FERNANDO

AMORSOLO, OUR
FILIPINO PAINTER
BY: ARLYNE J. GARMA
BSABE III-B
 WHO IS FERNANDO AMORSOLO?

Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in

Calle Herran in Paco, Manila to Pedro Amorsolo and
Bonifacia Cueto. Although born in the nation’s capital,
Amorsolo would spend most of his childhood in the small
town setting of Daet in Camarines Norte where his love for
the simple rural life would become the foundation for his
artistic output for which he is most well-known.
 FACTS ABOUT FERNANDO AMORSOLO

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 that time and in order to provide for his family, he sold his
drawings and began to study art under dela Rosa.
 In 1909, he began studies at the Liceo de Manila and
graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1914. After
working three years as a commercial artist and part-time instructor
at the university, he studied at the Escuela de San Fernando in
Madrid. For seven months he sketched at the museums and on the
streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color.
During this period, Amorsolo developed the use of light.
Actually, backlight which is his greatest contribution to Philippine
painting. Characteristically, an Amorsolo painting contains a glow
against which the figures are outlined, and at one point of the
canvas there is generally a burst of light that highlights the smallest
detail.
 During the 1920s and 1930s Amorsolo's output of paintings
was prodigious. In 1939 his oil Afternoon Meal of the Workers won
first prize at the New York World's Fair. During World War II
Amorsolo continued to paint. The Philippine collector Don Alfonso
Ongpin commissioned him to execute a portrait in absentia of Gen.
Douglas MacArthur, which he did at great personal risk.
He also painted Japanese occupation soldiers and self-
portraits. His wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacanang
presidential palace in 1948.
 Amorsolo was noted for his portraits. He made oils of all the Philippine
presidents, including the revolutionary leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and other
noted Philippine figures. He also painted many wartime scenes, including Bataan,
Corner of Hell, and One Casualty. These are the examples of Fernando
Amorsolo’s paintings.
 After the war Amorsolo served as director of the college of
fine arts of the University of the Philippines, retiring in 1950.
Married twice, he had 13 children, five of whom became painters.
Amorsolo, who died in 1972, is said to have painted more
than 10,000 pieces. He continued to paint even in his late 70s,
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
appears.
 HISTORICAL PAINTINGS AND
PORTRAITS
Amorsolo also painted a series of historical paintings
on pre-Colonial and Spanish Colonization events.
Amorsolo's Making of the Philippine Flag, in particular, was
widely reproduced. His The First Baptism in the
Philippines required numerous detailed sketches and colored
studies of its elements. These diverse elements were
meticulously and carefully set by the artist before being
transferred to the final canvas.
 Amorsolo also painted oil portraits of Presidents like
General Emilio Aguinaldo, and other prominent individuals such
as Don Alfredo Jacób and Doña Pura Garchitorena Toral
of Camarines Sur. He also painted the wedding picture of
Don Mariano Garchitonera and Doña Caridad Pamintuan
of Pampanga.
 WORLD WAR II ERA WORKS

After the onset of World War II, Amorsolo's typical

pastoral scenes were replaced by the depictions of a war-torn
nation. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines
during World War II, Amorsolo spent his days at his home near
the Japanese garrison where he sketched war scenes from
the house's windows or rooftop
 During the war, he documented the destruction of many
landmarks in Manila and the pain, tragedy and death experienced
by Filipino people, with his subjects including "women mourning
their dead husbands, files of people with pushcarts and makeshift
bags leaving a dark burning city tinged with red from fire and
blood. Amorsolo frequently portrayed the lives and suffering of
Filipina women during World War II. Other World War II-era
paintings by Amorsolo include a portrait in absentia of
General Douglas MacArthur as well as self-portraits and
paintings of Japanese occupation soldiers. In 1948, Amorsolo's
wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacanang Presidential
Palace.
 Fernando Amorsolo is a talented man and he inspires
many people especially those who are goo in painting and
arts. As a youth, his works widen my perspective for the
happenings before because based on what he see he always
paints. He is a man with a good heart especially in painting. All
his works enlighten my fellow youth about history. He is a
legend and he always will.