A hermit painter’s last years in Mount Banahaw. Paintings from the collection of Saul Hofileña Jr.
It is rare to come upon a whole collection of Jaime De Guzman, the hermit artist. This is the first time these paintings are being shared to the public. These are all from the collection of writer-scholar-lawyer Saul Hofileña Jr. whose friendship with the artist lasted until the latter passed. These introspective pieces, De Guzman’s twilight canvases, are as mysterious as his subject matter, the enigmatic Mount Banahaw.
Jaime de Guzman (1942–2023) explored identity, emotion, and landscape through painting. His artistic development moved from early experimentation and expressionist intensity to spiritual landscape works and reflective figurative paintings later in his life. It is through this lens that this viewing experience highlights themes of his explorations.
“I am now painting the sound of the universe…the immovable spot between war and peace.”
—Jaime de Guzman in Artes de las Filipinas, Revelations:
A Jaime de Guzman Retrospective
In The Enigma Of Jaime De Guzman: Collected Works of the Painter of the Mystic Mountain (2025), author & art historian Saul Hofileña Jr. details the life, work, and legacy of the hermit painter.
“My persisting memory of Jaime de Guzman is that he was a person of profound sadness whose life was enlivened only when he was painting.”
—Saul Hofileña Jr.
The World According to Jaime de Guzman is on view at the Yuchengco Museum, open daily from 10AM–6PM except on Sundays.
