How Fernando Amorsolo's Drawings

Helped Shape the Philippines' Young

Movers
It is often said that Amorsolo’s drawings helped shape the consciousness of
young people who would grow up to become the country's leaders and
movers.
By INO M ANALO | AUG 26, 2017

IMAGE THE PHILIPPINE READERS SERIES/ CHRISTIAN HALILI

1.5KShares
Share
 Tweet

Comments

In the years of the American Occupation, one of the most important

instructional resources used in Philippine schools was the Philippine Readers
Series. The early controversies regarding textbook accuracy serve as a
reminder of the importance of such basic materials in the formation of
children. The Philippine Readers in their time introduced entire generations of
Filipino youth to what they would come to know about the world. The stories
and illustrations helped mold the perspectives of a nation.
IMAGE THE PHILIPPINE READERS SERIES
The series’ author, Camilo Osias, was one of the first scholars sent to study
abroad after the American invasion of the Philippine Republic. He studied
education at Columbia University in New York City. Upon his return to
the Philippines he embarked on an illustrious career, eventually becoming the
first Filipino Superintendent of Schools. He was later elected Senator and
served as Senate President.
 Clearly, the future National Artist participated
actively in the creation of the series. What then were
these textbooks like?
It can be gleaned from the revised editions that Osias the held copyright to
the Readers material as early as 1919. A team of collaborators helped in the
production of the Series. Teachers and officials from Abra to Davao are listed
in the acknowledgements. To stress that he had not worked alone, Osias’
byline is followed by the phrase, “... and Others” spelled out completely in
uppercase letters.
Among those who helped the series see the light of day was the artist
Fernando Amorsolo. One indication of the painter’s reputation at that time is
the fact that, unlike the teachers mentioned above, he is credited on the title
page as illustrator. In contrast, the illustrators of similar publications were not
as lucky. In the Philippine Health Series of 1935 for example, one only knows
that the artwork came from the hand of Ireneo Miranda because his signatures
are clearly visible.
IMAGE CHRISTIAN HALILI
It seems that Amorsolo actually served as art director for the Philippine
Readers. Osias explains that he selected some of the illustrations for the stories
which had been reprinted from foreign sources. Osias also explains in the
preface of the 1932 edition of Book Two that: “Both the author and the
illustrator, Mr. Fernando Amorsolo, being Filipinos, depict not only what they
have heard and seen, but in many instances what they themselves have
actually experienced. Both are aware of the things in Philippine and foreign
life and literature worthy of transmission to Filipino children…”
Clearly, the future National Artist participated actively in the creation of the
series. What then were these textbooks like?

IMAGE THE PHILIPPINE READERS SERIES

The world of the Philippine Readers was filled with idyllic rural scenes,
historical tableaus and vignettes from fantasy and fancy. Given the innate
power of visual images, it may be posited that Amorsolo’s drawings truly
helped shape the consciousness of young people who would grow up to lead
the nation. It should be remembered that the generation that studied
the Readers was a representations of a new elite, educated by the American
regime to play important roles in society.
As discussed by art historian Alfredo Roces,
Amorsolo’s idealized portrayal of Philippine
womanhood had features similar to Miss Universe,
Gloria Diaz.
What Amorsolo depicted corresponds with the main body of his works as
described by scholars. In the Readers one encounters countryside panoramas
filled with kalabaw, ricefields, bahay kubo and bamboo. One also sees the
painter’s favored rendition of the Filipina.
As discussed by art historian Alfredo Roces, Amorsolo’s idealized portrayal of
Philippine womanhood had features similar to Miss Universe, Gloria Diaz.
The artist usually drew the women in the Series wearing baro’t saya, the local
costume. In contrast, some of the men are shown in Western suits complete
with neckties. One notable exception would be an illustration of students in
a school yard whose attire would have been easily recognized by their
counterparts in California. Interestingly, in a story about a human-like pig, the
creature is shown wearing a tapis!
IMAGE THE PHILIPPINE READERS SERIES
Amorsolo also produced images of Pre-Hispanic Filipinos. This was very much
in keeping with his major works like Early Filipino State
Wedding, Traders and Sikatuna. Similarly, the painter’s iconic 1922 work, Rice
Plantingwhich has been described as “one of the most popular images of the
Commonwealth Period” finds its counterpart in a harvest scene in Book Four
which accompanied a piece entitled, “Secrets About Growing Rice.”
It may be posited that the painter was actually
tapping into an important need of a Philippine society
that was gradually becoming more aware of itself. It
was an awareness that was, however, tempered by the
agenda of the American colonizers.
Some of the illustrations can be quite dramatic and even dark. In Book Five,
for example, a terrifying giant is seen creeping up on a little boy cowering in a
cave. In the same book is one of the loveliest images in the Series: Jose Rizal
being taught how to read by his mother, Teodora Alonso. Doña Teodora is
depicted wearing the fashion of the period complete with the large striped
skirt. Her arm lovingly encircles the young Jose whose shirt is also striped. A
background of bamboo completes the picture.
IMAGE THE PHILIPPINE READERS SERIES
One cannot help but recall similar images of St. Anne teaching the young Mary
to read, a well-loved illustration of the resiliency of the Divine Word. Could
Amorsolo’s image have been an allusion to the holy mother and daughter pair?

