Readings. The Works Of Luna And Amorsolo.docx

THE WORKS OF LUNA AND AMORSOLO Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art” Amorsolo (1892 - 1972) was a portrait artist and a painter of rural landscapes. Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892, in Paco Manila. At the age of thirteen, he became an apprentice to the noted Philippine artist Fabian de la Rosa, his mother’s cousin. In 1914, he graduated fine-arts from the University of the Philippines. He studied at the Escuela de San Fernando in Madrid after working as a commercial artist and part-time instructor in UP. During his time in Madrid, he sketched museums and street views, experimenting the use of light and color. He went to New York in winter and discovered the works of the postwar impressionists and cubists who became major influences on his work. He set up his studio in Manila and developed the use of light – backlight – which is his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. He was well known of his paintings about the Philippine’s ‘Buhay sa bukid'. Unlike his popularity in this generation, he became controversial because of his paintings. It was said that his paintings did not depict the true life of the Filipinos because his painting were to idealistic and people were very happy, colourful and clean which as we know is not the true life of ‘bukirin’ It was also said that Amorsolo was commercial; he sells the photos of his paintings and let the client choose what they wanted. The quality of work was based on how much you can pay that’s why there’s a lot of version of his work. Because of this, he had a lot of regular customers such as the Araleta, Don Vargaz, and even the young Ninoy Aquino commissioned them to paint a portrait of Corazon Coanco. Amorsolo, who died in April 24, 1972 of heart attack, is said to have painted more than 10,000 pieces. He continued to paint even in his late 70’s despite arthritis in his hands. Even his late works feature the classic Amorsolo tropical sunlight. He said he hated “sad and gloomy” paintings, and he executed only one painting in which rain

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appeared. Four days after his death, President Marcos granted him the first National Artist for Visual Arts 1. Women and landscapes Amorsolo is excellent regarded for his illuminated landscapes, which frequently portrayed conventional Filipino customs, culture, fiestas and occupations. His pastoral works presented "an imagined experience of nationhood in counterpoint to American colonial rule" and were vital to the formation of Filipino countrywide identity. He changed into educated within the classical subculture and aimed "to achieve his Philippine model of the Greek ideal for the human form." In his art work of Filipina women, Amorsolo rejected Western beliefs of splendor in prefer of Filipino beliefs and turned into keen on basing the faces of his topics on participants of his family. Palay Maiden (1920) “My conception of an ideal Filipina beauty is one with a rounded face, not of the oval type... The eyes should be exceptionally lively… The nose should be of the blunt form but firm and strongly marked… The ideal Filipino beauty should have a sensuous mouth…not…white-complexioned, nor of the dark brown color…but of the clear skin…which we often witness when we meet a blushing girl.” For Amorsolo, the Filipino beauty become a vital symbol of country wide identity. The colors of the Philippine flag are evident in the blue kerchief, pink skirt, and white blouse. The challenge gazes directly at the viewer, retaining a generous package deal of newly harvested rice, a hope-stuffed second for the younger Philippines. Landscape (1951) In this 1951 Amorsolo painting, the mountains can effortlessly be identified, from left to right: Mt. Atimla, Mt.

Kalisungan,

Mt.

Banahaw

de

Lucban,

Mt.

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Banahaw, and Mt. Cristobal. Amazingly, he turned into depicting the scene precisely as it is able to be viewed from Los Baños. 2. Sketches Reading a letter (1933) Amorsolo turned into an incessant comic strip artist, often drawing sketches at his home, at Luneta Park, and inside the countryside. He drew the human beings he saw round him, from farmers to city-dwellers managing the Japanese

occupation.

Amorsolo's

impressionistic

tendencies, which can be visible in his paintings as well, were at their height in his sketches. His figures have been not

completely

finished

however

have

been

mere

"suggestions" of the image.

3. Historical paintings and portraits The making of the Philippine Flag The making of Philippine flag is a masterpiece Amorsolo

in

painting

by

Fernando

Philippines.

Fernando

Amorsolo was one of the most important artists in the history of painting in the Philippines. No doubt he created such a wonderful artwork. The painting shows three women namely Marcella Marino de Agoncillo (on the right side) refer as the mother of the Philippine flag, with the help of Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad which is actually the daughter of Marcela. They were tasked by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to sew the first flag for the new republic.

