First up is Fernando Cueto Amorsolo.

He is declared as the first National artist

in the Philippines because of his paintings and is called the "Grand Old Man Of
Philippine Art".
He is known for painting the rural life in the Philippines and his creative
and proficiency in the use of light on his artworks. He was from Paco, Manila and
born
on May 30, 1892. His famous works includes "Afternoon meal of the rice workers,
1951, oil on canvas."
the one the first prize at New York World's Fair. "Mango Pickers, oil on canvas
1936", Fruit Gatherer, oil on board, 1950"
"A Basket of Mangoes, oil on canvas, 1949", "Palay Maiden", "The Making of the
Philippine Flag", "Tinikling in Barrio, 1951",
"Planting Rice", "Lavandera, 1928", "Sunday Morning going to Town", and etc.

Fernando Amorsolo died at the age of 79 on 24 April 1972. His father is Pedro
Amorsolo and
his mother is Bonifacia Cueto. In early years, Amorsolo spent his childhood is town
of Daet in
Camarines Norte because of his liking in rural life in where he based his
paintings. When he was still
young, he showed his talent by going to places and draw. This caught the attention
of his mom and to show support,
his mom would send the drawings to her cousin who is a painter in Manila - Fabia
Dela Rosa. However, one night, the revolutionary movement going against spaniards
wanted his brother
Perico to join the group but Perico went against this and left to join the rebels
in
which they never saw him again. Not until the neighbors told the news about seeing
Perico going to be taken to jail where he was later killed by the Spaniards and
because of this
Amorsolos father suffered and died of a heart attack. This all happened when
Amorsolo
was still young and he was only eleven when his dad died.

This made Amorsolo like painting about the rural life because it gives him comfort
to see
what was peaceful before it was taken away. He puts great effort in his paintings
to hang on to
the innocence that he only had to distract himself from the harsh realities. After
his father died, they moved in with his moms cousin
Don Fabian Dela Rosa and to help with financial issues, he would sketch and sell it
15 centavos a piece.
He later had his degree, awards and graduated in University of the Philippines
School of Fine Arts in 1914.

Amorsolo was also known as "The Painter of Philippines Sunlight" because of how he
highlights the sunshine of
the countryside and the filipino traditions/culture. Example of his works that is
supported by this is the
"Planting rice" which shows farmers planting crops outside and wearing typical
filipino farmer clothes. White shirt, salakot hat, etc.
"Afternoon Meal Of The Rice Workers" where they all sit somewhere beside the rice
farm eating and the woman
taking care of the child and cooking in a "mangkok". Last example but not the least
is "Mango Pickers" where we
can see women are the one grabbing and picking fruits to put in a basket to take
home with them while wearing traditional
filipino outfits baro't saya.
In terms of awards, at 1959, Amorsolo got a gold medal from UNESCO for recognition.
He got the Rizal Pro-Patria Award (1961),
the Araw ng Maynila award (1963), and the Gawad CCP para sa Sinig, from the
Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Beginning in the 1950’s, Amorsolo produced approximately ten paintings a month,
achieving a tremendous amount of commercial success. (Philippine Art Gallery, n.d)

sources

biography/paintings/description
http://www.fernandocamorsolo.com/biography.html
https://www.tobinreese.com/fernando-amorsolo.html
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1372/a-small-collection-of-fernando-
amorsolos-paintings

Next is Carlos V. Francisco. He is a National Artist in the Philippines and he

participates in visual
arts by painting. He is mostly known as Carlos "Botong" Francisco from
Angono, Rizal for his historical works and for discovering Angono Petroglyphs which
is
one of the oldest prehistoric work in the Philippines. Apart from that, he is a
muralist.
Muralists are artists who put their art directly on large surfaces like walls,
ceilings, buildings, etc. He along with two other
artists Galo Ocampo and Victorio Edades are called "The Triumvirate" because they
three are known
for opposing Fernando Amorsolo's romanticism style. His famous works include
"Fiesta",
"First Mass in the Philippines", "Blood Compact", "Muslim Wedding, 1958",
"Magpupukot (Pulling in the net),1957
in oil on canvas, 36 x 54.9 in. (91.5 x 139.5 cm)", "Bayanihan ni Carlos Botong
Francisco,1962",
"EDUCATION, mural ni Carlos V. Francisco, 1964", "Portrait of Purita", "The
Invasion of Limahong" etc.

Born from November 4, 1912 - March 31, 1969, Botong was 56 years old when he died.
His mother is named Maria Villaluz while his
father is Felipe Francisco and he has a sister named Carmen Francisco Whalen.
He studied at University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. He is also known
as the Poet of Angolo, Rizal
because of his way of bringing back mural paintings in the Philippines. "His major
masterpiece is the mural for Bulwagang Katipunan of the Man"
Because of this, he became the second filipino who received the award and title of
National Artist in Painting in 1973. He was the second after
Fernando Amorsolo.

In his work Fiesta, we can see the man and the woman dancing and other people in
the background are having fun as well.
they are wearing their native clothes and playing guitar which is the way Carlos is
describing the Fiestas in the Philippines
in earlier times. Another example is Magpupukot mural painting. When translated,
Magpupukot means pulling the net and in the painting
we can see several men pulling the net in fishing and it relates to the fishing
community in Botongs life in Angono because of it being as a fishing village.
The Martyrdom of Rizal, 1960

sources:
list of national artists
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/lists/national-artists-of-the-philippines/

description, age, what theyre famous for, what they do, biography
https://home-and-garden.pl/forum/44alt.php?id=01006d-carlos-botong-francisco-
biography
http://www.gallerybig.com/gallerybigbotong.html
http://noypicollections.blogspot.com/2011/07/works-of-carlos-v-francisco.html
https://yuchengcomuseum.org/up-close-and-personal-botong-francisco-through-lenses-
and-letters/
https://365greatpinoystuff.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/164-bayanihan/#:~:text=The
%20mural%20titled%20'Bayanihan%E2%80%9D%20(,to%20achieve%20a%20particular
%20goal.&text=He%20was%20affectionately%20called%20%E2%80%9CBotong%E2%80%9D%20by
%20his%20family%20and%20friends.

muralist description
https://www.theartcareerproject.com/careers/muralist/#:~:text=A%20muralist%20is%20a
%20fine,on%20public%20buildings%20or%20structures.