More research will have to be done to determine when the illustrations for the
series were made. All the drawings associated with the Philippine Readers as
reproduced in Roces’ seminal book on the National Artist are dated 1932. One
source points out that by the 1930s, Amorsolo had already been so successful
that he could afford to give up commercial work. What is quite evident is that
there was a kind of cross-fertilization going on between the Readers’
illustrations and the painters’ main body of work.
IMAGE THE PHILIPPINE READERS SERIES
Alice Guillermo and Rene Javellana, writing in the CCP Encyclopedia of
Philippine Art credit Amorsolo as being “the first to extensively portray
traditional Filipino customs ad manners, fiestas, and occupations like fishing,
planting, going to market, washing laundry, cooking and reading.”

It may be posited that the painter was actually tapping into an important need
of a Philippine society that was gradually becoming more aware of itself. It
was an awareness that was, however, tempered by the agenda of the American
colonizers. From the early days of the occupation, the Americans had been
busy charting and photographing their new colony. Nothing escaped the
acquisitive imperial eye, not markets and fruits, volcanoes, exotic costumes,
house interiors, forms of transportation, half-naked bathers. Documentation
meant ownership and a whole new wonderland was just waiting to be
described, pictured and owned. The first coin produced by the American
authorities was a woman with an anvil indicating the colonizer’s stress on
productivity. In the background one spies a mountain whose perfect cone
identifies it as Mount Mayon. The message is clear: Both woman and
tumescent geographic feature are now part of this new insular possession.
IMAGE THE PHILIPPINE READERS SERIES
This then is the world of Amorsolo. It is no accident that among his most
enthusiastic clients were American officials and tourists seeking the perfect
souvenir of their sojourn in Paradise. Interestingly, American visions of what
was supposed to make up the Philippine world would be passed on to the
Filipinos themselves. This is not surprising given how much more people had
been reached by the American machinery compared to that of the Spanish.
Through a revitalized and democratized education system and with the
advancements in photography, a whole generation of Filipinos was learning
how to look at themselves as dictated by the colonial framework set by their
American masters. In many ways, the drawings in the Readershelped form the
self-image of young girls and boys in the Philippines. Nipa huts, bamboo
groves and kalabaw would soon dominate the collective nostalgic imagination
of a whole country. Could one even dare suggest that Amorsolo’s school book
illustrations would help mold Filipino tastes and perhaps lay the groundwork
for the popularity of his paintings among future art patrons?

In many ways, the Amorsolo drawings helped form the self-image of young
girls and boys in the Philippines. Nipa huts, bamboo groves and kalabawwould
soon dominate the collective nostalgic imagination of a whole country.
Retrace Philippine History With the Works
of Luna, Amorsolo, and More at This
Exhibit
Also featuring maps of the Philippines from as far back as the 19th century.
By WILLIAM BATCHELOR | Jun 27, 2018

4Shares

Share

Tweet

Comments

It’s not every day that the art of two renowned Filipino masters are housed under the
same roof. It’s even more impressive when those two artists are Juan Luna and
Fernando Amorsolo.
As part of BPI Foundation’s Obra Art Series, Historia offers a glimpse into our
history through the eyes of celebrated Filipino artists. The exhibition is currently
running at the ground floor exhibit hall of the Ayala Museum, where 54
artworks from BPI’s private art collection will be on display until August 12.
The exhibit is divided into four sections, and takes you on a journey through
Philippine history and art from the beginning of the 19th century—
representing the time when BPI was established as Banco Español Filipino de
Isabel II—up until the modern art period.

Visitors are typically inclined to go straight to the masterful works of Luna and
Amorsolo, but Historia curator Kenneth Esguerra encourages everyone to start
with the 18th and 19th Century Prints. The exhibit opens with several Spanish
colonial-era maps and prints depicting Manila as an entrepôt for commerce
and trade. Among the selection of prints is an early map of the Philippines
from 1785, a woodblock engraving crafted by Antonnio Zatta & Sons
titled Isole Filippine.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
Islas Filipinas: India Chichirica by F. Muñoz (artist), J. Llerena (lithographer), 19th Century IMAGE Courtesy of Ayala
Museum
The exhibit then transitions into Juan Luna’s 19th-century portrayals of urban
life in Europe. These representations of social inequities and various classes of
people manifest Luna's social realist perspective. Also included are his soft
landscape paintings, which showcase his accurate depiction of light and
movement and characterize his impressionistic style.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

Shrine by The Roadside by Juan Luna IMAGE Courtesy of Ayala Museum

Viewers will then have the pleasure of seeing the iconic works of our very first
National Artist: Fernando Amorsolo. Images of a sunlit pastoral Eden with
elegant maidens and hardworking farmers reveal the nuances of Amorsolo’s
romantic, nationalistic style. Also featured in the collection is Amorsolo’s
masterpiece The Galleon of Trade, an example of his motivation to give
Filipinos their identity during the American Colonial period.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

The final and most extensive section, Philippine Modern Art offers a look into
the creative minds of 20th-century Filipino artists exploring Neorealism.
Images of mother-and-child, farmers, fishermen, and landscapes are
displayed in bright color and semi-abstract formation. A standout of the
collection is Norma Belleza’s Mga Magsasaka, a vibrant oil painting that
disregards scale and proportion yet evocatively depicts rural farmers working
in the sweltering heat.

