Artists

An artist is considered to be a person with the talent and skills to conceptualize and conceive creative
works with their own hands. Such persons are singled out and prized for their artistic and original ideas.
Their artworks take many forms and can fit into numerous categories that contain architecture,
ceramics, digital art, drawings, mixed media, paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures, and textiles.
Artists are individuals with the desire and ability to envision, design, and fabricate the images, objects,
and structures we all encounter, use, occupy and enjoy every day of our lives.

Artisans

An artisan is a person that works with their hands to create unique, functional, and/or traditional
techniques. Artisans are masters of their craft and create products such as clothes, toys, tools, or
furnishings. These artisanal techniques are learned through decades of tribal knowledge and passed
down within families and communities. Many artisans depend on resources from their nearby
surroundings to create these items. In economic terms, an artisan is a small producer of goods who
owns their products and makes a living from their trade.

NATIONAL ARTISTS

Fernando Amorsolo

Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (b. 1892, d. 1972) was the Philippines’ first National Artist and is officially
recognized as the “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art”. Renowned for his trademark luminosity and ability
to render the iconic provincial Filipina, Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing rural
landscapes--- such as farmers ankle-deep in rice fields, women in colorful baro’t sayas sorting through
mangoes, and vibrant society portraits.

Dalagang Bukid

For Amorsolo, the Dalagang Bukid was his muse of ideal Filipina beauty foregoing the Maria Clara-typed
wallflower who presents herself as a smiling and cheerful lady, in spite of the labor beckoned in the
agricultural plain. She is depicted sporting in the national costume of the baro’t saya with her hair firmly
held by flowing bandana to shield her, from the brightness of the afternoon sun. Amorsolo was careful
in the details of the eyes, face and other features of the young maiden’s own garments especially the
baro’t saya. The saya of the young maiden is painted quite delicately though it gives an effect of
translucence that her arms and neckline can be seen through the slim layer of textile, complimenting her
radiant beauty that Amorsolo admired dearly.

Juan Luna

Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta 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. His winning the gold medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the silver win
of fellow Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight
in the memoirs of members of the Propaganda Movement, with the fellow Ilustrados toasting to the
two painters' good health and to the brotherhood between Spain and the Philippines. Regarded for
work done in the manner of European 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.

Spoliarium

Juan Luna’s “Spoliarium” brought historical triumph not just to Luna but also to the Philippines in 1884,
when it bested Spanish artists and won a first-class medal in the Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts.
“Spoliarium” was the name given to the Roman Colosseum basement where fallen gladiators were
thrown in after combat, which is depicted in the life-sized piece.
It illustrates two dead gladiators being dragged by Romans at the center. On the left, scavengers eye the
dead men’s possessions while a Roman beside them raises a fist in protest. A woman mourns a loved
one on the right side while an old man searches for a body amid the smoky haze. The depiction of
Roman cruelty in the painting has been interpreted as an allegory for the state of the Philippines under
Spanish rule.

Jose Joya

Jose Joya is considered the pioneer and foremost abstract expressionist painter of the Philippines. His
work is “characterized by calligraphic gestures and linear forces, and a sense of color vibrancy
emanating from an Oriental sensibility.” The spectrum of colors native to the tropical Philippine
landscape are believed to have been the source of Joya’s vibrant, yet harmonious palette. The greens of
the rice paddies, the golds of the harvest fields, and the seemingly infinite hues of the Pahiyas festival,
were some of the inspirations behind the artist’s unique style of heavy impastos, spontaneous
brushstrokes, bold textures, and unexpected splashes of color.

Space Transfiguration

Space Transfiguration shows the great freedom depicted in a storm of brushstrokes of vivid, violent
colors with which Joya was handling paint — a freedom which long after his death, continues to liberate
Philippine painting towards the end of the 20th century.

Juan Nakpil

Juan Nakpil was named one of the National Artists for architecture in 1973. He was regarded as the
Dean of Filipino Architects.

He is known for his works, including Geronimo de los Reyes Building, Magsaysay Building, Rizal Theater,
Capitol Theater, Captain Pepe Building, Manila Jockey Club, Rufino Building, Philippine Village Hotel,
University of the Philippines Administration and University Library and the reconstructed Rizal house in
Calamba.
UP DILIMAN ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

The hall is buttressed by huge pillars reminiscent of neoclassical architecture. Another feature of the
building is its open portico which provides a view to the amphitheatre on the opposite side of the
Oblation complex. Juan Nakpil based the peristyle concept of the Quezon Hall to the work of architect
Eliel Saarinen at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It was also neoclassic in style
since it was established in the United States during the height of classic revival in the early 1900s.
However, Juan Nakpil added some details to make it genuine. These neoclassic remnants were also
evident in the other buildings of the campus like the library or Gonzalez Hall, the College of Engineering
or Melchor Hall and its mirror image, the College of Liberal Arts or Palma Hall. Being the main structures
of the campus, these buildings possess power as shown by the grandeur of its scale and overall
Hellenistic fashion (Defeo 2000). Another interesting system Juan Nakpil has applied is the installment of
floor glass blocks to provide natural light in the basement rooms of the building.

Guillermo Tolentino

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (1890-1976) represents the National Artist Awards for Sculpture in 1973. He
is consider as the "Father of Philippine Arts" because of his great works like the famous "Bonifacio
Monument" symbolizing Filipinos cry for freedom located in intersection of EDSA and Rizal Avenue and
"The Oblation" in UP signifying academic freedom .

