Philippine Art History

Lesson 3
In this lesson:
I. Branches of Philippine Art
1. Traditional Art
2. Non- traditional Art
II. Philippine Art History (periods) in line with Philippine History
Branches of Philippine Art
1. Traditional/ Ethnic/ Folk Arts
• part of the culture of a group of people
• passed down through generations from master craftsmen to
apprentices
• folk architecture, maritime transport, weaving, carving, folk
performing arts, folk (oral) literature, folk graphic and plastic
arts, ornament, textile, or fiber art, pottery, and other artistic
expressions of traditional culture.
• bearers of traditional arts can be nominated as Gawad
Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA), equal to National Artist
2. Non- traditional Arts
• encompass dance, music, theater, visual arts, literature, film
and broadcast arts, architecture and allied arts, and design
• Major art forms
• bearers of non-traditional arts can be nominated as National
Artist, equal to Gawad Manlilika ng Bayan
Philippine Art
History
Pre- colonial
Philippines Art
• The first people in the Philippines, i.e.,
Negritos from Borneo, Sumatra, and Malaya,
were hunter-gatherers. However, between 3000
BC and 2000 BC, people learned to farm.
• From the AD 10th century Filipinos traded with
China and by the AD 12th Century Arab
merchants reached the Philippines and they
introduced Islam.
• Medieval art in the West- focus was on religion
and Christianity
Pre- colonial
Philippines Art
• Pre- colonial inhabitants were literate.
• Had systems of writing and reading (ex: Baybayin)
• there were at least 16 different types of writing systems
present around the Philippines prior to our colonization
• Literature: There were early forms of literature
(riddles; tanaga, diona, dalit poetic forms)
• Early literature was also mostly transmitted through
performed rituals.
• Knew the value of gold and other minerals
• These coins are called piloncito
• Some were used as ornaments to show status (ex:
Lingling-o ornaments found in Palawan)
Pre- colonial
Philippines Art
• There was already a rich indigenous
spiritual tradition- the world is inhabited
by spirits and supernatural entities.
• Sculpture: likha and anito

• Women were on equal footing with men.

• Ancient Filipinos celebrated a woman’s first
menstruation.
• pre-colonial women enjoyed the same rights,
privileges, and opportunities as did men
• Babaylan
 Baybayin script

Example ‘Dalit’ poem

Okir Motif of the Maranaos in Lanao

(AD 501- 600)

Piloncito
gold coin

Lingling- O
jade and metal
ornaments from
caves in
A likha portraying a Palawan Singkil Royal Dance
diety
Spanish Colonial Period
Philippine Art
• When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines
in 1521, the colonizers used art as a tool to
propagate the Catholic faith through beautiful
images.
• Communication was problem, so some native
forms were used to promote the Catholic faith
(ex: Diona and Dalit poems, Baybayin)
• used images and performative forms to explain
Catholicism (ex: church paintings, Sinakulo,
Pasyon) to replace pagan symbols and
practices
Spanish Colonial Period
Philippine Art
• The friars commissioned artisans to create
Catholic images; they were the patrons of the arts
in the country.
• the friars enforced strict supervision over their
production of arts; art was only for the church and
religious use.
• Native traditions were almost wiped out except for
traditions of far- flung ethnic communities who
were not in direct contact with the colonizers.
• native literature and art were replaced by forms
that mirrored the life of medieval Europe.
The San Agustin Church, the oldest catholic
church in the Philippines (1586- 1607)

Pages of Doctrina Christiana in Latin

San Sebastian Church window and Baybayin scripts
Spanish Colonial Period
Philippine Art
• The development of the agricultural export
economy provided opportunity for native
Indios to acquire economic wealth
• They became what was to be called the
‘ilustrados’ meaning enlightened and educated
• The ‘ilustrados’ sent their children to
universities in Europe.
• The ‘ilustrados’ became the new patron of the
arts. These events paved the way for the
secularization of art in the 19th century.
Spanish Colonial Period
Philippine Art
• With more tourists, ilustrados and foreigners
demanding souvenirs and decorations from the
country, Tipos del País (Types of the Country)
developed in painting.
• Tipos del País is a style of watercolor painting.
Damián Domingo was the most popular artist who
worked in this style.
• He is also known as the "Father of Filipino
Painting" ALIAS "The First Great Filipino
Painter“ and Founder of the Academia de Dibujo y
Pintura, the first school of drawing in the
Philippines (1821)
Spanish Colonial Period
Philippine Art
• The rise of the ilustrados also saw an increase in the
demand of the art of portraiture.
• The need to adorn their newly constructed bahay-na-
bato and the want to document their newfound
wealth and social status, motivated the ilustrados to
commission painters to make portraits of themselves.
• The works of painters like Simon Flores captured the
intricately designed jewelry and fashion accessories,
the minute details of the embroidered clothes, and
ornately designed domestic furniture of the patrons.
The painstaking attention to minute details
characterized the painting style Miniaturismo.
Tipos del Pais paintings