"Cityscape" by Alfredo Liongoren, 1994 IMAGE: COURTESY OF AYALA MUSEUM

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
"Hala Bira" by Claude Tayag, 1992 IMAGE Courtesy of Ayala Museum
"Flower Vendor" by Angelito Antonio, 1987 IMAGE Courtesy of Ayala Museum
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

"Mga Magsasaka" by Norma Belleza, 1979 IMAGE Courtesy of Ayala Museum

FERNANDO CUETO AMORSOLO

Fernando Amorsolo (detail of a self-portrait)

Buying Fernando Amorsolo paintings – Highest Prices Paid: Artist Bio & images follow:

FERNANDO CUETO AMORSOLO (Philippine, b. May 30, 1892 – d. February 26, 1972)

Styles: Impressionism, Luminism, Realism

Subjects: Philippine genre and historical, nudes, society portraits

The paintings of Fernando C. Amorsolo “…overflow with sweetness and optimism,” says art
historian Eric Torres. Amorsolo, Torres asserts, managed to “capture on canvas the vibrant
tropical Philippine sunlight.” A shy man, whose only real genius was in painting, Fernando
Amorsolo also helped shape and stylize the image of the ideal Filipina.

Fernando Amorsolo’s enormous popularity, both during his lifetime and after, resulted from his
luminous and idealized treatment of Philippine genre and landscape subjects. His best-known
paintings feature peasants in colorful costumes, scenes of rice planting and harvesting, genre and
society portraits, and sensual female bathers. Amorsolo’s painterly technique, and his skill in
rendering the figure, is said to have peaked during the era known as his “Golden Period”
between 1915 and 1940.

Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Paco, Manila to Pedro Amorsolo, a
bookkeeper, and his wife Bonifacia Cueto. One of five brothers, Fernando grew up in Daet,
Camarines Norte, until moving to Manila upon the death of his father. Before he passed away,
Amorsolo’s father Pedro had made his wife promise to give Fernando a proper art education.

The family moved in with his mother’s first cousin, Fabian de la Rosa, a genre painter who had
been trained at Manila’s Escuela de Bellas Artes y Dibujo (School of Fine Arts and Design) and
who had also traveled in Europe. In 1905 Fernando Amorsolo, aged 13, was apprenticed to de la
Rosa. The young man’s first commercial success came when he sold watercolor postcards for 10
centavos each.

In 1908, Amorsolo won the second prize for the painting Levendo Periodico at the Bazar
Escolta, a competition sponsored by the Asociacion Internacional de Artistas. The following
year, Amorsolo enrolled at the Art School of the Liceo de Manila where a genre scene of figures
in a garden would earn him a first prize in his graduation year. In 1909 he began attending the
University of the Philippines School of Fine art, where his uncle Fabian de la Rosa was serving
as an instructor. During his university years Amorsolo supported himself by doing illustration
work that appeared in novels and religious publications. He graduated with honors in 1916 and
began a dual career as an art instructor and commercial artist.

In 1916 Enrique Zobel de Ayala, a Spanish citizen who was a leading businessman in the
Philippines, sponsored Amorsolo to study at the Adademia de San Fernando in Madrid. While in
Spain, Amorsolo became widely exposed to the works of key European modern artists including
French Realists, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. He also discovered the works of the
Spanish luminist Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, and the great Baroque master Diego Velasquez, who
became the artists he most greatly admired and emulated. The 7 months that Amorsolo spent in
Spain, and the brief visit he made afterwards to New York, gave him the stylistic tools he needed
to transform himself from a provincial artist to an international figure. “Informed by Western
Impressionism,” states art historian Floriana Capistrano-Baker, “Amorsolo used swift, broken
brushwork and thick impasto, with emphasis on landscapes and daily scenes.”

After returning to Manila, Amorsolo set up a studio and began an enormously productive period.
Using subject matter that he had borrowed from Fabian de la Rosa – scenes of rice planting and
harvesting — he created a series of paintings that captured the popular imagination. His 1922
painting Rice Planting soon appeared on calendars, posters, and travel brochures. Amorsolo also
created powerful images of Philippine colonial history including “The First Mass in the
Philippines.” During the long span of his career, Amorsolo’s paintings would continue to be
reproduced in textbooks, commercial images, magazines and newspapers, and became the
accepted standard for historical imagery.
 A rice harvesting scene by Fernando Amorsolo

Commercially successful from his thirties on, Amorsolo was the subject of international
exhibitions including a one-man show in New York City held in 1925. He was very much in
demand for portraits of society figures, including foreigners, and was willing to make copies of
his own works, always slightly altered, on a commissioned basis. He would sometimes bring out
a photo album of his better-known paintings and ask a client which subject matter they would
like.