The Bonifacio Monument

The Andrés Bonifacio Monument, commonly known simply as Bonifacio Monument or Monumento, is a
memorial monument in Caloocan, Philippines which was designed by the National Artist Guillermo
Tolentino to commemorate Philippine revolutionary Andrés Bonifacio, the founder and Supremo of the
Katipunan. Andrés Bonifacio fought for independence from the politically and socially ruthless colonial
rule by Spain. The monument 13.7 m in height with symbolic images and other features known as the
"Cry of Balintawak" is acclaimed as one of the best monuments in the world.

REFERENCES

CONTENT APA FORMAT

Andas, C. (Jul 15, 2021). Retrieved from Tatler https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/arts/the-

national-artist-awards-significance

Arcellana, F., & Baldovino, D. (n.d.). Auctions. Leon Art Gallery | Auctions. Retrieved January 6,
2022, from https://leon-gallery.com/auctions/lot/the-asian-cultural-council-auction-2018/56/10

Ateneo Art Gallery. (n.d.). Fernando Amorsolo. Ateneo Art Gallery. Retrieved January 6, 2022,
from https://ateneoartgallery.com/artist/fernando-amorsolo

Cloma, L. (2008, August 24). Fernando Amorsolo: Dalagang Bukid (Woman with Banga). Flickr.
Retrieved January 6, 2022, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/28098727@N00/29320744457
 Difference Between Artists & Artisans (Oct 20, 2021). Retrieved from Best Accredited College
https://bestaccreditedcolleges.org/articles/difference-between-artists-artisans.html Martins, A. T. (n.d.)

Google Arts and Culture. (n.d.). Juan Luna — Google Arts & Culture. Juan Luna — Google Arts &
Culture. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/juan-luna/m049l1p?
hl=en

Google Arts and Culture. (n.d.). Liwasang Bonifacio — Google Arts & Culture. Google Arts &
Culture. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/liwasang-
bonifacio/g11c60pchd8?hl=en

Life and Works of Guillermo Tolentino - "The Father of Philippine Arts". (2011, July 19). Go
Philippines. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from http://noypicollections.blogspot.com/2011/07/life-and-
works-of-guillermo-tolentino.html

Order of National Artists (n.d.). Retrieved from GOV.PH https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-

arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/

Philippine Art Gallery. (n.d.). Jose Joya. PHILIPPINE ART GALLERY. Retrieved January 6, 2022,
from https://www.philippineartgallery.com/jose-joya.html

Philippine Daily Inquirer. (2020, December 2). 'Spoliarium' by Juan Luna (1884) | Inquirer
Lifestyle. Lifestyle Inquirer. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from
https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/375408/spoliarium-by-juan-luna-1884/

Quezon Hall - iskomunidad. (2016, August 19). Iskomunidad. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from
http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/index.php/Quezon_Hall

Violanta, P. P. (2017, November 22). Juan Nakpil | Life,Love ,Family and History. Retrieved
January 6, 2022, from https://phillippanaglimaviolanta.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/juan-nakpil/

What is the Difference Between an Artist and an Artisan? Retrieved from ProfitableVenture.com
https://www.profitableventure.com/difference-artist-artisan/

PHOTOS APA FORMAT

(n.d.). José T. Joya - Wikipedia, ang malayang ensiklopedya. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from
https://tl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_T._Joya

Benedict, B. (n.d.). Juan Luna. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Luna

Cloma, L. (2008, August 24). Fernando Amorsolo: Dalagang Bukid (Woman with Banga). Flickr.
Retrieved January 6, 2022, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/28098727@N00/29320744457

Fernando Amorsolo. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Amorsolo
 Graphic Design Jobs. (n.d.). Chegg CareerMatch. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from
https://www.careermatch.com/job-prep/career-insights/majors/graphic-design/

Inspiration - Test. (n.d.). Inspiration - Test. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from

https://musicandsunshine.com/blog/

Juan F. Nakpil – Bahay Nakpil-Bautista. (n.d.). Bahay Nakpil-Bautista. Retrieved January 6, 2022,
from https://bahaynakpil.org/juanfnakpil/

Knife making. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_making

Philippine Works of Art | by Princess Aira Raymundo. (2015, March 11). Medium. Retrieved
January 6, 2022, from https://medium.com/@ayaaraymundo/philippine-works-of-art-a04587047b94

Sawant, D. (2020, July 22). Artist makes self portrait as he paints himself for the fourth time,
netizens cheer him on. Republic World. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from
https://www.republicworld.com/amp/entertainment-news/whats-viral/man-makes-self-portrait-as-he-
paints-himself-for-the-fourth-time.html

Space Transfiguration by José Joya on artnet. (n.d.). Artnet. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from
http://www.artnet.com/artists/jos%C3%A9-joya/space-transfiguration-46gkXxVg6LRTePvSAT_AKA2

The Quezon Hall in UP Diliman | cassidydelute. (2012, March 16). cassidydelute. Retrieved
January 6, 2022, from https://cassidydelute.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/the-quezon-hall-in-up-
diliman/amp/

The Spoliarium By Juan Luna - Famous Art - Handmade Oil Painting On Canvas — Canvas
Paintings. (n.d.). ArtworkOnly.Com. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from
https://www.artworkonly.com/famous-art-pt2/spoliarium-by-juan-luna-famous-art-handmade-oil-
painting-on-canvas

What is Guatemalan Jade? (2021, December 13). Rock & Gem Magazine. Retrieved January 6,
2022, from https://www.rockngem.com/guatemalan-jade/amp/
Artists

Artisans
1. Fernando Amorsolo – Dalagang Bukid
2. Juan Luna - Spoliarium
3. Jose Joya – Space Transfiguration
4. Juan Nakpil – University of the Philippines Diliman Administration Building
5. Guillermo Tolentino – The Bonifacio Monument