Cesar Victor “Cid” P. Reyes is a distinguished Filipino artist, art critic, author, and scholar whose prolific career spans more than five decades. He is recognized as one of the Philippines’ most influential voices in both creative practice and art discourse, uniquely bridging the worlds of visual art and critical writing.

Reyes earned his Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from De La Salle University in Manila. He then received a grant from the Italian government to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy, and later pursued art history studies at the City Lit Institute in London, England—experiences that shaped his dual career as a creator and critic.

As an artist, Reyes has held more than 20 solo exhibitions since his first show in 1969 at Joy Dayrit’s Print Gallery in Manila. His work navigates abstraction and rhythmic geometric forms, reflecting an evolving artistic language that blends expressive color, form, and movement. His painting practice encompasses everything from action painting-inspired works to precise geometric compositions.

Reyes is equally celebrated as a prolific art critic and author. He won the Grand Prize in the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) art criticism competition in 1979, which launched his lifelong engagement in art writing. He authored the landmark book Conversations on Philippine Art, a foundational work of interviews with key figures in Philippine visual arts, and penned over 500 pieces in his decade-long weekly column “Gallery Hopping” for TODAY newspaper.

Reyes has written and co-authored dozens of books on Philippine artists, including coffee-table monographs on National Artists such as Arturo Luz, Benedicto Cabrera (BenCab), J. Elizalde Navarro, and Napoleon Abueva, and numerous titles on other influential Filipino painters and sculptors. He also contributed to authoritative collections like Tanaw: The Central Bank Art Collection and Herencia: The BPI Art Collection.

Among his many accolades, Reyes was named Art Critic of the Year, received the Most Outstanding Kapampangan in the Arts from the Government of Pampanga, and won a GOLD Trophy at the American Business Awards for his coffee-table book MVP: The Man and His Art—a first for a Philippine art book to earn such international distinction.

Beyond his exhibitions and writings, Reyes has played a key role in documenting Philippine art history. He is actively involved in preserving oral histories of Filipino artists, including digitizing decades of recorded interviews for future generations.