SHSC06 - Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

GBS FOR WEEK 26 TO WEEK 27

EVALUATION (OUTCOME):

Select at least 1 to 2 ARTIST/S in each National Artist category,

and introduce him/her.
Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Paco, Manila.
His parents were Pedro Amorsolo, a bookkeeper, and Bonifacia
Cueto. He and his 4 brothers spent their childhood in Daet,
Camarines Norte. After his fathers death, Amorsolo and his
family moved to Manila to live with his mother's first cousin,
the Philippine painter, Don Fabian de la Rosa, who influenced
Amorsolo in becoming a full-fledged painter, starting when
Amorsolo became his apprentice at the age of 13. As he
developed his artistic skills, while his mother did embroidery
to earn money Amorsolo helped by selling watercolor
postcards to a local bookstore for 10 centavos each. His
younger brother, Pablo, also became a painter.
In 1908, the sixteen-year-old Amorsolo won the second prize
for the painting Levendo Periodico at the Bazar Escolta, a
contest sponsored by the Asociacion Internacional de Artistas
in 1908. In 1909, Amorsolo enrolled at the Art School of the
Liceo de Manila where he received recognition for his paintings
and drawings. His most outstanding work at that time was a
"painting of a young man and a young woman in a garden",
which won him the first prize in the art school exhibition
during his graduation year.
After graduating from the Liceo, he entered the University of
the Philippines' School of Fine Arts at the age of 17. At that
time, his uncle, de la Rosa, was also teaching at the University
of the Philippines. While he was studying at the Liceo de
Manila and at the University of the Philippines, his most
influential professors were Rafael Enriquez, Miguel Zaragoza,
and Toribio Herrera.
In order to earn a living while at the university, Amorsolo
joined competitions and did illustrations for different
Philippine publications, such as for Severino Reyess first novel
in Tagalog, Parusa ng Diyos (Gods Punishment) and for Iigo

Ed. Regalado's Madaling Araw (Dawn). He also illustrated the

religious Pasion books.
Fernando Amorsolo's pen and ink study entitled Harvest
(1939).
Amorsolo was awarded medals upon his graduation from the
University of the Philippines in 1914. He then joined the
University of the Philippines as a part-time instructor, while
also working as a draftsman and chair designer for the Bureau
of Public Works, and also as a chief artist at the Pacific
Commercial Company. After three years as an instructor and as
a commercial artist, Amorsolo received further artistic training
in 1916. This was when Filipino businessman Enrique Zobel de
Ayala gave him a grant to study at the Academia de San
Fernando in Madrid, Spain,which was then under the
directorship of two of Madrid's distinguished painters, Jose
Moreno Carbonero and Cecilio Planas. He was already an
admirer of the Realists Courbet, Corot, Millet, and Manet, the
Impressionists Monet, Renoir and Whistler, and the PostImpressionsists Luce and Gauguin, and his favorite artist was
Diego Velasquez. During his seven months in Spain, Amorsolo
was to discover more art as well as sketch at museums and
along the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of
light and color. Through De Ayalas grant, Amorsolo was also
able to visit New York where he discovered the creations of
known postwar impressionists and cubists. The European and
American artists who became his great influences and
inspirations were the Spanish court painter Diego Velazquez,
and Europe|European painters and impressionists John Singer
Sargent, Anders Zorn, Joaqun Sorolla y Bastida, Claude Monet,
Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Ignacio Zuloaga. Some of the
qualities of Impressionism, like the fluid brushwork, found
their way into his style, and he adopted Velasquez's technique
of blurring intricate details, but the style Amorsolo developed
after his intense study was his own and distinctively Filipino.
Amorsolo set up his own studio upon his return to Manila. He
began painting prodigiously during the 1920s and the 1930s.
His first important painting was Rice Planting (1922). Rice
Planting became one of the most popular images during the
Commonwealth period. It appeared on calendars, posters, and

tourist brochures. From the 1930s to the 1950, Amorsolo

widely exhibited his works in the Philippines and abroad.
Outside the Philippines, his exhibitions were held in Belgium,
at the Exposicion de Panama in 1914, at a one-man show at the
Grand Central Gallery in New York City in 1925, and at the
National Museum in Herran on November 6, 1948. Amorsolo's
entries at the Exposicion in Panama were a portrait of U.S.
President Woodrow Wilson and the piece La Muerte de
Socrates. At the 1948 National Museum in Herran, Amorsolo 's
exhibition was sponsored by the Art Association of the
Philippines. In 1950, Amorsolo exhibited two more historical
paintings, "Faith Among the Ruins" and "Baptism of Rajah
Humabon" at the Missionary Art Exhibit in Rome. His works
later appeared on the cover and pages of children's textbooks,
in novels, in commercial designs, in cartoons and illustrations
for the Philippine publications such The Independent,
Philippine Magazine, Telembang, Renacimiento Filipino, and
Excelsior. Amorsolo also received honors and distinctions for
his works. In 1939, Amorsolos oil painting, the Afternoon Meal
of the Workers (also known as Noonday Meal of the Rice
Workers), won first prize at the New York World's Fair.
Amorsolo taught painting and drawing for 38 years at the
University of the Philippines. He was the director of the
University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts from 1938 to
1952. On his retirement, Amorsolo devoted his time to painting
and creating illustrations for childrens textbooks and
magazines. Two months after being confined at the St. Lukes
Hospital in Manila, Amorsolo died on April 26, 1972, having
succumbed to heart failure. He died at the age of 79.
During his lifetime, Amorsolo was married twice and had 14
children. In 1916, he married Salud Jorge, with whom he had
six children. After Jorges death in 1931, Amorsolo married
Maria del Carmen Zaragoza, with whom he had eight more
children. Among his daughters are Sylvia Amorsolo Lazo and
Luz Amorsolo. Five of Amorsolos children became painters
themselves.
Amorsolo had associations with various painters. A number of
his students became distinguished painters themselves. One of
his close friends was the Philippine sculptor Guillermo

Tolentino, the creator of the Caloocan City monument for the

Philippine hero, Andres Bonifacio.