Amorsolo continued to teach at the University of the Philippines, and served as the Director of
the school’s Art Department between 1938 and 1952. After the 1931 death of his first wife –
with whom he had six children – he remarried and fathered eight more children. In total, five of
his children also became painters.

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines Amorsolo sketched war scenes from the
window or roof of his rented apartment, while his wife and family lived separately in a safer
location. His drawings and paintings from this grim period document wartime suffering and
atrocities. In particular, Amorsolo depicted the sufferings of mothers and children. During the
war, Amorsolo’s younger brother Pablo, also an accomplished artist was branded a Japanese
sympathizer and was executed by Filipino guerillas. His wartime paintings are considered among
his finest work and were exhibited at Malacanang Palace in 1948.
 A 1954 Amorsolo oil painting depicts Philippine village life.

From the 1950s onward, Amorsolo created an average of 10 paintings per month. His popularity
was so great that the first generation of Philippine modernists generally cited his work as an
academy that needed to be rebelled against. In a sense, this was a kind of compliment to the
aging artist.

In Amorsolo’s waning years health problems, including diabetes and cataracts, created obstacles,
but he continued to paint productively to support his large family. The deaths of two of his sons,
Fernando Jr. in 1964, and Milo in 1971, affected him deeply. Fernando Amorsolo died of heart
failure on August 24, 1972.

In 2003, Amorsolo’s children founded the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation, which is
dedicated to preserving Fernando Amorsolo’s legacy, promoting his style and vision, and
preserving a national heritage through the conservation and promotion of his works.
Museums and Public Collections:

The Ayala Museum, Manila

The Central Bank of the Philippines, Manila
The Lopez Museum, Manila
The National Museum of the Philippines, Manila

Sources:

“100 Years of Philippine Painting,” Essay by Emmanuel Torres, copyright the Pacific Asia
Museum, 1984
Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation, 39 Cordillera St. Quezon City, The Philippines
Biography by Edwin A. Martinez, www.fernandocamorsolo.com
“Pioneers of Philippine Art,” Essay by Floriana H. Capistrano-Baker, copyright the Asian Art
Museum of San Francisco, 2006

Artist Fernando Amorsolo’s Signature

Biography
by Edwin A. Martinez

Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Calle Herran in Paco, Manila to Pedro
Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto. Although born in the nation’s capital, Amorsolo would spend
most of his childhood in the small town setting of Daet in Camarines Norte where his love for
the simple rural life would become the foundation for his artistic output for which he is most
well-known.

The Early Years

Amorsolo’s earliest memories would bring him back to a quiet life in the countryside. When he
was only seven months old, his father moved the family to Daet to work as a bookkeeper for two
abaca firms. Pedro was able to earn a modest income, enough to keep his family comfortable.

Fernando showed early signs of his artistic talent. He would go out to the coast to draw pictures
of the ships by the wharves. It was his mother who recognized the young Amorsolo’s talent. She
would send her son’s drawings to her cousin Fabian dela Rosa, a prominent painter in Manila.
At this early age, Amorsolo displayed an affinity for the rural landscape --- a reflection of his
own small world.

Tragedy struck early in Amorsolo’s life. One night, when Fernando was still very young, his
father was awakened by shouts coming from outside his window. It was the head of the
revolutionary movement fighting against the Spaniards demanding that Amorsolo’s half brother,
the eldest son Perico, join the group. Against his father’s wishes, Perico relented and went down
to join the rebels. The family never saw him again. After the failure of the 1896 uprising,
neighbors told the family that they saw Perico, bound with a bamboo pole strapped to his back,
being taken to jail. He was later executed by the Spaniards. Shattered with grief by the death of
his son, Amorsolo’s father Pedro never recovered from the ordeal and died of a heart attack a
few years later.

Amorsolo’s penchant for depicting an idealized world is viewed by his critics as the work of
someone who has never experienced pain in his life. It is apparent that the artist’s preference
was not due to a lack of exposure to the ills of society but to a conscious effort to hang on to
what is pure and good before the harsh realities of the world shattered his peaceful life in the
countryside.

His father died when Amorsolo was eleven years old. Before he passed away, Pedro made his
wife promise to give Fernando a proper art education. The widowed Bonifacia gathered her
family and returned to Manila in hopes of finding better prospects to provide for her family. Her
cousin Don Fabian dela Rosa opened his doors to the family. It was here that Amorsolo had his
first real exposure to the art world.

