Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Famous Painters and Their Works
Famous Painters and Their Works
Famous Painters and Their Works
Fernando Amorsolo
Fernando Amorsolo painted and sketched more than ten thousand pieces over his lifetime using natural
and backlighting techniques. His most known works are of the dalagang Filipina, landscapes of his
Philippino homeland, portraits and WWII war scenes.
Born in Calle Herran in Paco, Manila, on May 20, 1892, Fernando Amorsolo began drawing and sketching
as a young boy. The family lived in Daet until the death of his father. At that time his mother moved the
family to the home of her cousin, artist Don Fabian dela Rosa in Manila. Amorsolo was 13 years old at
the time and in order to help provide for his family, he sold his drawings and began to study art under
dela Rosa.
"Young Girl"
In 1909, he began studies at the Liceo de Manila and graduated from the University of the Philippines in
1914. After designing the logo for Ginebra San Miguel, Amorsolo received a grant to attend the
Academia de San Fernando in Madrid from businessman Enrique Zobel de Ayala in 1916. A major
influence in his painting style during this period was painter Diego Velasquez.
with self portraits and the Japanese occupation soldiers of the time. Many of these paintings were
exhibited in the Malacanang presidential palace in 1948.
Following the war he returned to painting landscape scenes of the countryside and portraits. He
painted oil portraits of all of the Philippine presidents, revolutionary leader General Emilio Aguinaldo,
and General Douglas MacArthur.
Due to the popularity of his works he cataloged them and developed a technique to paint them quicker
to meet the demand.
"Rice Harvesting"
Throughout his life Fernando Amorsolo worked as an instructor, a draftsman for the Public Works, chief
artist for the Pacific Commercial Company, illustrator for children's books and magazines, and served as
Director at the School of Fine Arts before he retired in the early 1950s.
In the twilight years of his life, Amorsolo continued painting through declining health. He was married
twice and had 13 children before a heart attack eventually took his life on April 24, 1972.
Manansala worked as an illustrator for the Philippines Herald and Liwayway and as a layout artist for
Photonews and Saturday Evening News Magazine in the 1930s. He held his first one-man show at the
Manila Hotel in 1951, and then went on to work as a professor at the University of Santo Tomas School
of Fine Arts from 1951 to 1958.
Vicente C. Manansala died in Makati in 1981.
Paintings:
Tiange
Luksong Tinik
Carlos V. Francisco(1912-1969)
Carlos V. Francisco popularly known as "Botong", was a distinguished muralist from and best known for
his historical pieces. Also known as the Poet of Angono, Rizal he single-handedly brought back the art of
mural painting in Philippines. He was one of the of the modernist artists together with Galo Ocampo and
Victorio Edades known as " The Triumvirate" who broke away from romanticism style of Fernando
Amorsolo's Philippine Scenes.
He went to School of Fine Arts in University of the Philippines, although he came from the same school
of arts as Amorsolo, he did not follow the traditional style but developed a modernist style. After
the 2nd World War, he taught in School of Fine Arts in University of Santo Tomas at the same time
working with Manuel Conde for cinema. He worked as scriptwriter for films such as "Ghengis Khan",
"Putol na Kampilan", and "Tatlong Labuyo". He make costumes design also for films "Romeo at Julieta",
"Prinsipe Tenoso", "Ibong Adarna", "Siete Infantes de Lara and "Juan Tamad" series.
His major works includes Portrait of Purita, The Invasion of Limahong, Serenade, Muslim Betrothal,
Blood Compact, First Mass at Limasawa, The Martyrdom of Rizal, Bayanihan, Magpupukot, Fiesta,
Bayanihan sa Bukid and Sandugo. His major masterpiece is the mural for Bulwagang Katipunan of the
Manila City Hall.
He was the second Filipino who received the title of National Artist in Painting in 1973 after Fernando
Amorsolo. Among of his awards are first prize for his work "Kaingin" at the annual Art Association of the
Philippines, "Most Outstanding Alumnus" in 1959, and Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1964.
Juan Luna y Novicio (October 23, 1857 December 7, 1899) was an Filipino painter
, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. Regarded for
work done in the manner of the Spanish, Italian and French academies of his time, Luna painted literary
and historical scenes, some with an underscore of political commentary. His allegorical works were
inspired with classical balance, and often showed figures in theatrical poses. Born in the town of
Badoc, Ilocos Norte in the northern Philippines, Juan Luna was the third among the seven children of
Don Joaquin Luna de San Pedro y Posadas and Doa Laureana Novicio y Ancheta. He took drawing
lessons under the illustrious painting teacher Lorenzo Guerrero of Ermita, Manila. He also enrolled in
the Academy of Fine Arts (Academia de Dibujo y Pintura) in Manila where he was influenced and taught
how to draw by the Spanish artist Agustin Saez.
