart is its unprecedented depth. The book assembles a decade of rare interviews with Sansó conducted by some of the Philippines’ most respected cultural figures: Ray Albano, Cid Reyes, Ambeth Ocampo, and Thelma Sioson San Juan. These conversations—intimate, long out of circulation, and now gathered for the first time—offer direct access to Sansó’s artistic mind, revealing ideas and memories that shaped his remarkable career.
Juvenal Sanso at the Metropolitan Museum of New York
Adding scholarly rigor is a comprehensive timeline of Sansó’s life and oeuvre by art historian Reuben Ramas-Cañete, Ph.D., with Matthew Lopez—an authoritative guide that contextualizes the artist’s evolution from his early student years, to his European Black Period, to the luminous Brittany landscapes that made him beloved across generations.
The volume also features reflections from nine prominent collectors—including former Senate President Miguel Zubiri, Pepper Teehankee, Eliot and Cherry Maguan, Raffy Simpao, Jack Teotico, Jeffrey V. Dayrit, Jr., and Marlon and Marissa Sanchez—who reveal why Sansó remains one of the most sought-after names in Philippine art. Their essays illuminate not only the rarity and beauty of his works, but the emotional pull that makes Sansó an enduring fixture in distinguished private collections.
Sanso Prized and Personal Book
“This is the kind of book that defines an artist’s legacy,” says Fundacion Sansó director Ricky Francisco. “It shows the full breadth of Sansó’s achievements—his voice, his vision, the collectors who believed in him, and the scholarship that anchors his place in Philippine art history.”
Completed shortly after Sansó’s passing in 2025, SANSÓ: Prized and Personal stands as both tribute and testament: a definitive volume at a pivotal moment. For those who follow Asian modernism, for collectors tracking key cultural publications, and for anyone who recognizes the significance of preserving an artist’s story in its richest form, this is the book to acquire now.
Comprehensive, authoritative, and visually extraordinary—SANSÓ: Prized and Personal is not just a publication. It is an opportunity. And it is one the art world cannot afford to miss.
An accompanying exhibit titled PRIZED AND PERSONAL: THE LEGACY will be launched in collaboration with Art Lounge Manila-Podium, and will run from November 26 to December 4.
You can pre-order the book SANSÓ: PRIZED AND PERSONAL through https://fundacionsanso.shop, or inquire through @fundacionsansomuseumshop on Instagram.
Visit Fundacion Sansó at 32 V. Cruz St., Brgy. Sta. Lucia, San Juan. Museum hours: Monday to Saturday, 10am-4pm (closed on Sundays and holidays).
