“Mango Vendor” (1951) by Fernando Amorsolo
“Luksong-Tinik” (1973) by Vicente Manansala
“Man on Fire” (1980) by Ang Kiukok
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Fernando Amorsolo (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.
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| Mango Vendor (1951) by Fernando Amorsolo |
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| Luksong-Tinik (1973) by Vicente Manansala |
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| Man on Fire (1980) by Ang Kiukok |
FLIGHT (1962) BY JOSE T. JOYA
ReplyDeleteJose T. Joya (1931-1995) is the 2003 National Artist of the Philippines for Visual Arts-Painting (posthumous). He pioneered Abstract Expressionism in the Philippines, and more importantly, translated the style according to a recognizably Philippine idiom. His abstracts are intelligent and innovative; bold, assertive, and masculine. Bright and exuberant, they celebrate color, often warm.
It is unfortunate that he like several other important Philippine artists received his award posthumously, but it is just as well that the Philippine government eventually came around to awarding the man and his work.
Gonzalinho