Three Favorite Philippine Paintings

 THREE FAVORITE PHILIPPINE PAINTINGS

 
“Mango Vendor” (1951) by Fernando Amorsolo
“Luksong-Tinik” (1973) by Vicente Manansala
“Man on Fire” (1980) by Ang Kiukok

Because the paintings of the three National Artists cited here are often not available in images of good or high quality, the works posted here don’t necessarily represent my favorites.

However, they do rank among my favorite paintings which are available in images of good or high quality. 

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Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (1892-1972), “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art,” together with Guillermo Tolentino (1890-1976), “Father of Philippine Arts,” practically defined Philippine visual arts for several generations following the conclusion of the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), according to a style that might be described as Philippine Romanticism.

Amorsolo, the first National Artist of the Philippines, was honored posthumously in 1972. He was given the award for Visual Arts-Painting. Tolentino, the first National Artist for Visual Arts-Sculpture, was decorated the following year.

Romanticism in the Western visual arts dates from approximately 1780 to 1850; it was a reaction against Neoclassicism. Intensely and deeply emotive, with an emphasis on subjectivity and focusing on dramatic nature besides recent history—a reaction against the Neoclassical occupation with classical mythology—were characteristic features of Romanticism.

Amorsolo set forth an idyllic, rural vision of the Philippines that was unprecedented in Philippine art. His work set itself apart by its optimism and remarkable light, which in his paintings floods the background and radiates from the figures in the foreground as if reflected. His celebratory vistas were uplifting but also touched by unreality.

His sanguine vision of life under the American colonial regime was interrupted in his art by his bleak documentation of the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines (1942-1945).

Amorsolo was an expert draftsman, highly accomplished in oil, and a sophisticated colorist as well.

As a master portraitist, he was much sought after.

He idealized the dalaga or young, unmarried woman in his paintings.

“Mango Vendor” (1951) illustrates Amorsolo’s idyllic vision and inimitable light. Clad in freshly laundered baro’t saya (blouse and skirt) accented with with a tapiz (overskirt or apron), about her head a cloth, possibly a shawl (pañuelo), picture-perfect and unspoiled, Amorsolo’s dalaga is idealized by the artist. Smiling, untroubled, ingenuous, and winsome, she resides in Elysium.

Amorsolo’s oeuvre overlaps with that of the Philippine Modernists, who launched the Thirteen Moderns in 1937.

Modernism in the visual arts had been ongoing years earlier. “The Builders” (1928) by Victor Edades, for example, is “Cezannesque.” Edades was the 1976 National Artist of the Philippines for Visual Arts-Painting.

Mango Vendor (1951) by Fernando Amorsolo

Luksong-Tinik (1973) by Vicente Manansala 

Ang Kiukok (1931-2005), 2001 National Artist of the Philippines for the Visual Arts-Painting, belongs to the second wave of Philippine Modernists who started out post-World War II. He developed his own uniquely compelling style combining Cubist geometrization with Expressionist emotionalism. Stylistically daring, he worked with bold colors that harmonized surprisingly well on canvas. Indeed, as a colorist he was a genius. His subjects—warring cocks, wrangling dogs, livid fruit, lurid clowns, motley instances of wracked humanity, the crucified Christ in particular, sundry morbid whatnot—were executed, paradoxically, harlequin bright, not dark or brooding; the oxymoron might well account for his commercial popularity. Challenged about his choice of subjects, he said, “Open your eyes. Look around you. So much anger, sorrow, ugliness. And also madness.”

“Man on Fire” (1980) is classic Ang Kiukok and one of his best-known works. We should take Ang Kiukok at his word—the man isn’t in hell; he is just on fire.

Man on Fire (1980) by Ang Kiukok