Quiason Family by Simon Flores (1880)

self portrait by Damián Domingo

(ca. 1790 - ca. 1832)
Spanish Colonial Period
Philippine Art
• 1849- a decree that all Philippine natives
should assume Spanish names
• Letras y figuras was developed by Jose
Honorato Lozano
• Other artists studied abroad like Felix
Resureccion Hidalgo- first international
Filipino artist who won the gold and silver
medals in the 1884 Madrid Exposition
• Mariano Baldemor Madrinan- the first Filipino
to have won an International award in
sculpture
 Mater Dolorsa by Mariano
Baldemor Madrinan in 1883

BALVINO
MAURICIO Letras Y
Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho Figuras by José
(The Christian Virgins Exposed to the Rabble) by Honorato Lozano,
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo in 1884 1864- 1845
 American and
Commonwealth
Period Philippine Art
• The Americans subjugated the Philippines
through education and governance.
• 48 years (1898- 1946)
• Commonwealth period (1935)- established
with U.S. approval, and Manuel Quezon
was elected the country's first president.
• public education was free; English was used
as medium of instruction. Spanish and the
major dialects in the country were also
excluded from use.
• literary forms from the West infiltrated the
classrooms.
• indigenous literature and art forms were
fortunately preserved through the effort of
educated writers and social scientists
 American and
Commonwealth
Period Philippine Art
• shift in art patronage
• The new patrons favored
landscapes, still life, and genre
themes that show the beauty of
the land and its people.
• Portraits were still favored by
the public officials
• American Colonization brought
high influence to the major
Filipino art forms: paintings,
sculptures and architectures
 American and
Commonwealth
Period Philippine Art
• Fabian dela Rosa (1869 – 1937)-
The first painter of note for the
20th century
• considered the brightest name in
Filipino painting and certainly the
most important for the first quarter
of the century.
• BUT nephew Fernando Amorsolo
captured the attention of the public
and the buyers and had a long
artistic career. He was named as
the country’s first National Artist
in 1972.
 American and
Commonwealth
Period Philippine Art
• Fernando Amorsolo paintings
burst with yellow-orange and
golden sunlight that captured
the Philippine landscape VS
Fabian de la Rosa’s works with
subdued cool colors
• Amorsolo was therefore able to
show the ideal beauty of the
Philippine landscape, the
Philippine rural life, and the
Filipinas.
American and
Commonwealth
Period Philippine Art

• Amorsolo also ventured into

advertising.
• Book and magazine cover
designs
• Designed commercial products
• “Markang Demonyo” for
Ginebra San Miguel
American and
Commonwealth
Period Philippine Art

• University of the Philippines- 1908

(the local academy for art)
• Fabian dela Rosa- first Dean
• Amorsolo was a faculty member
and subsequently became the Dean
of the U.P. School of Fine Arts from
1938 to 1952.
• the “Amorsolo School”, was
born.
• 1920’s- several young painters
started to question the Amorsolo
school style
Fabian de la Rosa (1869-1937)
In the Rice Field
Fernando Amorsolo (1951)
Noonday meal
American and
Commonwealth
Period Philippine Art

• 1935- Guillermo Tolentino was

commissioned by the president
of UP to sculpt the Oblation
• Guillermo Tolentino
• Studied in Europe (Royal
Academy of Fine Arts)
• 1925 professor at the UP
School of Fine Arts
• National Artist of the
Philippines for Sculpture in
1973
The oblation by Guillermo Tolentino in Bonifacio Monument in 1933
1935
Japanese Occupation and
Philippine Art
• 1942- 1945
• Filipinos were scared to express their opinions
• Artistic activities were suspended, but some artists managed to
produce artworks based on the atrocities brought by the war.
• Literature used for communication by the guerillas was
produced in secret.
• Common themes: wartime scenes, suffering, propaganda
• Examples: Doomed Family by Dominador Castañedain 1945
and Amorsolo’s Defense of a Filipina Woman’s Honor in 1945
• The painting of Amorsolo depicts his unspoken defiance
against the oppression during that time.
Defense of a Filipina Woman’s Honor by Fernando Amorsolo, 1945

