Romeo Villalva Tabuena

Famous Filipino Artist Romeo Villalva Tabuena is a Filipino-born painter and printmaker who was born in Iloilo City on August 22, 1921. He studied architecture at the Mapúa Institute of Technology in Manila and painting at the University of the Philippines. He also studied at the Art Students League of New York and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.

In 1955, Romeo Tabuena settled in Mexico, where he still lives with his Norwegian wife Nina. However, he has retained his Philippine citizenship. He painted the mural Filipiniana in the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. In 1965, he participated in the Eighth São Paulo Art Biennial as the official Filipino artist and as the art commissioner from the Philippines. The Honolulu Academy of Arts is among the public collections holding work by Romeo Villalva Tabuena.