CAMOTE DIGGERS BY BOTONG FRANSISCO

A renowned artist, Carlos “Botong” Francisco painted Camote Diggers, the poet of
Angono. He had practiced the profession for nearly three decades. The panels of the Manila City
Hall were painted by him as well. Modernist artists Victorio C. Edades and Gale Ocampo were
both linked to him in the local art circles known as “The Triumvirate”. He became famous for his
choice of colors such as colors near tropical tones which incorporates with the folk values among
the people in Angono, which also took part in becoming the hallmark of his works. Portrait of
Purita, The Invasion of Limahong, Serenade, Blood Compact, and more are artworks created by
him.

In 1946, during a private collection, the artwork was not known by the name “Camote
Eaters” which was a homage to Van Gogh’s “Potate Eaters” in 1885. The “Camote Diggers” was
made in two versions. First is a finished oil on canvas, a small one (27 x 38 centimeters) which
was signed and dated 1969. On its back is a dedication written as “To my friend Tony Kayanan,
in admiration, Botong Francisco.” Another version was an unfinished and unsigned canvas, a
larger one (87 x 149 centimeters) dated in 1969. In Leon Gallery, the two versions of “Camote
Diggers” were placed under Francisco’s name as the artist. The small, finished version was sold
in 2017 at a hammer price of P7,592,000 while the bigger, unfinished version was sold for P23.4
million in 2019.

A miserable old woman and a teenage man, both were digging for camote. It may seem
that both are farmers, and the young man is the son of the woman in the painting. Kamote is
sometimes symbolized as the food of the poor families. It is a root vegetable that is harvested
beneath the ground through digging. There are some other crops like camote such as sayote and
achuete, both of which ends in the suffix -te. The color scheme is also like the Philippine flag
which consists of red, white, and blue as an allusion to the republic—the workers who are tired
and bony regardless the time.

(Nakpil, 2019) stated that the painting illustrates a poor grandmother and her grandchild
who were both digging the soil for camote as a source of food. It is meant by poor families
expand from generation to generation while they starve, and their backs broken as time passes.
(Estrella, 2019) noticed the colors used were familiar with the tones of the Philippine flag
wherein the dark colors were used to emphasize the boldness of the artist and the misery of the
subjects. It was way back World War where the Philippines became a battleground for the deaths
of Filipino Guerillas, Americans, and Japanese Troops. Manila was full of bodies due to violence
and gruesome deaths that piles up to 100,000 more. The late dictator, Ferdinand E. Marcos, on
his fourth term was when the lives of Filipinos were equated to the amount in losing manpower.
There was a huge drop in the economy which affected most families wherein they started
planting camote. A crop that is full of nutrients, easy to find, and harvest.

The social relevance of the painting until now is seen by poverty. All the elements added
to the painting by Francisco added life to it. The way camote was used as a sign for hope during
scarcity is one thing. It did become a big part of the miserable history Filipino families had to go
through during the 1900’s.

Estrella, L. (2019, June 17). In Facebook [Page]. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?

v=625056491344292
Nakpil, L.G. (2019, May 27) The first Zobel and last Botong star at the Leon Gallery
Auction. https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2019/05/27/1921064/first-zobel-and-
last-botong-star-len-gallery-auction

Angry Man by Ang Kiukok

hanks to a relative with the same name, Ang Kiukok went from Hua Shing,
which means “Chinese Born,” to Kiukok, which can be translated to “Save
the Country.” He belonged to a family with a trading business. They
weren't pleased when they learned of Ang’s intention to pursue art.
But when the father’s resistance met the son’s insistence, the
former had to give way and even give aid to the latter’s
determination to chase after his dream. Born in Davao City and
setting foot in the hallowed halls of the University of Santo Tomas
(UST), we can only guess at the awe that the young Ang Kiukok felt
at rubbing elbows with artistic greats such Victorio Edades and Galo
Ocampo. Despite the guidance of those well-known artists, there was one
figure who influenced Ang the most, and this was Vicente Manansala, an
established artist who was considered the country’s foremost authority in
cubism. This can be seen in his paintings, in his depictions of fighting
roosters and mad dogs. In addressing the issue, Ang said, "Open
your eyes, look around you. So much anger, sorrow, ugliness, and
also madness."

Angry Man by Ang Kiukok (aesthtics) (finish)He first gained success in the
Philippine arts world in the 1960s with a distinctive style that fused aspects
of Cubism , Surrealism and Expressionism. Others classified his work as
"figurative expressionism," others called it absolutely disgusting. A
consideration that undermined the commercial prosperity of his works before
the 1980s, the violence of his imagery, could not be doubted. He preferred
subjects such as battling cocks, vicious dogs, and people enthralled or tied in
chains by anger. He liked topicslike battle cocks, aggressive pets, and people
enthralled or trapped by rage in chains. He painted several images of the
crucified Christ that did not abdicate the miseries commonly associated with
being represented by deathand resurrection. "When he was asked why he
was so angry, he replied," Why not? Open your eyes. Look at you. So much
rage, sadness, ugliness. Andinsanity, too." The influence of his works stood in
contrast to his own persona, described as' docile and unflappable.' It did not
discourage note that during the martial law rule of Ferdinand Marcos, much of
Ang Kiukok's more brutal or horrific photographs were drawn, although he did
not establish a name for himself as a leading critic of the Marcos
administration. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo named him a National
Artist for Visual Arts in 2001. The artist was originally blamed for creating
"ugly pictures," instead of idealized and bucolic scenes, as Kiukok was
deemed to reflect
suffering, but Paulino Que disagrees with this assessment as he said, "Ugly
isa very subjective word." Our conceptions of appearance are evolving.
Artistictaste not only varies from person to person, but also continues to
change over time. Personally, I never considered any of the statistics of Ang
Kiukok to be "ugly." For me, as with the final artwork, painting is so much
about the artist and his process. Hoses who condemn the way he renders
characters donot grasp his paintings and the motives behind them. Ang
Kiukok did not paint for the sole intention of attracting others. He built
everything he desired, and without restrictions he achieved this. And with
their distorted numbers, you can still make out the skeleton under the body.
His sharp style and methods, as well as the way he seemed undisturbed in
the face of the criticism of his career, made it possible for him to be an artist
who we might really admire and value. Due to the way he interprets his
artwork and the way it looks, Ang Kiukok's works may not be accepted by
many, but his work of art obviously provides a powerful message of
expression that will play on viewers' emotions and feelings. Beyond the
appearance of his paintings is the influence that his artworks possess.Some
people don't like his work and they call it ugly and not pleasing. But the
reason he is one of the revered artists here in the Philippines is his
aesthetics. Since its aesthetic is very strong, complicated, messy and full of
abstract, his work of art can obviously play the mind of the spectator.