To make ends meet, Bonifacia did embroidery to feed her family. Fernando made himself useful
by assisting Don Fabian in his studio. It was during this time that Amorsolo received his first art
instruction from Don Fabian. The family’s limited financial means made it difficult for the artist
to receive consistent formal art instruction. He earned money the only way he knew how.
Amorsolo drew sketches and sold them for 15 centavos a piece to help his family and to pay for
his schooling. Despite the family’s financial difficulties, in 1914, he finally earned his degree,
with honors, as a member of the first graduating class of the University of the Philippines School
of Fine Arts.

Amorsolo lived during a turbulent time in the Philippines. He came of age during a transition
period in Philippine history. The former Spanish colony became a territory of the United States
of America. As American influence slowly crept into Filipino culture in the bigger cities, the
artist yearned for the life he knew during his early childhood days in Daet. This clearly
manifested itself in his artistic output where he clearly showed a partiality towards the rural
setting where American culture was slow to trickle down. His paintings would embody an
affinity for the traditions and lifestyle he knew during the
Spanish era. His canvases were filled with scenes of fiestas, old churches and rituals that were
the legacy of the Philippines’ former colonial masters.
Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Calle Herran in Paco, Manila to Pedro Amorsolo and
Bonifacia Cueto. Although born in the nation’s capital, Amorsolo would spend most of his childhood in
the small town setting of Daet in Camarines Norte where his love for the simple rural life would become
the foundation for his artistic output for which he is most well-known.

Striking Out on his Own

Success came early to Amorsolo. His professors at the University of the Philippines were quite
impressed with the young painter. Some of them thought that Amorsolo’s brush work surpassed their
own. Apparently they were not the only ones who had this favorable opinion of the young artist.

The artist became a professor in his early 20’s and was already establishing himself in the art world. At
the age of 25, he was already married to Salud

Jorge and had a daughter, Virginia, when he caught the eye of one of the most influential figures in
Filipino society. Amorsolo had designed the logo for Ginebra San Miguel, still in use in its original form
today, depicting St. Michael vanquishing the devil. The owner of the beverage company, Don Enrique
Zobel, a leading figure in the business community and an ardent patron of the arts, was so impressed by
his work that he offered to send Amorsolo to the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid for further
studies with a generous stipend for himself and his young family. The artist took the standard entrance
exam at the Academia. To Amorsolo’s surprise, after evaluating his work, the school informed him that,
based on the results, they would accept him not as a student but as a professor at the school.
Amorsolo was a painfully shy man. After his acceptance at the Academia, a banquet was held in his
honor. When he was escorted into the banquet hall, he was so nervous that he excused himself to go to
the men’s room. He hurriedly went through the back door and went back to his hotel room. A school
official later found him and prevailed on him to return to the banquet. He steadfastly refused. It is
ironic that someone as talented and accomplished as Amorsolo was also known for his diffidence.
Throughout his career, he shied away from any public event that was thrown in his honor. His
confidence was almost purely reserved and confined to the practice of his trade. His precise brush work
certainly shows someone who was very sure of his artistic skills. So confident was Amorsolo of his brush
stroke that art conservationists have frequently been surprised at how thinly paint was applied on his
paintings. It took him significantly fewer attempts, and consequently fewer layers of paint, to get the
results that he wanted.

Amorsolo was by no means a Renaissance man. He had no other significant talent other than
illustration and painting. Unlike artists such as John Singer Sargent, who was also an accomplished
pianist, Amorsolo’s hands were permanently and solely associated with the paint brush. As a
consequence of this exclusive association, the artist truly became the master of his craft.

Amorsolo eventually settled in and spent seven months in Madrid where he was able to observe the
works of the masters. He visited art galleries and museums to study the works of Diego Velasquez, El
Greco, Goya, Monet, Manet, Van Dyck, Sargent, and Joaquin Sorolla. It is here where he honed his skills
and perfected his technique. Diego Velasquez was one of his major influences, learning from his
superior brush work, painterly style, and mastery of color. He would also learn from and build upon
Sorolla’s technique of utilizing the sun to draw out the most dramatic effects from the heightened sunlit
colors and dramatic contrasts between light and shade. The perfection of this technique would set
Amorsolo apart from his contemporaries.

Despite his exposure to Western influences, Amorsolo retained his Filipino consciousness. He was
drawn more towards the gentle rolling hills and verdant rice fields of the Philippines rather than the
cosmopolitan world of Europe’s proud cities. Even his illustrations of Spanish women were drawn with
slender physiques, narrower hips, and smaller breasts more typical of Filipinas rather than full bodied
Caucasian women.

After his stint in Madrid, Amorsolo came home to the Philippines ready to apply what he learned. His
bright sunlit rural landscapes were a stark departure from the elegantly dark European style that was
practiced during the time. American servicemen, officials, and businessmen sought out his paintings to
bring home to the States as a token of remembrance for their stay in the Philippines. Amorsolo made
his mark and carved a niche for himself in the local art scene. Demand for his chosen genre reached a
high point.
Amorsolo’s first wife passed away in 1931 leaving him with six children. He had six more children by a
common-law wife. In 1935, he married Maria del Carmen who gave him eight more children.
Fortunately, his reputation was growing as fast as his brood and his work was more than enough to
provide for his rather large family.

