Notable Philippine Paintings (more)

Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace (1884) by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo

Planting Rice (1921) by Fernando Amorsolo

Jesus Meets His Mother (1955 to 1956) by Vicente Manansala

Still Life with Fish (1958) by Vicente Manansala

Three Carabaos (1958) by Vicente Manansala

Masaganang Ani (1962) by Vicente Manansala, 2014 Giclee Print, details below

Enlightenment (1966) by Vicente Manansala

Prayer Before Meal (1976) by Vicente Manansala

Galo Bondoc Ocampo (1913-85) is one of the pioneers of Philippine Modernism. Together with Victorio C. Edades and Carlos V. Francisco, he led the Thirteen Moderns, the first wave of Philippine modernists, constituted in 1937.

Ocampo launched into Surrealism following the shock and trauma of World War II. He is known for his Surrealist landscapes incorporating the Holy Week penitentes of Pampanga, in which the penitents’ heads are completely hidden under hoods. He returns to this trope into his closing years, illustrated by “Prayer” (1975).

His work includes stained glass windows in the Manila Cathedral and in the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City. He designed the coat of arms of the Philippines, the seal of the president, the different coat of arms of various Archbishops of Manila. His “Brown Madonna” (1938) rendered Mary and the Child Jesus as brown Filipinos.

Ocampo served as the director of the National Museum of the Philippines from 1962 to 1968.