He sculpted the UP Oblation commissioned in 1935 by then University President Rafael Palma and originally located at the UP Manila campus in Ermita. It was later moved to the Diliman campus in celebration of the state university's 40th anniversary.
Tolentino completed his degree in fine arts in 1915 at the UP.
In 1919, Tolentino went to the United States to pursue further studies on a scholarship grant from Bernard Baruch of New York University's Beaux School of Arts. He graduated from New York University with honors in 1921.
He also traveled to Europe to visit renowned museums and art galleries in London and Paris. He then went on to study in Regge Istituto di Belle Arti in 1922.
Notably, Tolentino received national recognition for his work on the Bonifacio Monument, now a major landmark of Kalookan City.
Tolentino's winning design of the monument featured an obelisk with a bird of freedom perched atop of it. Around the monument's base stand life-size figures of members of the Katipunan led by Bonifacio.
Tolentino likewise designed the medals for the Ramon Magsaysay Awards as well as the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.
From 1953 to 1955 Tolentino served as the School of Arts' director of the University of the Philippines. He retired in 1955 as professor emeritus.
He died on July 12, 1976 at the age of 86.
Also on this same day in 1917, Leonor Orosa Goquingco, National Artist for dance (1976), dubbed as the "Mother of Philippine Theater Dance" and "Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics," was born in Jolo, Sulu.
Her most ambitious work is the dance epic "Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend and Lore." With it, Orosa has brought native folk dance mirroring Philippine culture from pagan to modern times, to its highest stage of development.
She was later named as the Honorary Chair of the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines (ABAP), and is a founding member of the Philippine Ballet Theater.
She passed away on July 15, 2005 at the age of 87.
Philippine News Agency
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