A concise description of this historical period is available in Britannica.
Momentous social, economic and political changes were ongoing just before the 1896 Philippine Revolution.
“By the late 18th century, political and economic changes in Europe were finally beginning to affect Spain and, thus, the Philippines. Important as a stimulus to trade was the gradual elimination of the monopoly enjoyed by the galleon to Acapulco. The last galleon arrived in Manila in 1815, and by the mid-1830s Manila was open to foreign merchants almost without restriction. The demand for Philippine sugar and abaca (hemp) grew apace, and the volume of exports to Europe expanded even further after the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869.
“The growth of commercial agriculture resulted in the appearance of a new class. Alongside the landholdings of the church and the rice estates of the pre-Spanish nobility there arose haciendas of coffee, hemp, and sugar, often the property of enterprising Chinese-Filipino mestizos. Some of the families that gained prominence in the 19th century have continued to play an important role in Philippine economics and politics.
“Not until 1863 was there public education in the Philippines, and even then the church controlled the curriculum. Less than one-fifth of those who went to school could read and write Spanish, and far fewer could speak it properly. The limited higher education in the colony was entirely under clerical direction, but by the 1880s many sons of the wealthy were sent to Europe to study. There, nationalism and a passion for reform blossomed in the liberal atmosphere. Out of this talented group of overseas Filipino students arose what came to be known as the Propaganda Movement. Magazines, newspapers, poetry, and pamphleteering flourished, most notably the biweekly paper La Solidaridad, which began publication in 1889. José Rizal, this movement’s most brilliant figure, produced two political novels—Noli me tangere (1887; Touch Me Not) and El filibusterismo (1891; The Reign of Greed)—which had a wide impact in the Philippines. In 1892 Rizal returned home and formed the Liga Filipina, a modest reform-minded society, loyal to Spain, that breathed no word of independence. But Rizal was quickly arrested by the overly fearful Spanish, exiled to a remote island in the south, and finally executed in 1896. Meanwhile, within the Philippines there had developed a firm commitment to independence among a somewhat less privileged class.
“Shocked by the arrest of Rizal in 1892, these activists quickly formed the Katipunan under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio, a self-educated warehouseman. The Katipunan was dedicated to the expulsion of the Spanish from the islands, and preparations were made for armed revolt. Filipino rebels had been numerous in the history of Spanish rule, but now for the first time they were inspired by nationalist ambitions and possessed the education needed to make success a real possibility.”
https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/The-19th-century
—Gregorio C. Borlaza et al., “The 19th Century in the Philippines,” Britannica, last updated March 10, 2026
After the pacification of the Philippines by the U.S. in the early part of the last century—on July 4, 1902, the U.S. government officially declared the end of the Philippine-American War, even though resistance persisted in various regions until as late as 1913—the U.S. set about remaking, not entirely successfully, its only colony in Asia, according to its own conception and model of democratic government.
During this period, Philippine art reflected the dramatic historical changes taking place.
“Ilustracion Filipina (Filipino Enlightenment) Periodico Quincenal was a biweekly newspaper that started its publication in the early part of 1859. It was a popular periodical that featured excellent illustrations, prose, poems, and articles.
“The newspaper’s target readers were the cultured elites but due to the numerous illustrations, the cost of printing was high. The periodical was sold at one real or 25 centavos which made it expensive compared to other newspapers. It eventually issued its last edition in December 1860.
“Decades later, Miguel Zaragoza and his older brother Jose, who were fans of Ilustracion Filipina, established a similar periodical named La Ilustracion Filipina. Obviously, the brothers patterned theirs after Ilustracion Filipina. Retana dismissed the Zaragozas’ endeavor as a ‘poor imitation of the original’.
“Federico de Lerena was a major contributor of poems to Ilustracion Filipina. He was a Spanish writer, journalist, and poet who lived in the Philippines. He was a supporter of the Filipinos and colonial reform. He often wrote about the local scenery in the Philippines and its people incorporating these themes in his prose.
“One of the poems of de Lerena which was published in Ilustracion Filipina was ‘Titay La Chichirica’. The term India Chichirica was a descriptive term used for the native Filipina. Its connotation was of a coquettish and sophisticated female out to tempt the newly arrived Spanish and European males and make them fall in love with her. La India Chichirica was the Filipina version of Scarlett O’Hara.
“Another definition of chichirica that I came across is that of a Catharanthus rose. Also known as an old maid, rose periwinkle, and Madagascar periwinkle. In the Philippines, we refer to it as kantutay.