Doomed Family by Dominador Castaneda, 1945

 Philippine Art after Independence
• End of WW2- September 1945
• July 4, 1946 – Philippine Independence
• April 2, 1972- National Artists of the Philippines award by NCAA
• Fernando Amorsolo- first awardee (National Artist of the Philippines)
after 35 years from date of demise
• Benefits:
1. The rank and title of National Artist, as proclaimed by the President of the
Philippines;
2. The insignia of a National Artist and a citation;
3. A lifetime emolument and material and physical benefits comparable in
value to those received by the highest officers of the land such as:
4. a cash award of one hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000.00) net of taxes,
for living awardees;
5. a cash award of seventy-five thousand pesos (₱75,000.00) net of taxes,
for posthumous awardees, payable to legal heir/s;
6. a monthly life pension, medical and hospitalization benefits;
7. life insurance coverage for Awardees who are still insurable;
8. a state funeral and burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani;
9. a place of honor, in line with protocolar precedence, at national state
Emblem of the Order of National functions, and recognition at cultural events
Artists, which appears on the collar
bestowed on members.
Modern Philippine
Art (post WWII)
• The PH- one of the longest traditions
of Modern Art in Asia
• early links with America
• pioneering achievements of
Filipino artists who broke away
from the classical conventions
• Art historians would later refer to
this group as the ‘Thirteen Moderns’
• styles vary such as expressionism,
surrealism, and abstract
expressionism
 Modern
Philippine Art
(post WWII)
• Victorio C. Edades (1895 – 1985)
• “Father of Modern Philippine Painting”
• National Artist for Painting (1976)
• Unlike, Amorsolo’s bright, sunny, cheerful
hues, Edades’ colors were dark and somber
with subject matter or themes depicting
laborers, factory workers or the simple folk
in all their dirt, sweat and grime
• 1930s- University of Sto. Tomas (Dean;
introduced a liberal arts program)
• With Francisco and Galo Ocampo
(recruited two young dropouts of the U.P.
School of Fine Arts), they led the growth of
mural painting in the country
 Modern
Philippine Art
(post WWII)
• CARLOS “BOTONG” FRANCISCO (1913 –
1969)
• National Artist for Painting (1973)
• revived the forgotten art of mural and
remained its most distinguished
practitioner for nearly three decades
• depicted Philippine history in his
“History of Manila” mural at the Manila
City Hall
• trademark fluid lines and brilliant colors
filled up the entire pictorial space of the
mural, defying the rules of linear
perspective set by the local academy
The Builders by Victorio The Martyrdom of Rizal
Edades, 1928. by Carlos “Botong” V.
Francisco, 1960.
Modern
Philippine Art
(post WWII)

Other ‘13 Moderns’:

1. Arsenio Capili
2. Bonifacio Cristobal
3. Demetrio Diego
4. Cesar Legaspi
5. Diosdado Lorenzo
6. Anita Magsaysay
7. Vicente Manansala
8. Galo Ocampo
9. Hernando Ocampo
10. Jose Pardo
11. Ricarte Puruganan
Modern
Philippine Art
(post WWII)
• Hernando Ocampo (April 28, 1911 –
December 28, 1978)
• Style and subjects
• Neorealism (a reaction to the perceived
academic and sentimental status of art in
the previous generation)
• Abstract with extremely bold colors
• Biomorphic shapes
• WW2, sci- fi, and Philippine landscapes
• Self- taught
• National Artist for Visual Arts (1991)
Modern
Philippine Art
(post WWII)
• Napoleon "Billy" Veloso Abueva (1930-
2018)
• was a student of Tolentino
• "Father of Modern Philippine
Sculpture"
• National Artist for Sculpture in
1976
• representational style or modern
abstract
• Example work: The Transfiguration
at Eternal Garden Memorial Park
Genesis by Hernando Ocampo,
1968
The Transfiguration by Napoleon
Abueva, 1979
Contemporary Philippine Art
• 1970- present
• Work of artists living in the 21st century.
• Dynamic
• Combination of materials, methods,
concepts, ad subjects
• Defies traditional boundaries
The Fisherman by Ang Kiukok, 1981.

The People Power Monument by Eduardo Castrillo,

1993.
References:
• Abinales, P. & Amoroso, D. (2005). State and society in the Philippines. Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
• De Leon, F. M. Jr. (2011). In focus: Philippine arts in context. NCAA.
https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/in-focus/philippine-arts-in-context/
• NCAA. (n.d.). Order of National Artists: Guillermo Tolentino.
https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philipp
ines/guillermo-tolentino/
• Santiago, E. (2005). A history of Philippine Haiku.
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/f5c5d8879bfe018401a94da6f
e9c9b70.pdf
• Scott, W.H. (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine culture and society. Ateneo
de Manila University Press.
Philippine Art History
Lesson 3