Fernando Zobel de Ayala was born in Manila, the Philippines, on August 27, 1924. He was an artist, patron of the arts, art collector, teacher, photographer, poet and also a writer on artistic and cultural topics. As an artist, Zobel is best known for abstractions, often painted in black and white color schemes, that reflect the dual influences of Abstract Expressionism and Asian painting and calligraphy.

Zobel was the son of Enrique Zobel de Ayala, a Spanish industrialist, and Fermina Montojo y Torróntegui. A citizen of Spain, he grew up in both the Philippines, the United States, Spain and Switerland. His father, who had studied painting, was the patron of Philippine Artist Fernando Amorsolo, who provided art lessons to...