“A few years ago, quite by accident, I acquired a copy of a 19th Century colorized lithograph print of Islas Filipinas (India Chichirica). As per the caption, it was printed as part of a catalog or announcement for an exhibit of The Juan Luna Paintings and 19th Century Prints from the Far East Bank Art Collection. This exhibit could have happened in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The Far East Bank Art Collection is now part of the BPI Art Collection.
“The lithograph featured a young black-haired Filipina dressed in fashionable clothes holding a handkerchief and a fan standing on a cliff amidst a lush scene of greenery. Her posture and the look in her eyes beckon the mesmerized viewer. Who wouldn’t fall in love with this beguiling woman?
“On the bottom left of the engraving was the signed name of Lit. del Munoz, Malaga, and on the bottom right: J. Llerena lit. It is undated.
“In Carlos L. Quirino’s Old Manila (2nd Edition) and even in El Periodismo Filipino, the same exact lithograph print appears on both books. Quirino writes that the original illustration was made by C.W. Andrews and appeared in Ilustracion Filipina in 1859. It could have accompanied de Lerena’s Titay La Chichirica poem.
“The same lithograph but colorized was published in 1876 alongside Vicente Barrantes’ essay on ‘Las Mujeres de Filipinas’. Barrantes was a Spanish chronicler, poet, writer, and bibliophile. Jose Rizal was not fond of him as Barrantes wrote criticisms about Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.”
https://www.thevisualtraveler.net/2020/07/la-india-chichirica-19th-century.html
—Margaux Camaya, “La India Chichirica: The 19th Century Filipina,” The Visual Traveler, July 18, 2020
The lithograph print dates to 1859, its colorized version to 1876.
“La india chichirica” translates to “Indian coquette.”
Not a painting, but it is still an original work of art (lithograph).
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| Islas Filipinas India Chichirica (c. late 19th century) by del Munoz, Malaga and J. Llerena |
“This painting is a fine example of a 19th-century group portrait of an ilustrado (educated) family. In oil portraits such as this can be seen images of Filipinos as proud members of an emergent class possessing new economic power and creating their own space in the works of their time.
“The family, consisting of the standing father and the seated mother with her two small children, are formally posed for the portrait in the 19th-century convention of representation. …Following the convention of ilustrado portraiture, the artist painstakingly recorded their Sunday finery in all the minutiae of embroidery, as well as transparent textures of their costumes, jewelry, and accessories in the style of miniaturismo.”
https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/3/82/2281/
—Alice G. Guillermo, “The Quiason Family 1880,” Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, November 18, 2020
“The Quiason Family” is a medium-sized painting, 77 x 61 cm or 30 x 24 in. It shows Cirilo and Severina Quiason and their two children.
Simon Flores y de la Rosa (1839-1902) studied at Academia de Dibujo y Pintura, the first art school in the Philippines. Flores was known for his fine portraits of the Pampanga elite—twenty are known to exist—and for his attention to portraying details of their clothing and jewelry. Besides, he received religious art commissions and won local and international awards for his work.
“Flores was born in 1839 to a family rich in artisan traditions in San Fernando de Dilao (now Paco), Manila. His family originally descended from Balayan, Batangas. Under the supervision of his uncle Pio de la Rosa, Flores’ first education in art was informal and basic. After completing his studies at the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura under Lorenzo Guerrero and Lorenzo Rocha he set up his own studio. Through family connections within the local art community, Flores secured commissions to paint church murals as well as portraits and religious paintings for the rich in the province of Pampanga. During this time he also taught art, gave private art lessons, and married a woman named Simplicia, the daughter of a local religious leader.
“Flores’ popularity increased around 1871, the reasons for which were twofold. For one, the colonial government was extremely pleased with Amadeo I, a portrait Flores was commissioned to paint that is believed to represent Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Another characteristic of Flores’ work that gained recognition was his attention to detail in painting the costumes and jewelry of his portrait subjects, especially traditional Filipino attire sewn from piña cloth, such as barongs, baro’t saya, and terno. For this skill, he is known as a master of miniaturismo. The themes of Flores’ paintings include culture, domesticity, personality, social and family roles, and wealth.”
https://www.tobinreese.com/simon-de-la-rosa-flores.html
—“Simon de la Rosa Flores (1839-1902),” Tobin Reese Fine Art
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| The Quiason Family (1880) by Simon Flores |
Born to a Spanish family in the Philippines, at the time part of the Spanish Empire, Lorenzo de la Rocha y de Icaza (1837-1898) is notable for his role at the very beginning of art education in the Philippines. Rocha headed the Manila Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving, first as the interim director (1850-58) and then afterwards as the director (1892-98). The Academy had been established by the Spanish colonial regime in 1846 to succeed the first art school in the Philippines, launched in 1821 by Filipino Chinese painter Damián Domingo (1796-1834). His pioneering school had closed upon the artist’s demise thirteen years later.
