MANILA, Philippines -- Jose V. Blanco, the folk muralist whose richly colorful and celebratory works of the Tagalog pastorale have been likened to another Angono muralist, the late National Artist Carlos "Botong" Francisco, died Thursday morning of heart failure. He was 76.

Blanco, who had been nominated for the National Artist Award, died at 1 a.m. The cardiac arrest was a complication arising from his medical condition when fluid entered his lungs, said Michael Blanco, the artist's son.

His remains lie in wake at the Bahay Blanco Family Museum at 312 Ibanez Street, Angono. Interment is on August 19 after a necrological Mass at 2 p.m. at the San Clemente Parish Church, whose colorful annual fiesta Blanco celebrated continuously in his huge canvases.

Although Blanco's fame rests mainly on giant oil-on-canvas works, his work was largely confined to Angono, the riverine town in Rizal province between Laguna de Bay and the Sierra Madre mountain range, lying some 30 kilometers from Manila.

Because of its romantic location and its folk-art traditions, the town often styles itself as the "Art Capital of the Philippines." The claim has some basis to it since the town has produced two National Artists -- Francisco and National Artist for Music Lucio San Pedro.

Nearby Binangonan town meanwhile became the resident of National Artist Vicente Manansala, a Kapampangan.

Blanco himself, called by his folkname "Pitok Bunggan" in Angono, was part of a long line of folk artists that include Nemiranda (who did the EDSA Revolution mural at the EDSA Shrine), Perdigon Vocalan, and Juan Senson or Tandang Juancho, a 19th century artist who was known as the grand old man of art of Angono.

Blanco's forefather was Pedro Pison, a religious artist of the 19th century. An uncle on his mother's side became an artist after retiring from the US Navy.

It appears, too, that Angono's artistic tradition goes back to prehistory. The Angono Petroglyphs, which were discovered in the 1960's by Francisco himself, were found to have been etched drawings on the rock surface of a cave in the mountain forest of Angono.

But while Blanco's subjects ranged from prehistory to history, from traditional to contemporary, Blanco hewed close to Angono. It could be said he never left Angono.

Born on March 19, 1932, Blanco belonged to a fishing family who thrived on the rich resources of the Laguna de Bay.

But although a folk artist, Blanco was academically trained. He entered the School of Fine Arts of the University of Santo Tomas in 1951. Its faculty included the top firebrand modernists of Philippine art history -- National Artists Victorio Edades, Vicente Manansala and Francisco, as well as Galo Ocampo, Antonio Llamas, Galo Ocampo and Diosdado Lorenzo.

Blanco never abandoned his roots. Even while he was studying, he was still regularly doing his fishing rounds in order to earn enough money for his tuition.

Graduating in 1955 and winning the best thesis award of his batch, Blanco worked for several years as an advertising director.

In 1971, Blanco abandoned advertising in order to paint full-time. It was also the year he held his first one-man show at the Manila Hilton.

Almost instantly, Blanco became known for his murals of Angono life. The Rockefeller Foundation of New York obtained his "Pag-ahon ng Pagoda," a depiction of the fluvial parade in connection with the San Clemente fiesta, in the 1970's.

Art critic Allice Guillermo called Blanco's style "folk realism." Notable is the graphic perspicacity of the work as well as the lushness of its earthy colors.

Perhaps the most typical of Blanco's works is the "Angono Town Fiesta," a giant canvas showing more than 100 figures at various states of delight and celebration during the feast of San Clemente, Angono's patron saint. All of the figures are based on real life --they represent Blanco's town mates.

Blanco himself appears in the canvas, cuddling his grandchild and pointing him to the rich celebration.

Despite the general optimism and celebratory quality of his works, Blanco did not shy away from "dark" subjects. "The Burning of Angono" shows his memory of a painful episode during the Japanese occupation, when Angono folk watched their town burn as it was razed by the Japanese in reprisal for the killing of Makapili troops.

Blanco's fame was not confined to Angono and the Philippines. He was invited to exhibit abroad. Last summer, he and his family of artists exhibited in Xiamen, China.

Toward the end of his life, in the tradition of folk arts, Blanco subsumed his identity to that of his family.

His seven children have taken after him and continued the folk art tradition. Even his wife, Loreto, has started to pick up the brush and become part of the "Blanco Family of Artists."

Perhaps the most notable work of the family is "Risen Christ," a rich Eastern mural that hangs at the Holy Cross Parish in Valenzuela, Metro Manila.

Today Angono's art scene remains vibrant with new galleries sprouting. The Blancos have their own gallery, as well as Nemiranda.

But while young artists are continuing with the folk tradition, other artists trained in Manila are exploring new idioms, some of them in total collision with traditional art.

While the strongest suit of Angono artists is their strong moorings on the physical, social and aesthetic geography of Angono, some young artists, like those associated with the Neo-Angono Artists group, seem to be taking on entirely different styles and following different masters.

Instead of Francisco and Blanco, for example, their icons are Western abstractionists such as Pollock, De Kooning, and Gerhard Richter, artists who definitely hadn't heard of Angono or Botong and Blanco.