The War Years

Just as his career was reaching its peak the Philippines found itself in the midst of the second World
War. The artist and his family lived in the middle of the Japanese-occupied city of Manila and were not
spared from the grim realities of war. Amorsolo rented another house near Raon Street where the
women and children stayed while the men occupied the Azcarraga residence during the daytime which
was near a Japanese garrison. Amorsolo did not let the war stop him from painting but his work took a
dramatic turn.

Difficult times during the war took its toll on the artist and his family. Amorsolo’s customer base
dissipated in the face of the tough economic situation. Acquiring painting materials was a challenge.
More importantly, Amorsolo was deprived of his frequent sojourns to the rural areas of Marikina,
Antipolo, and other locales in the outskirts of Manila where he painted his popular landscapes. Not
having access to his traditional settings, his paintings took on a darker tone.

During the war, Amorsolo’s younger brother Pablo, an accomplished artist in his own right, was branded
a Japanese sympathizer. He was captured and executed by Filipino guerillas in Antipolo. This personal
tragedy, in addition to the devastation all around him, weighed heavily on the artist.

Depictions of human suffering and tragedy dominated his canvases. The idyllic world within which the
introverted artist chose to confine himself was torn asunder. It was during this time that Amorsolo’s
work truly embodied the artist’s inner self. The paintings were not made in conjunction with a client’s
preferences but were reflections of the conflicting emotions raging within. Amorsolo was deeply
affected as he watched his surroundings ravaged by war. He painted burning edifices and mothers
fleeing the scene with their children in tow. Women’s faces were filled with terror and despair as they
were engulfed by death and destruction in their surroundings. Gone were the ebullient smiles, replaced
by expressions of desolation. Rather than the noontime sun illuminating the main subjects, flames and
embers from the burning ruins became the primary light source casting an eerie ominous glow.

Even during this dark period, Amorsolo chose to portray despair not with an emotional outpouring of
grief. It was very rare that a person in his paintings would be depicted screaming with rage or wailing in
intense displays of emotion. Tragedy was portrayed through subtle means. In one of his more famous
works, a woman is pictured clutching her veil while kneeling in front of her dead son --- apparently a
guerilla soldier killed during a battle. The woman is looking up to the sky with a calm look of sorrow on
her face. The subtle and restrained depiction proved to be a more powerful portrayal as the woman’s
tearless eyes conveyed a more intense form of pain. It communicated to the viewer the deep sense of
loss a mother feels when her child is taken away from her. On the flip side, men were represented not
with expressions of rage but with looks of defiance. In his piece entitled Defensa de Honor, the man
protecting the woman from being raped by a Japanese soldier had a determined but subdued
expression. This was conveyed by the fiery expression in his eyes and the slight but firm downward turn
of the corners of his mouth. Amidst the tragedy of the war, Amorsolo still inserted a hint of hope
personified by the implied resistance of his characters to the occupying Japanese forces. His wartime
paintings are considered among his finest work and were exhibited at Malacanang Palace in 1948.

The Prime of his Career

In the period after the war, the artist resumed his rudely interrupted career. The next two decades saw
the blossoming of Amorsolo’s art. He went back to painting the bright sun-drenched countryside scenes
for which he was most well-known. He reached the peak of his popularity in the late 1940’s and 1950’s
garnering numerous awards and citations along the way. Amorsolo was widely recognized as the most
influential artist of his time.

The end of the war saw the Philippines gain its independence from the United States. As a young
republic it was seeking its own national identity. Amorsolo’s work was naturally seen as the
embodiment of a Filipino culture unique from that of the new country’s former colonial masters. His
genre paintings were in such high demand that he catalogued his works. Prospective clients would
choose the painting they wanted. The artist then painted a different version of the chosen subjects.

Amorsolo’s prodigious output was helped in no small way by the speed with which the artist was able to
finish his work. His strokes were so sure and true that he was able to finish a painting in a significantly
shorter period of time. It is believed that the oil paintings that he produced number into the thousands.
If his drawings, sketches, and studies are added, his total output was in excess of ten thousand pieces.
At one point, he was able to finish no less than ten paintings in a typical month. Part of the motivation
for this incredible pace was the need to support his large family.

The artist was roundly criticized for his machine-like efficiency. Furthermore, a blossoming modern art
movement, who considered Amorsolo the de facto leader of the classical realist school, saw him as a
natural target. He never raised his voice nor took up the cudgel in his own defense yet he had no
shortage of defenders who took up the fight. Among his staunchest supporters was Guillermo
Tolentino, the finest sculptor the country ever produced and Amorsolo’s best friend. When asked why
he did not speak up in his own defense, the artist responded with a shrug and said that he had already
matured as an artist. He had nothing left to prove and was comfortable painting what he wished in the
form of expression that he chose. His customers stood by his side and demand for his paintings
remained high.