Along with the nineteenth-century Philippine masters famous today, Juan Luna (1857-1899) and Félix Resurrección Hidalgo (1855-1913), Rocha had been schooled in traditional Academic art—realistic, and during the latter half of the nineteenth century, inspired by Romanticism, the cultural movement that in the visual arts dwelt upon the depiction of subjectivity and emotion; nature and the sublime; nationalism, heroism, and individualism; and the exotic or supernatural.
Academic art in the Philippines is unmistakably Romantic in inspiration. Its realistic execution represents a quantum departure from the naïve painting style, wonderfully charming, of Damián Domingo.
Rocha’s masterpiece “La Mujer Filipina” (1895) superbly illustrates the heights achieved by Academic art in the Philippines.
At first it would appear like an instance of genre art, but it becomes obvious quickly that it isn’t. Although the subject, a working-class woman at the market, is typical of genre painting, the treatment of the subject is not, because she has been idealized by the artist. She strides forward, slim and confident, flashing a bright, neatly pressed outfit that looks like it’s just been worn the first time.
“Her attire consists of a loose white cotton blouse with lace-edged elbow-length sleeves (the ‘baro’), a white ‘enagua’ with ‘ojetes’ (eyelets) peeks out below her skirt (‘saya’) with yellow-orange windowpane checks, a striped black and blue rectangular cloth tied over the hips (‘tapis’), and a light tan shawl (‘alampay’) worn to shield her shoulder and to be used as a head cover for protection from heat. A scapular with a devotional image on red cloth and rosary beads with crosses hang from her neck. She completes her outfit with elevated ‘bakya’ (wooden clogs) to keep her outfit clean from mud.
“…she carries a reed umbrella, likely of Chinese or Japanese origin, in front of her chest, while balancing a basket filled with wood, bananas, and a glass bottle on her head, [while] holding a fish still attached to a hook in her right hand.”
—Discover the Beautiful Philippines, “‘MUJER FILIPINA’ 1895, Oil on canvas by Lorenzo de la Rocha Icaza (1838-1898), Museo de Bellas Artes de Córdoba,” Facebook, July 1, 2024
Various comments “correct” the Facebook post, one stating that the “wood” is “sugarcane sticks.”
Additional Sources
“One of the most significant events of the Spanish presence in the Philippine Islands was the creation of a School of Fine Arts, which was supported and promoted by the Cordoban politician Ángel Avilés during his time at the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts. Rocha, a Filipino artist who had spent some time training on the Iberian Peninsula, headed this school in its early days. This painting, an excellent example of the transmission to the island of the prevailing romantic tastes in Spain, and full of a good number of elements of daily life, was part of a group of works given to Avilés as a result of the visit made to the school in 1895, becoming part of his important private collection.”
Translated from Spanish to English by Google Translate
—“Lorenzo Rocha Icaza: Manila (Filipinas), 10.08.1837, 1898,” Museo del Prado
A detailed history of his career as an artist and educator is available here.
“Lorenzo Rocha was a student at the Manila School of Painting, where he served as interim director until 1858, when Agustín Sáez became its first professional director. At that time, he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies in Spain, where he was appointed Honorary Court Painter to the Spanish Crown.
“In 1862, his scholarship was extended until 1866. As a result of his work during this period, Lorenzo Rocha presented his painting “The Dream of Don Ramiro” at the National Exhibition of 1866 (inaugurated on January 25, 1867). The painting was awarded an Honorable Mention, Second Class, and acquired by the government for the Ministry of Overseas Territories. After returning to Manila, Lorenzo Rocha joined the faculty of the Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving, eventually becoming its director in 1892, a position he held until his death in 1898.
“…The new Academy was approved in 1846, modeled after those existing on the Iberian Peninsula, although it did not open until 1850. In its early years, it was directed by various government officials who held the position until their term of service ended and they returned to the Peninsula.
“Faced with this instability, which prevented the development of long-term projects, the Board of Trade requested authorization to search for a specialized director in Spain. In the meantime, they held a competition to fill the position on an interim basis, for which the painter Lorenzo Rocha y de Ycaza, the most outstanding student of the newly established school, was chosen. He was granted the right to receive the full salary assigned to the position until the arrival of the permanent director. The young student Lorenzo Guerrero (1835-1904) was also named as a collaborator; he would become a key figure in the history of the School, and his position, dedicated to teaching the native population, was performed without pay. The efforts to find a director bore fruit in the person of the Spanish painter Agustín Sáez Glanadell, who took up the post in 1857, thus ending the interim period of Lorenzo Rocha, whose services were gratefully acknowledged.