The Death of Cleopatra ( La Muerte de Cleopatra ),
also known simply as Cleopatra, is an 1881 painting made by the Filipino painter Juan Luna. The famous
painting was asilver medalist or second prize winner during the 1881 National Exposition of Fine
Arts in Madrid (Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes).
The 1881 Madrid painting contest was Lunas 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 Lunas graduation
work, The Death of Cleopatra was acquired by the Spanish government for one.
The Spoliarium (often misspelled Spolarium) is a painting by Filipino artist Juan Luna. The painting was
submitted by Luna to the Exposicin Nacional de Bellas Artes
in 1884 in Madrid, where it garnered the first gold medal (out of three). In 1886, it was sold to
the Diputacin 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.duros. Juan Luna spent eight months to finish this award winning
masterpiece on a greatly huge canvas depicting dying gladiators. (Leon Ma. Guerrero, The First Filipino
2007) Ambeth Ocampo wrote, the fact remains that when Luna and Felix Resurrection Hidalgo won
the top awards in the Madrid Exposition of 1884, they proved to the world that indios could, despite
their supposed barbarian race, paint better than the Spaniards who colonized them.
Espaa 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 Espaa Guiando a Filipinas (Spain Leading the Philippines), 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[1] of the Lopez Memorial Museum. Although an olol on canvas masterpiece[1][2] that
projected a close bond between Spain and the Philippines through feminine figures, it is
a propaganda painting that revealed the true hope and desire of Filipino propagandists during the 19thmillenia: assimilation with Spain, reform, equality, modernization, and economic improvement. Contrary
to Jose,wallys estimation that Luna was a Hispanophile, or a person who could never go against Spain,
the Espaa y Filipinas portrait is a less combative posture of Luna for showing to Spain and the viewers
of the painting the needs of the Philippines at the time. The Spaniard woman or Mother Spain was
drawn with wide strong shoulders while the Filipino woman was illustrated as graceful and brownskinned. Both were wearing female dresses known as traje de mestizas or dress of the mestiza. The
dressing of the women in traje de mestizas shows the cultural character, class consciousness, and social
transformations resulting from 19th century Hispanization. Both women have their backs to the viewer,
heading towards a far-away horizon, while embarking on the steps of a staircase.The taller and maternal
white figure of a woman is Spain, a representation of the benevolent image of colonialism, is pointing
ahead and guiding the humbly dressed Filipina to the right way. The painting appeared in the book
entitled El legado de Espaa a Filipinas or the Spanish legacy in the Philippines with the accompanying
caption stating:Espaa guiando a Filipinas por la senda del progreso, or Spain leads the Philippines on
their way to progress. It is further described as a painting that once linked the colonized with its
former colonists, abucolic allegory of the master and the servant walking hand in hand.
Las Damas Romanas (literally, The Roman Dames), also known as The Roman Maidens, The Roman
Women,[1] or The Roman Ladies,[2][3] is an oil on canvas painting by Juan Luna, one of the most
important Filipino painters of the Spanish period in the Philippines.[4] 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 (Royal
Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando) in Madrid, Spain in 1877. Alejo Valera, aSpanish painting teacher,
took Luna as an apprentice and brought him to Rome where Luna createdLas Damas Romanas in
1882. Luna spent six years in Rome from 1878 to 1884.
Las Damas Romanas is one of the early works of Luna as a painter that resurfaced in the past quarter of
a century after being thought lost or missing. Before its reappearance in Paris many years before 2008, it
had been documented only as a title and as a listed work of Luna in the 1957 biography of Luna written
by Carlos E. Da Silva. The painting had also been documented through a black and white photograph
from the files of Alfonso T. Ongpin, a historian and pre-war art dealer. In 1980, the image from Ongpin
was reprinted by Santiago Pilar in the book Juan Luna: The Filipino As Painter
The Blood Compact ( El Pacto de Sangre) is an award-winning 1886 historic and historicalpainting
by Filipino painter Juan Luna. Juan Luna completed The Blood Compact in 1886, a year after he moved
to Paris to open a studio. It was also the year after Luna became a friend of Flix Resurreccin Hidalgo,
another known Filipino painter. In 1904, the painting won the first prize in Paris, France and at the St.
Louis Exposition in the United States. The masterpiece was painted by Luna during his fouryear pensionadoship from the Ayuntamiento de Manila, enabling him to continue studying painting
in Rome. It is one of the three paintings Luna gave the Government of Spain, even though he was only
obligated to paint just one canvas during the pensionadoship. The other paintings are Don Miguel Lopez
de Legazpi, a painting that was burned during the Philippine-Spanish war, and Governor Ramon Blanco,
a work that became a part of the Lopez Museum collection.This is one of the last paintings created by
Luna.