Volume I 
“In a Period of Academic Realism” 

​(Pre-War). His development after the manner of the old U.P. SFA and its predecessor body. Copyright: Jan. 7, 2016.

Philippine modernist Constancio “CMaB” Bernardo's foundational artistic journey  from the challenging studies at the UP School of Fine Arts, the book illuminates how mentors like Fernando Amorsolo shaped his artistic language. Blending personal archives and recollections, this "excavation of an artist's spine" reveals the convictions and quiet revolts that defined Bernardo's path, setting the stage for his technique, ideology, and legacy.​

​Volume II
“Touch of Spanish Impressionism”

(1940s-1st half 1948). Development heavily influenced by the Amorsolo and SFA mentors. Copyright: Feb. 4, 2016

Across Japanese occupation wartime and postwar chapters, CMaB goes from disciplined UP Fine Arts student to lone student in a 1941 faculty exhibit, loses works during the war, sketches the Death March, evacuates in Bulacan, and enters “Liberation Time” with GI Joe drawings and still lifes and exhibits. It ends with 1947–48 “normalcy”: raising a family and preparing scholarships to study abroad.

Volume III 
​“Italian Renaissance at Yale” 

(2nd Half 1948 to 1949). At Yale SFA the first two years, not dissimilar from the U.P. S.F.A. Copyright: Apr. 25, 2016

Yale's School of Fine Arts still championed Italian Renaissance technique—far from the UP tradition he had just left.  He negotiates “culture shocks”: Americanization, egg-tempera discipline, and a drawing method at odds with UP’s light-play, while securing other scholarships, mourning a family death in July 1949, and absorbing modern art early influence—steps that push him toward abstraction.

Volume IV 
“Emergent to the Abstract at Yale” 

(Pre-War, War, Post-War). Specifically, in the period he was at Yale. Copyright: Aug 26, 2016

This compelling narrative traces the de Guzman–Mendoza kinships of Bulacan, shattered by the 1918 Spanish Flu. The devastating pandemic scatters Nieves and her five siblings into various foster homes, forcing the orphans into makeshift "teams" to survive. The story teases rumored bloodlines connecting them to Rizal, then chronicles the upbringing and educational struggles of "Nena Puti."  All these as backdrops to the lives of his wife and children while the Artist was abroad for 4.5 years.

Volume V 
“Emergent to the Abstract at Yale”

(1950-1951). A period when he digested the many artistic styles in New England and NYC. Copyright: Aug 26, 2016

This period saw an intense creation of over a hundred geometric abstraction studies, marking a personal turning point. Bernardo's  geometric explorations diverged from Josef Albers' separate color-driven  and linear structure experiments, showcasing their distinct yet parallel artistic concerns. His "advanced" geometric abstractions earned him Yale's Most Advanced Show prize. This artistic evolution was further intensified by Albers' transformative "Design" reforms and Willem de Kooning's subsequent influence, solidifying Bernardo's embrace of abstraction.

Volume VI 
“Various Exposures”  

(1952). Still of the Modern Art influences, enhanced by his half-year travels art centers of Europe. Copyright: Aug 26, 2016

After his 1952 MFA graduation from Yale were European museum tour and return voyage to the Philippines. Vivid personal anecdotes blend with historical and cultural insights—from student life in New Haven to a triumphant homecoming in Manila. Rich in reflections, this Volume reveals Bernardo’s evolving role as artist, educator, and father against a backdrop of postwar transformation and diasporic return.

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THE LAUNCHING