“The Commercial Court, seeking to compensate Lorenzo Rocha for his services and aware that specialized training was necessary to direct the Academy, offered him a scholarship to continue his painting studies in Spain for four years, inaugurating a practice that would become a regular occurrence a few years later.
“With the financial support of the scholarship, Rocha embarked for Spain, as reported in the newspaper El Mallorquín on Saturday, May 29, 1858.
“…we know that by 1860 he was settled in Madrid, continuing his studies at the Special School of Painting. It is possible that during this time he produced some work for the royal household, having already attained the privilege of being named Honorary Court Painter to the Spanish Crown.
“When, in 1862, the period for which his pension had been granted ended, Rocha requested reinstatement to his position as director of the Manila School…, but his request was denied because the post was still held by the Spaniard Agustín Sáez, who had been confirmed that very year.
“Faced with this situation, Rocha requested an extension of his pension from the Ministry of Overseas Territories ‘…in order to finish a composition painting that he has already begun…’ The Ministry consulted the director of the National Museum of Paintings about the painter’s progress, who favorably reported on the request, ‘…being aware of the progress that the applicant has achieved in such a difficult art through his constant application,’ and considering among his merits the honor of having earned the title of Court Painter. …Finally, he was granted an extension of his annual pension of 12,000 reales, first for two years and then for another two. The newspaper La Correspondencia de España reported on the granting of the second extension in 1864.”
Translated from Spanish to English by Google Translate
https://cuadernodesofonisba.blogspot.com/2018/04/un-nuevo-pintor-filipino-en-el-museo.html
—“Lorenzo Rocha – Pintor Filipino en El Museo del Prado,” Cuaderno de Sofonisba, April 26, 2018
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| La Mujer Filipina (1895) by Lorenzo de la Rocha |
Compare Rocha’s “Mujer Filipina” with the detail of a photograph of the same subject taken c. 1906-1910. Heavily creased and crumpled, her dress is dingy and faded—we are guessing, because the photograph is two-toned. She sports a serviceable umbrella, not in the least stylish.
—FACTSZERO, “‘The image captures a group of Filipina ladies on their way to the market in the Philippines…,” Alaala at Kasaysayan sa Likod ng Lumang Larawan, Facebook, July 1, 2024
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| Photograph of a Mujer Filipina, detail, c. 1906-1910 |
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| Campesina India (1906) by Félix Martínez |
Fabián de la Rosa y Cueto (1869-1937) is accurately described as a master of genre painting in the “academic realist style” (Reuben R. Cañete).
According to Cañete, the academic realist style “eventually gave birth to an entire tradition of depicting Philippine rural scenes that would be popularized by Fernando Amorsolo and the Conservatives of the Mabini School from 1920 to 1950.”
https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/3/82/2271/
—Reuben R. Cañete, “Planting Rice [Fabian de la Rosa],” CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art Digital Edition, November 18, 2020
De la Rosa was educated in traditional academic art; when he had the opportunity to visit Europe and study there, his style remained unaffected by Romanticism, the dominant style of the previous century, or by Modernism, the emergent style of the new era.
He began learning how to draw and paint early in life. At ten years old, he was taught by his aunt, Marciana de la Rosa.
At twelve years old, in 1881, he was taken under the wing of his uncle, Simon Flores, already an established artist.
That same year he enrolled in Escuela de Artes y Oficios but had to discontinue after three years because his father passed away and he had to work to support the family.
At 24 years old, in 1893, he enrolled at the Escuela Superior de Pintura Escultura y Grabado, the Manila Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving.
In 1908 he was granted a scholarship by the Germinal Cigar Factory to study at the Académie Julian in Paris, France and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain.
He returned to teach at the School of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines, where he eventually became the director of the school from 1927 to 1937, the year of his demise.
De la Rosa is estimated to have produced 1,000 works of art.
“Planting Rice” (1921) is a masterpiece of Philippine genre art. It is another version of a similar painting which won the artist a Gold Medal at the Saint Louis International Exposition in the U.S. in 1904.
This remarkably ambient piece draws us into fellowship with a clutch of peasants laboring amidst the mottled shadows and crimson washes of a day at its close. The painting recapitulates Jean-François Millet’s “The Angelus” (1857-59) in a tropical setting.
