FERNANDO AMORSOLO

Author’s Background

FERNANDO CUETO AMORSOLO

Was known as the National Artist of the Philippines

Born: May 30, 1892, Paco, Manila

Parents: Pedro Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto

Spouses:
Salud Tolentino Jorge with whom he had six children.
Maria del Carmen with whom he had eight more children
Author’s Background
Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes.
He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light

Awards:
1908 – 2nd Prize, Bazar Escolta tea and taki (Asocacion Internacional de
Artistas), for Levendo Periodico
1922 – 1st Prize, Commercial and Industrial Fair in the Manila Carnival
1929 – 1st Prize, New York's World Fair, for Afternoon Meal of Rice
Workers (also known as Noonday Meal of the Rice Workers)
1940 – Outstanding University of the Philippines Alumnus Award
1959 – Gold Medal, UNESCO National Commission
1961 – Rizal Pro Patria Award
1961 – Honorary Doctorate in the Humanities, from the Far Eastern University
1963 – Diploma of Merit from the University of the Philippines
1963 – Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the City of Manila
1963 – Republic Cultural Heritage Award
1972 – Gawad CCP para sa Sining, from the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Author’s Background

In 1972, Fernando Amorsolo became the first

Filipino to be distinguished as the Philippine's
National Artist in Painting. He was named as the
"Grand Old Man of Philippine Art".

Died: April 24, 1972, at the age of 79, Quezon City

 Amorsolo’s work continues to resonate among his countrymen decades
after his death. His portrayals of an ideal and beautiful world drew the most
ardent praises and the harshest criticisms.

To understand the artist one has to appreciate the man behind Amorsolo. He
was shy, innocent, and most importantly pure. These traits spilled over onto his
canvas. It was not because Amorsolo was not capable of recognizing the dark
side of society. He had his share of heartbreak and disappointment in his life
but he deliberately isolated himself from these and chose to portray the bright
side of the world.

Not a shred of wickedness permeated his character and as a result his art is the
purest manifestation of beauty. The basic desire to identify with what is good is
what people inherently have in common with the artist. It is for this legacy that
Amorsolo will be most fondly remembered.
Paintings of Fernando Amorsolo
 These paintings are characteristic of Amorsolo's skill in
affectionately and idealistically depicting rural Filipino life. The scenes
in his paintings typically draw attention to both the joy of peasant farm
workers dressed in colorful native clothing and the beauty of their
surroundings, reflecting the innocence and optimism of Filipinos during
the colonial period.
 Afternoon meal of the rice
workers, 1951, oil on canvas.
Won first prize at the New
York World's Fair.
 “Fruit Pickers Harvesting
Under The Mango Tree” was
painted in 1939
Crossing the River (1924)
depicts a river in the
province of Tarlac. It was
commissioned by tobacco
company La Tabacalera.
Another powerful postwar creation is The Filipino
Family (1952). Nakpil explains the painting as rich
in metaphor, and describes it as one of the most
epic works of Amorsolo. “A strong, sinewy Juan de
la Cruz cradles a child, a symbol of our young
nation in 1952. It’s been just six years since the end
of World War II and the grant of our
independence,” says Nakpil. “Lady Liberty is his
wife, staunchly at his side. Her back is half-turned
in a pose that recalls Juan Luna’s victorious
tandem, ‘Espana y Filipinas.’ Three boatmen, no
doubt, depicting the perseverance and discipline
that we would need to make our nation bountiful,
launch their craft into a rose-colored, robust
future.”
Fernando Amorsolo's Smiling Plain Maiden/Palay Maiden
(1920's).

In his paintings of Filipina women, Amorsolo rejected

Western ideals of beauty in favor of Filipino ideals and
was fond of basing the faces of his subjects on members
of his family. He said that the women he painted should
have

"a rounded face, not of the oval type often presented to us

in newspapers and magazine illustrations. The eyes
should be exceptionally lively, not the dreamy, sleepy type
that characterizes the Mongolian. The nose should be of
the blunt form but firm and strongly marked. ... So the
ideal Filipina beauty should not necessarily be white
complexioned, nor of the dark brown color of the typical
Malayan, but of the clear skin or fresh colored type
which we often witness when we met a blushing girl."
The making of the
Philippine Flag
His Water Maiden (1935) also belongs to
the same Tabacalera collection. It
features a Filipina carrying a water jug.
Here, Amorsolo displays his mastery of
light and color, combined with his
faithfulness to the painterly style.
 After the war, Amorsolo resumed
painting idyllic scenes depicting the
countryside. In 1953, he created The
Bathers, which is representative of one
of Amorsolo’s favorite themes:
maidens in the water.
 1945 Defence of a Filipina Woman's Honour,
which is representative of Amorsolo's World War
II-era paintings. Here, a Filipino man defends a
woman, who is either his wife or daughter, from
being raped by an unseen Japanese soldier. Note
the Japanese military cap at the man's foot
 In one of his more famous works, a woman is
pictured clutching her veil while kneeling in front of
her dead son --- apparently a guerilla soldier killed
during a battle. The woman is looking up to the
sky with a calm look of sorrow on her face. The
subtle and restrained depiction proved to be a
more powerful portrayal as the woman’s tearless
eyes conveyed a more intense form of pain. It
communicated to the viewer the deep sense of loss
a mother feels when her child is taken away from
her.
The Lavanderas (1945)
Dalagang Bukid (1936)
The Planting Rice (1946)
 Relevance in the Contemporary Period

• Through paintings, it gives significant information of what happened in the

Philippine history.

• Fernando Amorsolo’s paintings depicts the earlier life of the Filipinoes, how
they are ruled by the Spaniards and Japanese and how Filipinoes live with their
culture and tradition. It gives information of what culture and tradition the
Filipinoes exercised a long time ago. It also shows how the Spaniards treats the
Filipinoes in their time.

• The Paintings, the visions and the life of Fernando Amorsolo can be an
inspiration to the future generation artist and painters in order for them to live
with their dreams and depicts how beautiful the world they are in through
paintings.