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Amorsolo additionally painted a sequence of historical paintings on pre-Colonial and Spanish Colonization events. Amorsolo's Making of the Philippine Flag, in particular, turned into broadly reproduced. His The First Baptism inside the Philippines required severa designated sketches and colored research of its factors. These diverse elements have been meticulously and thoroughly set through the artist before being transferred to the very last canvas. For his pre-colonial and 16th-century depiction of the Philippines, Amorsolo referred to the written bills of Antonio Pigafetta, different to be had reading materials, and visual sources He consulted with the Philippine students of the time, H. Pardo de Tavera and Epifanio de los Santos. Amorsolo also painted oil pics of Presidents like General Emilio Aguinaldo, and other prominent individuals including Don Alfredo Jacób and Doña Pura Garchitorena Toral of Camarines Sur. He also painted the wedding photo of Don Mariano Garchitorena and Doña Caridad Pamintuan of Pampanga. He additionally did a portrait of American Senator Warren Grant Magnuson (1905–1989), of the Democratic Party from Washington, whom the Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building on the University of Washington, and the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center on the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland are named after. 4. World War II-era works Defense of a Filipina Woman's Honor Here, a Filipino man defends a woman, who is either his wife or daughter, from being raped by an unseen Japanese soldier. Note the Japanese military cap at the man's foot. After the onset of World War II, Amorsolo's normal pastoral scenes were replaced via the depictions of a warfare-torn nation. During the Japanese profession of the Philippines during World War II, Amorsolo spent his days at his home near the Japanese garrison, wherein he sketched conflict scenes from the house's home windows or rooftop.

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During the battle, he documented the destruction of many landmarks in Manila and the pain, tragedy and demise experienced with the aid of Filipino humans, with his subjects including "girls mourning their useless husbands, files of human beings with pushcarts and makeshift bags leaving a dark burning metropolis tinged with pink from fire and blood." Amorsolo regularly portrayed the lives and struggling of Filipina girls at some stage in World War II. Other World War II-era art work by means of Amorsolo include a portrait in absentia of General Douglas MacArthur in addition to self-photos and paintings of Japanese profession soldiers. In 1948, Amorsolo's wartime paintings had been exhibited on the Malacañang Presidential Palace.

Reference: 

Fernando

Amorsolo

Facts

(n.d.)

retrieved

from

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/fernando-amorsolo 

Lane, J. (2014) Art Now and Then retrieved from http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.com/2014/02/fernando-amorsolo.html



Esteria, P. (2012) A small collection of Fernando Amorsolo's paintings retrieved from https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1372/a-small-collection-of-fernandoamorsolos-paintings

Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta

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Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta, better known as Juan Luna, was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recognized Philippine artists. Don Lorenzo Guerrero is the first mentor of Luna and recognized the young man’s natural talent and persuaded his parents to send him to Spain for advanced painting lessons. Luna left for Barcelona in 1877 and widened his knowledge of the art and he was exposed to the immortal works of Renaissance masters. In 1878, he was included in the first art exposition in Madrid, Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Demonstration of Beautiful Arts) which included his masterpieces; Spoliarium, La Batalla de Lepanto (The Battle of Lepanto), El Pacto de Sangre (The Blood Compact), Don Miguel de Legazpi and Governor Ramon Blanco. Despite this great achievement, it became a controversy because he was the first indio who won such prestigious award. A fact that is not well known about Luna is that he is a Seaman before he became a painter. He lived in Madrid and Paris before coming back to the Philippines in 1894.In 1898, he accompanied his brother Heneral Antonio Luna in the revolutionary and designed the uniform of the revolutionary army. One of the first Filipino diplomat and died serving the first republic of the Philippines because of an heart attack in Hong Kong.

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Works of Luna 

The

Blood

Compact

Compact portrays

the

-

The

Blood

1565 Sandugo (blood

compact ritual)

between Datu

Sikatuna of Bohol and Miguel López de Legazpi, surrounded

by

other conquistadors.

Datu

Sikatuna was described to be 'being crowded out of the picture by Miguel López de Legazpi and his fellow conquistadores. Luna painted this during his four – year pensionadoship from the Ayuntamiento de Manila, enabling him to continue studying painting in Rome. It is one of the three painting Luna gave to the government of Spain. 

España y Filipinas - España y Filipinas, meaning “Spain and the Philippines” in translation, is an 1886 oil on wood by Filipino painter, ilustrado, propagandist, and paladin, Juan Luna. It is an allegorical depiction of two women together, one a representation of Spain and the other of the Philippines. The painting, also known as España Guiando a Filipinas, is regarded as one of the “enduring pieces of legacy” that the Filipinos inherited from Luna. The painting is a centerpiece art at the Luna Hall of the Lopez Memorial Museum.  It is a propaganda painting that revealed the true hope and desire of Filipino propagandists during the 19th-century: assimilation with Spain, reform, equality, modernization, and economic improvement.



