Filipino artists’ never fall short in excellence with regards to art, incorporating not only the

zeitgeist of the time but also adding a unique sense of personal style that makes the art distinctly Filipino.
From the timeless impressionist-realist style of Amorsolo’s “Tinikling Dance”, the strong cubist-style
influence of Kiukok’s “Fishermen” to Joya’s abstractism in “Space Transfiguration”, the pieces provided
can surely capture the attention of its viewers. However, none proved to be more captivating than the
serene depiction of “Fish Harvest at Dawn” by Anita Magsaysay-Ho, which I perceived to be the best
from the selection.
It is evident that the main focal point of the painting draws the viewer’s eyes immediately
towards the subjects of the painting which are the women at work; however what truly caught my eye as
the emphasis of the painting is the fishing nets that were held by the women. The fishing net is present in
the three groups of women and it is painted in a way that it does not engulf the entirety of the canvas
unlike Kiukok’s work. Rather, the fishing net is present only where the women are situated in thus
justifying the context of women at work, the net accents the subject matter and it functions as an
eye-catcher to effectively guide the viewer on points of emphasis.The background is also seen to be rather
barren where behind the working women is nothing but the sea and the horizon. In my opinion, this was a
brilliant move by Magsaysay-Ho, by subjugating the background and keeping it simple, in doing so
creates negative space and does not confuse the viewer on where to shift his/her focus. I felt that overall
the background compliments the foreground beautifully, this is comparable to Amorsolo’s “Tinikling”
where a small gap of land was allotted behind the dancers to emphasize the subject. However, unlike
Amorsolo’ painting, I believe that what makes the painting of Anita’s avant-garde, is her utilization of the
depth of field; as seen from the painting, the farther the groups of women are, the clarity and detail tends
to diminish, I believe this technique provides the viewer a perception that as if the sea stretches beyond
the horizon and effectively creates more dramatization with the 4 women in the front, like how the eye
looks at a subject and the peripheral vision blurs out the areas not in focus. Through the artist’s
incorporation of numerous techniques with regards to the content of the painting, the painting provides a
pleasing experience to look at, where one could efficiently appreciate the photo and know where exactly
to draw their attention to without having to feel tired absorbing too much details in navigating the piece.
The effective manipulation of light as well as the location of the subjects produces a painting that
is not only visually aesthetic but also a well-balanced distribution. The aforementioned fishing net and the
subjects both possess contrast through light. Anita’s usage of chiaroscuro where the light is unevenly
falling on the subject produces a 3 dimensional figure on a 2 dimensional plane. The technique seen from
the painting can is reminiscent of Amorsolo’s usage of the technique as well. In Anita’s case however, the
shadows found in the net creates geometric outlines somewhat resembling a cubist style but not too much
that it promotes disfiguration. The play of lights and darks gives the painting depth, where it would not
merely look flat and in the case of the fishing nets yield an illusion of transparency. Additionally, the
contrast has a pivotal role of complimenting the time of day where it is depicted to be either to be sunrise
or sunset where the harsh light creates strong shadows on its subjects hence producing a moody scene. In
terms of the balance, the asymmetry provided by the number of subjects and where they are placed,
wholesomely creates an asymmetrical balanced art. The even number of subjects placed at the front
creates a pleasing balance when a line of symmetry is cut into the centerline of the canvas. Although it
may seem that a group placed on the far left and the far right of the photo may cause imbalance but
holistically, the two sides balance each other out as when the focus is shifted towards the far left it would
seem that the left side is heavier however, by placing more subjects on the group in far right, this negates
the weight of the group of the far left thus drawing the attention in the center. Unlike the other paintings in
the selection where it is heavily center-weighted, by distributing the subjects numerically and
geographically, the painting produces a scene where no area is too heavy nor too light on the eyes.
The most observable recurring pattern found in the painting would be the hues and the subjects,
although at first it may seem that it is just merely repetition, under careful scrutiny it can be said that
Magsaysay-Ho creates a rhythm where each subject is distinct yet goes well as part of a whole. One can
instantly say the painting contains warm hues such as orange and yellows and accents of green, this would
immediately produce the pattern seen in the apparel of the subjects. Nonetheless when observed carefully,
the first group of women will be predominantly wearing green “saya’s” while the group in between is
predominantly wearing orange “saya’s” and the furthest group wearing predominantly green. The small
detail of interchanging the color of the skirts of the women per group creates a rhythm that will negate the
feeling of blandness and provides a refreshing interplay of colors for the eyes. Additionally, the different
activities done by the subjects creates differentiation, although each subject is still appropriate to the
overall context of fish harvest. In spite of just hedging on rather few hues of color as well as the same
subject context, Anita’s artwork is far from banal where through her small differentiations in details
creates a lasting impact on the overall rhythm.
The proportionality of the subjects is evident in the strategic perception Anita aims to achieve.
The aforementioned utilization of depth of field is further strengthened in Anita’s decision in creating a
perception that the painting would seem as if it would go even further towards the horizon. The
perception was achieved through the proportions of the subjects, whereas as the eyes go further into the
photo the smaller the subjects are scaled. Like the technicality of emphasis, I believe this painting can
truly depict women harvesting fish where even the fish are proportional and life-like, moreover it creates
a realistic scene that can be envisioned by the viewer.
From my personal standardization, I found this painting the best because apart from the technical
aspects as previously mentioned, the contextualization and the feelings the artwork is trying to evoke are
superb. In my opinion, the painting homogenizes the traditional and the modern through techniques
incorporated by Magsaysay-Ho. It is quite traditional to paint a depiction of what’s going on and
capturing that moment in painting, however by utilizing modern techniques, it allows the painting to
embody the zeitgeist of the modern era but the context of what was in the past. In terms of the content, I
found it very serene as it depicts the strength of women doing laborious tasks but at the same it does not
aim to exploit any gender roles nor to sexuallize women which are common in paintings. Subsequently,
the painting evokes a feeling of calmness and serenity in spite of such common sights, the painting
creatively shows that there is beauty even in the simplest of tasks even if it’s harvesting fish.
Overall, the artist’s techniques coupled with the execution of the content produced an outstanding
play of colors, light and content that not only pleased the eye but also aesthetically invoked the feeling of
serenity. Among the selection, without a doubt, Magsaysay-Ho won me over and made me realize through
her painting that there is beauty in everything we do, it's just a matter of how we see it.