The Sunset of his Life

Amorsolo worked until the last year of his life. Age was starting to catch up with him. He was afflicted
with diabetes and arthritis in addition to his heart condition. His eyesight was also beginning to fail him
and he had to undergo a cataract operation. In his later works, his compromised vision led to wayward
brush strokes of red and blue lines where a mound of earth should be. Despite these challenges, the
quality of his output remained at high levels and the popularity of his work never waned.

What were probably the most painful tragedies struck him in his later years. In 1964, his eldest son
Fernando, Jr. died from asthma and tuberculosis. The artist was so grief-stricken that he could not bear
to attend his own son’s funeral. Seven years later in 1971, his youngest child Milo died in a car accident.
The pain of having to bury two of his children was too much for Amorsolo to bear. Five days short of a
year after Milo died, Amorsolo died of heart failure on April 24, 1972.

Amorsolo’s work continues to resonate among his countrymen decades after his death. His portrayals
of an ideal and beautiful world drew the most ardent praises and the harshest criticisms. To understand
the artist one has to appreciate the man behind Amorsolo. He was shy, innocent, and most importantly
pure. These traits spilled over onto his canvas. It was not because Amorsolo was not capable of
recognizing the dark side of society. He had his share of heartbreak and disappointment in his life but
he deliberately isolated himself from these and chose to portray the bright side of the world. Not a
shred of wickedness permeated his character and as a result his art is the purest manifestation of
beauty. The basic desire to identify with what is good is what people inherently have in common with
the artist. It is for this legacy that Amorsolo will be most fondly remembered.

JUAN LUNA was born in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, on October 23, 1857, and, like Hidalgo,
was the third of seven children. Early in his life, the family moved to Manila and lived in
Trozo. The young Luna received his early education at the Ateneo Municipal and later
at the Escuela Nautica de Manila. In 1873, he became an apprentice officer and
traveled to various Asian ports. Whenever his ship was in port in Manila, he took
painting lessons in the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura of Fr. Agustin Saiz.

Don Lorenzo Guerero, whoe easily recognized the young man’s natural talent, was the
first tutor of the young Luna. He persuaded Luna’s parents to send their son to Spain for
advanced painting lessons. Luna left for Barcelona in 1877 together with his elder
brother Manuel, who was a violinist. He entered the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San
Fernando in Madrid, where, in a year’s time, he won the only academic prize of his
school. Not satisfied with the instruction in school, he took private lessons under Alejo
Vera, a famous contemporary paiter in Spain. Like his teacher, Vera, too, had high
regard for his pupil. Proof of this was his taking Luna with him to Rome to undertake
certain commissions.

In Rome, Luna widened his knowledge of art, for he was exposed to the
immortal works of the Renaissance masters. It was there that he painted
his “Daphne y Cleo” for which he received a silver palette from the Liceo
Artistico de Manila. Subsequently, he exhibited several canvases at
the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid and won a silver medal
(2nd class) for “La Muerte de Cleopatra.” This painting was later purchased
by the Spanish government for a thousand duros.

Luna’s growing fame won for him a four-year pensionadoship for

the Ayuntamiento de Manila. Though under obligation to paint only one
canvas, he gave the Spanish government three; namely, “The Blood
Compact,” now in Malacanang. “Don Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,” which was
burned during the war and “Governor Ramon Blanco” (which was part of the
present collection).

It was while still in Rome that Luna worked incessantly on the “Spoliarium.” He entered
this painting in the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid, and it won one of the
three gold medals. In the same exposition, Hidalgo won a silver medal for his “Virgenes
Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho.” Because of the double victory of the two Filipino
painters, Filipinos in Spain gathered to honor them. One of the Filipinos was Jose Rizal,
who in boosting the two honorees also spoke for the first time of the conditions then
prevailing in his country. Having attained fame, Luna now received various government
commissions. These commissions produced his great canvases, such as “The Battle of
Lepanto,” “Peuple et Rois” and “España y Filipinas.”

Luna’s canvases show a distinct contrast to those of Hidalgo’s. In contrast to

the ever-delicate paintings of Hidalgo, Luna’s work show more drama and
bravura. A forceful dynamic man, Luna has his personality stamped on every
canvas of his. His power and joie de vivre were notable characteristics of his
works.

A Filipino art critic spoke of Luna thus: “Vigor and realism characterize his
art. In a single brush stroke, he paints a fair of emotions that fills the
beholder with drama and tragedy of his theme…Luna was graver, more
profound in his emotions than Hidalgo. The latter was mre pure, more
serene in his feelings.”
Luna sought inspiration not from his contemporarries, the Impressionists,
but from the Romantic Delacroix, Rembrandt and Daumier from whom he
learned imparting power and mysticism to his works. All these influences
were incorporated in a style that was Luna’s own.

