Fernando Zobel y Montojo who was born on August 27, 1924 and died on June 2, 1984, also known as Fernando Zobel de Ayala y Montojo, Fernando M. Zobel, and Fernando M. Zóbel de Ayala, was a famous Filipino businessman, a famous Filipino modernist painter, and patron of the arts. Fernando Zobel, the son of Enrique Zobel de Ayala (1877-1943) and Fermina Montojo y Torrontegui, he was born in Ermita, Manila, and a member of the prominent Zobel de Ayala family. He graduated from Harvard University in 1949.
Fernando Zobel was one of the greatest Hispano-Filipino artists of his time, but ask laymen and experts alike and it would be evident that little is known of him apart from cursory information on his landmark paintings—or apart from whatever conceptions the lineage of his prominent surname brings.
Upon entering Harvard in 1946, although he decided to read history and literature, the first thing he did was to buy a box of oil paints. Without any academic training, he decided to paint. Painting was partly the reason why he later stayed on as a bibliographical researcher at the university. Around this time, he met the Boston artists Reed Champion and Jim Pfeufer who helped him launch his career as an artist.