Las Damas Romanas - Las Damas Romanas, also known as The Roman Maidens, The Roman Women, or The Roman Ladies, is an oil on canvas painting by Juan Luna, one of the most important Filipino painters of the Spanish Prepared by R. Velez, J.Aurelio, K.Santiago

period in the Philippines. It was painted by Luna when he was a student of the school of painting in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain in 1877. Alejo Valera, a Spanish painting teacher, took Luna as an apprentice and brought him to Rome where Luna created Las Damas Romanas in 1882. Luna spent six years in Rome from 1878 to 1884. It depicted a domestic scene in ancient Roman life, portraying two women lying on the steps of a house. The hand of one woman was holding the reins of two pet dogs or hunting dogs, in order to prevent them from scaring away some doves. The doves symbolized divinity. The background of the painting presented a shelf of artifacts. To the left of the shelf was a shrine with

a pediment shaped

like a triangle. In front of the pediment

was

a burner with

a

smoking incense.



Spolarium - The Spoliarium is a painting by Filipino artist Juan Luna.

The

submitted

by

painting Luna

was to

the

Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884 in Madrid, where it garnered the first gold medal. In 1886, it was sold to the Diputación Provincial de Barcelona for 20,000 pesetas. It currently hangs in the main gallery at the ground floor of the National Museum of the Philippines, and is the first work of art that greets visitors upon entry into the museum. His Spoliarium was all about the bloodied bodies of gladiators, who were drawn as slaves; and dragged away from the wide and powerful arena as they attempted to fight their Roman oppressors, with their own precious and God given lives. In addition, these slaves on this world-renowned painting of Juan Luna were physically stripped of their clothing in order to gratify the lewd and

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devilish contempt of those Roman oppressors. Thus, this had excellently embodied the essence of the political, moral and social lives of the Filipino, based on the critical analysis of Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines; and a contemporary of Luna. According to the author of Noli Me Tangere, the masterpiece of Juan Luna centered on the severe ordeal of the Filipino nation, in which its encompassing human nature, had never been regained.



The Death of Cleopatra - The Death of Cleopatra, also known simply as Cleopatra, is an 1881 painting made by the Filipino painter Juan Luna. The famous painting was a silver medalist or second prize winner during the 1881 National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid.

The

1881

Madrid

painting

contest was Luna's first art exposition. Because

of

the

exposure,

Luna

received a pension scholarship at the Ayuntamiento de Manila. After the painting competition, Luna sold it for 5,000 Spanish pesetas, the highest price for a painting at the time. As Luna's "graduation work", The Death of Cleopatra was acquired by the Spanish government for one thousand duros. "The subject of the painting," he wrote, "is the death of that queen of Egypt whom Horace called the fatal monster, and Virgil a cursed woman; that one which Michelet said does not deserve mercy or admiration. .. In golden bed lies the corpse of Cleopatra, adorned with pharaonic magnificence; the slave Iras, also dead, is in front of the bed; the black slave Charmion, who has just placed the royal crown on her lady's head, falling at that moment, as if struck by lightning." The venomous asp had just done its job. Reference:

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

ArtsHeadlines, Fashion, In, A. and C. J., & Columns, C. F. (2018, March 5). 'The Death of Cleopatra': Why you should catch the Juan Luna exhibit in Singapore. Retrieved from

https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/288087/death-cleopatra-catch-juan-

luna-exhibit-singapore/ 

Ramos, L. (2017, November 18). Juan Luna's 'Death of Cleopatra' (1881) goes to Singapore.

Retrieved

from

http://naquem.blogspot.com/2017/11/juan-lunas-

death-of-cleopatra-1881-goes.html 

The Historical Triumph and Social Relevance of Juan Luna's Spoliarium. (2013, March 15). Retrieved from http://driftwoodjourneys.com/the-historical-triumphand-social-relevance-juan-lunas-spoliarium/



-, W. T. P., By, -, & We The Pvblic. (2019, September 8). We The Pvblic. Retrieved

from

https://wethepvblic.com/the-powerful-message-behind-the-

spoliarium-of-2016/ 

Ocampo,

A.

R.

(n.d.).

Interpreting

Luna's

paintings.

Retrieved

from

https://opinion.inquirer.net/108912/interpreting-lunas-paintings 

JUAN LUNA (The Philippines 1857-1899) , Las Damas Romanas (Roman Maidens).

(n.d.).

Retrieved

from

https://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5159790 

Juan Luna's works - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos. (2012, December

9).

Retrieved

from

https://archive.is/20121209051956/http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/colu mns/view/20071024-96352/Juan_Luna�s_work 

Reflections on the Spanish Conquest and its Representation in the Philippines: El Pacto de Sangre (1886, The Blood Compact) by Juan Luna (1857-1899) ISEAS-Yusof

Ishak

Institute.

(n.d.).

Retrieved

from

https://www.iseas.edu.sg/events/past-events/item/6999-reflections-on-thespanish-conquest-and-its-representation-in-the-philippines-el-pacto-de-sangre1886-the-blood-compact-by-juan-luna-1857-1899

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