This is the first of a series of coffee table books being produced by Erehwon Artworld Corporation to honor National Artists. This book features Carlos V. Francisco, affectionately nicknamed “Botong.” It narrates his life and features many of his greatest works. He has been well regarded as a genius who transcended the narrow medium of genre painting, and invested his murals with the robust spirit and infectious gaiety of simple people. The foreword is written by another National Artist, Francisco Sionil Jose, who regarded Botong as the Philippines’ greatest painter, whose murals are alive with color and sensuous lines.