The Vargas Museum is the best place in Metro Manila to see Philippine art from the early twentieth century to the present. The collection, originally donated by Jorge Vargas, a former secretary to President Quezon, includes paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from the Spanish colonial period through the Commonwealth era. Rotating exhibitions feature contemporary Filipino artists.
The museum is housed in a handsome building at the edge of the University of the Philippines Diliman campus. Admission is free. Allow an hour or two — the permanent collection is well-curated and the temporary shows are often excellent. The campus setting, with its wide lawns and the Oblation statue nearby, makes a visit here a natural combination with a walk around UP.