In 1885, the painter moved to Paris and established his studio at 65 Boulevard Arago,
near the studio of Hidalgo. Later he moved to 175 Boulevard Pereire. Like Hidalgo’s, his
studio became a gathering place for the Filipino community in Paris. It was here where
Rizal and other young Filipinos organized the Indios Bravos.

The following year, 1886, he married Paz Pardo de Tavera, with whom he
had a son, Andres. The marriage ended in tragedy. Luna in a fit of jealousy,
killed his wife and mother-in-law and wounded his brother-in-law, Felix, on
September 23, 1892. He was acquitted of the charge of parricide and
murder by the French court on February 7, 1893. Five days later, he moved
with his son to Madrid, where he finished few paintings. On April 27, 1894,
he returned to the Philippines after an absence of 17 years. While in Manila,
he finished some Philippine scenes. Early in 1896, he again departed, this
time for Japan. He returned a few weeks after the Cry of Balintawak. On the
evening of September 16, 1896, he was arrested and confined for complicity
in the Katipunan revolt. He was among those pardoned during the birthday
of King Alfonso XIII on May 27, 1897. The following month, he left for Spain.

In 1898, the executive board of the Philippine revolutionary government

appointed him a member of the Paris delegation which was working for the
diplomatic recognition of the Philippine Republic. When the Treaty of Paris
was signed on December 10, 1899, he was named a member of the
delegation to Washington to press for the recognition of the Philippine
government.

Upon hearing the death of his brother Antonio, Luna hurriedly returned to
Hong Kong. On December 7, 1899, he suffered a severe heart attack and
died before receiving medical attention. He was buried in Hong Kong. His
remains were exhumed in 1920 and were kept in the house of his son, to be
later transferred to a niche at the Crypt Chapel of San Agustin.

Luna’s fame spread far and wide; he was acclaimed both in Europe and at
home, yet there were skeptical Spaniards who took his race against him.
Rizal defended him by saying, “Genius has no country, genius burst forth
everywhere, is like light and air – the patrimony of all; cosmopolitan as
space, as life as God.”
Famous Juan Luna Paintings

Reference
24.3k views5 items
List of famous Juan Luna paintings, listed alphabetically with pictures of the art when
available. A celebrated artist around the world, Juan Luna has created some of the
most historic paintings of all time. These popular Juan Luna paintings fetch insane
amounts of money at art auctions, so if you want to buy one then start saving your
money now. Going to museums can be expensive and time consuming, so scroll
through this list to see paintings that Juan Luna created from the comfort of your own
home. You can find additional information for these renowned Juan Luna paintings by
clicking the names of the pieces.

Artwork include everything from Guernica to Mona Lisa.

This list answers the questions, "What are the most famous Juan Luna
paintings?" and "What are examples of Juan Luna paintings?"
Photo: Metaweb (FB)/Public domain

1
The Blood Compact
The Blood Compact is an award-winning 1886 “historic and historical' painting by Filipino
painter Juan Luna. ...more on Wikipedia

Ferrari S.p.A. falling to #20The Best Global Brands

Photo: Metaweb (FB)/Public domain

2
España y Filipinas
España y Filipinas, meaning “Spain and the Philippines” in translation, is an 1886 oil on wood
by Filipino painter, ilustrado, propagandist, and paladin, Juan Luna. It is an allegorical
depiction of two women together, one a representation of Spain and the other of the Philippines.
The painting, also known as España Guiando a Filipinas, is regarded as one of the “enduring
pieces of legacy” that the Filipinos inherited from Luna. The painting is a centerpiece art at the
Luna Hall of the Lopez Memorial Museum. ...more on Wikipedia
see more on España y Filipinas
3 people have voted onHorrifying Things That Happened In The Book 'IT' Way
Too Awful for the Movies

Photo: Metaweb (FB)/Public domain

3
Las Damas Romanas
Las Damas Romanas, also known as The Roman Maidens, The Roman Women, or The Roman
Ladies, is an oil on canvas painting by Juan Luna, one of the most important Filipino painters of
the Spanish period in the Philippines. It was painted by Luna when he was a student of the
school of painting in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain in
1877. Alejo Valera, a Spanish painting teacher, took Luna as an apprentice and brought him to
Rome where Luna created Las Damas Romanas in 1882. Luna spent six years in Rome from
1878 to 1884. ...more on Wikipedia
see more on Las Damas Romanas
The The Greatest Show on Earth collectionEvery Single Human Attraction From P.T.
Barnum's Freak Show

Photo: Metaweb (FB)/Public domain

4
Spoliarium
The Spoliarium is a painting by Filipino artist Juan Luna. The painting was submitted by Luna
to the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884 in Madrid, where it garnered the first gold
medal. In 1886, it was sold to the Diputación Provincial de Barcelona for 20,000 pesetas. It
currently hangs in the main gallery at the ground floor of the National Museum of the
Philippines, and is the first work of art that greets visitors upon entry into the museum. ...more
on Wikipedia