Contemporary Philippine

Arts From the Regions

Module 1

Julius Guzman
Subject Teacher
• The Greek philosopher ARISTOTLE may have provided the
earliest assumptions of art as linked to human instincts.
• In this Poetics, Aristotle claimed that humans have instincts
for imitation and harmony.
• He described that these instincts are “lying deep in nature.”
• He that human beings are the “most imitative of living
creatures,” and through imitation, humans learn and
experience pleasure.
• ART, then, may defined as a human pursuit to imitate life and
the world into something pleasing or beautiful.
• Take a look at the landscape painting.
• What is imitated?
• What makes this imitation pleasing or beautiful?
• The painting is an attempt at imitating the river and its
surroundings, thus becoming its subject.
• The way the colors are chosen and blended into the canvas
accounts for medium are two important elements of an artwork
that allow a person to experience life, the world, and its beauty.
• Because it is human nature to create art, here are the forms of
artistic expression that human have been able to produce.
• PICTURE (Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, and Photography)
• This is a two – dimensional image of various subjects ranging
from real – life images to the visually abstract. It may be created
using different media such as chalk, charcoal, graphite, ink, oil
paint, and watercolor.
• SCULPTURE
• This is a threee – dimensional artwork that may be created using
stone, marble, wood, and concrete.
• ARCHITECTURE
• These are structures that meant to be used as shelter. The art of
architecture relies on the design and purpose of the structure.
• MUSIC
• This is the art form that appeals to the sense of hearing.
Music is composed by combining notes into harmony.
• LITERATURE
• This is the art form of language through the combined use of
words, creating meaning and experience.
• THEATER
• This is the art form of performance. Dramatic texts are
portrayed on stage by actors and actresses and are enhanced
by props, lights, and sounds.
• CINEMA
• This art form is a technological translation of theater. In films,
special effects are utilized to enhance the storytelling.

• DANCE
• This is the art form o the human form. The body is used,
mobilized, and choreographed in a specific time, form, and
space.
• PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO
• Many scholars debate on the identity of art produced by
Filipinos.
• Are they 100% authentic Philippine art?
• Many question the rootedness of the artworks produced by
Filipino artists.
• Are the landscape paintings of Fernando Amorsolo or the
historical depictions of Carlos “Botong” Francisco genuinely
Filipino?
• PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO
• Are the stories and poems in English written by N.V. M.
Gonzales or Edith Tiempo Filipino?
• This speculation on the “Filipino – ness” of works by Filipino
artists is caused by our colonial history and migrant reality.
• The influences brought by the Spaniards, Americans, and other
Asian countries has become part of our identity that is evident
in our art: Spanish – inspired architecture, American –
influenced poetry and music, and so on.
• The migrant reality of globalization also shaped Philippine art.
• Across the world, Filipinos have adapted to foreign culture.
 LEO BENESA
• LEO BENESA, a Filipino poet, essayist, and art critic, said that
there is a certain characteristic of Filipino art.
• He said, “The idea was that the depiction of scenes of
everyday life and the surroundings without idealizing them
was closest in spirit to the Filipino soul and native soil.”
• As long as the work shows the Filipino way of living (e.g.
spending a day in the market, doing laundry in the river, or
attending a fiesta in the town), it is closest in spirit to the
Filipino soul and native soil.”
 LEO BENESA
• But Benesa also said,…The idea was that the depiction of scenes
of everyday life and the surroundings without idealizing them ,
by which he meant that the artwork should not be represented
as perfect.
• Both the subject and the medium of these artworks dictate the
authenticity of the artworks produced by Filipino artists.
• When a Filipino artist paints a farmer ploughing the fields or
writes about a fisherman casting nets, the subject is undeniably
Filipino; but the artist has to keep in mind that the medium of
expression should portray the subject as true to what it is reality.
 LEO BENESA
• Benesa describes Amorsolo’s works as the “ most expressive of the
ethos of the race and the predominantly agricultural countryside.”
• Most of Amorsolo’s paintings depict life in the fields.
• The men and women are portrayed in hard work but with smiles
in their faces.
• The landscape in an Amorsolo painting features the rural lands of
the Philippines, where the scene is mostly covered by vegetation
and nature.
• The combination of all these elements in Amorsolo’s body work
makes his artworks representative of the Filipino.
 FERNANDO AMORSOLO’S PAINTINGS

Afternoon
meal of
the rice
workers
MANGO PICKERS
EL CIEGO (THE BLIND MAN)
PLANTING RICE
LAVANDERA
PALAY MAIDEN (1920) LA GIOCONDA (1517)
By: Fernando Amorsolo By: Leonardo da Vinci
Answer the following:

1. What do these paintings share in common?

2. How differently did Amorsolo treat the subject?
3. What makes the Palay Maiden truly Filipino?