“Planting Rice” is “a descendant of the tipos del pais (country scenes) and rural landscape scenes of the latter Spanish colonial period.”
It “would…play an important role in the crafting of an incipient narrative meant to produce Filipino nationalist affiliation with the scenery and life of lowland agrarian society rather than with urban lifestyles engendered by industrialization.”
—Cañete, op. cit.
The original 1906 painting cannot be separated from its political context. Four years after the U.S. government officially declared the end of the Philippine-American War, the newly installed colonial masters wished to display before the American public exotic curios from their freshly acquired overseas island possessions.
De la Rosa was an important influence on the first National Artist of the Philippines, Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (1892-1972), who was bestowed the award posthumously in 1972 under the category of Visual Arts-Painting.
Amorsolo, who had been orphaned at eleven years old when his father died in 1903, and his brother Pablo, lived with de la Rosa, their uncle, beginning in 1905. That same year, Fernando apprenticed under de la Rosa.
Amorsolo, like his uncle, depicted rural everyday life and applied his talents to portraiture. However, the National Artist of the Philippines was additionally distinguished by his signature tropical light and visionary imagination. His paintings—idyllic, radiant, invariably sanguine—were popularly received across Philippine society.
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| Planting Rice (1921) by Fabián de la Rosa |
“Girl with Basket of Fruit” (1924) was painted by Fernando Amorsolo when he was 32 years old. The painting shows the fullness of his mature style, which he maintained throughout his career, his powers diminishing in old age.
The subject, a dalaga or young unmarried woman, displays Amorsolo’s ideal of female beauty—almond-eyed, delicately feminine Malay features—standing sanguine and composed, in traditional dress, a show costume of sorts, freshly laundered and pressed, framed by a rural, backlit setting. The entire scene suffuses the tropical light so characteristic of Amorsolo.
In Teacher’s Magazine, June 29, 1930, Amorsolo expounds, “the ideal Filipino beauty…should be one with a rounded face, lively eyes, blunt but firm and strongly marked nose, and a sensuous mouth”—exactly what we see in “Girl with Basket of Fruit”!
Amorsolo had an early start in art education. He and his younger brother Pablo lived in Manila with Fabián de la Rosa, their uncle, beginning in 1905. That same year, at thirteen years old, he apprenticed under de la Rosa.
He graduated from the Liceo de Manila (Escuela de Farmacia del Liceo de Manila, founded by Dr. Alejandro M. Albert in 1904) in 1909—he was 17 years old—afterwards enrolling at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, finishing with the first graduating class of 1914.
(Liceo de Manila continues today as Manila Central University.)
Amorsolo won numerous awards early on, testament to his innate talent. In 1908 he garnered one of four second prizes conferred by Associacion Internacional de Artistas for his painting, “Leyendo Periodico.” In 1913 he won 25.00 pesos for his design for the gold medal of the Philippine Exposition. He was awarded various medals in art while studying at the University of the Philippines. In the 1914 competition held for the vacant post of instructor at his alma mater, judges selected his anonymous submissions, besting five competitors in a contest involving five categories, including crayon, oil painting, and chalk.
After graduation Amorsolo taught at the University of the Philippines, took on odd jobs as an artist, and worked at the Bureau of Public Works, and Pacific Commercial, a private company.
He was fortunate to receive some of the best education available at the time in drawing and painting. In 1917, already known for his artistic talent, he was granted a scholarship by Don Enrique Zobel covering his transportation, board and lodging, and enrollment at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain, the same school where Luna and Hidalgo matriculated.
Amorsolo departed from the Philippines in 1919, returning home, after passing through New York, Washington, San Francisco, and Seattle, around the close of February, 1920.
Amorsolo expressed admiration for the Old Masters at the Prado, especially Velasquez, Goya, and El Greco, together with the contemporary painters Zuloaga, Sorolla, and Romero de Torres. Sorolla’s backlit paintings unmistakably influenced the Philippine master’s style.
Amorsolo set forth an idyllic, rural vision of the Philippines that was unprecedented in Philippine art. He established his own style that developed into an informal school, notably influential and over time a rival to Philippine Modernism. In his oeuvre natural light floods the background and radiates from the figures in the foreground as if reflected. His celebratory vistas were uplifting but also touched by unreality.
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| Girl with Basket of Fruit (1924) by Fernando Amorsolo |
Photo of Spanish galleon courtesy of RadraS-Sardar
ReplyDeletehttps://www.worldhistory.org/image/14757/spanish-galleon/
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