Ang Kiukok was a Filipino painter known for his expressive, Cubist-like works. He often chose
dynamic or disturbing subject matter, frequently depicting rabid dogs, crucifixions, and screaming
figures in an abstracted geometric style. When asked why he often chose subjects full of such
angry he once replied "Why not? Open your eyes. Look around you. So much anger, sorrow,
ugliness. And also madness." Born on March 1, 1931 in Davao City, the Philippines, Kiukok gained
both critical and commercial success in his home countr y throughout the 1960s. Some of his most
gruesome paintings were made during the rule of Ferdinand Marcos, who held the Phillipines under
mar tial law throughout the 1970s. Kiukok was awarded the title of National Artist by his home
countr y in 2001, and continued to exhibit with success until his death on May 9, 2005 in Quezon
City, the Philippines.

Angry Man by Ang KiukokA n g K i u k o k w a s a Fi l i p i n o

painter recognized for his artistic Cubist-
s t y l e paintings.Hefrequentlyportrayedd i s t u r b i n g s u b j e c t s s u c h a s
r a b i d d o g s , crucifixions, and screaming figures in an abstracted
geometric manner (Artnet, n.d.).His pa inting e ntitled “ Angry
Man”depicts a scenario filled with rage, sorrow, and derangement. At
first, I was surprised to see such a bold and unrefinedmasterpiece.
However, as I reflect on it deeply, the violence in this imagery i s , n o
d o u b t , c l e a r l y s h o w n a s t h e d i s r u p t e d ma n s h o u t s a n d r a i s e s
h i s middle finger in frustration, a vulgar gesture reflecting anger and
rebellion towhoever committed an offense. The powerful message in
the painting isdirectly pointed out, unlike some spectators who still
need to ponder theirm i n d s f o r t h e h i d d e n m e a n i n g . According to
Villegas (2016), the artist exhibits a placid personality, a man with few
words but could be quite curt,and straight to the point like eating a fish,
right to the bones as he paintedthem.The gruesome painting is made to
show the artist’s feelings during theera of President Marcos’ supremacy
throughout the 1970s (Artnet, n.d.). Thedark shade in the background of
the painting describes a cruel event in his
PAINTING ANALYSISlife about the situation in the Philippines as people
during that regime aresilenced and whose freedom is controlled. The
message in the painting wantsus to open our eyes and look around us, the
ugliness of the world when theFilipinos once struggled against the chains
bound to their feet. The intense image describes what many still
remember until now - aperiod depicted as one of the darkest chapters in
our history when the wholecountry was placed under martial law.
Democratic and political rights wereabolished, congress was withdrawn,
a one-man dictatorship was enforced,and human rights were despicably
abused under military rule (Galvez, 2018).The tinge of yellow used in the
painting that represents a sign of hopewas tainted with dirt. The
symbolic figure has full white eyes as if he was literally blinded by pure,
sheer anger. That rage deep within his gut create anempty, blank hole in his
belly, devouring him whole. I realize that created inthis portrait is a man
in agony. The hole in his stomach could also mean starvation for
freedom as what's transpiring in this shady place. His mouth wide open,
screaming, wanting to let his voice out and release him from thisdespair.
His other hand forms a closed fist, and ready to strike shows
hisstrength and rebellion.

Madonna of the Slums by Vicente Manansala

Vincente Manansala (Phillipines)

MANANSALA, VICENTE SILIVA b. Macabebe, Pampanga 22 Jan 1910 d. Aug, 1981.

National Artist in Painting. He is the son of Perfecto Q. Manansala and Engracia Silva.
He married Hermenegilda (Hilda) Diaz, with whom he had one child. As a newsboy and
bootblack in Intramuros, he expressed his early creativity designing kites and making
charcoal sketches. At 15, he studied under the turn-of-the-century painter
Ramon Peralta while doing signboards for a painting shop. He entered the University of
the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1926 and graduated in 1930. He undertook further
studies and training at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Montreal, Canada, in the USA, and in
France where he had a brief stint under Ferdinand Leger. Subsequently, he earned a
living as illustrator for the Philippines Herald and Liwayway and layout artist
for Photonews and Saturday Evening News Magazine during the 1930s.

As a member of the Thirteen Moderns and the neo-realists, he was at the forefront of
the modernist movement in the country. With the issues of national culture and identity
in focus after WWII his works were those of the other early modernists which reflected
the social environment and expressed the native sensibility. He held his first one-person
show at the Manila Hotel in 1951.

Manansala consistently worked in the figurative mode, with the exception of a few
abstract works. Shunning Amorsolo’s rural idylls, he developed a new imagery based on
the postwar urban experience. The city of Manila, through the vision of the artist,
assumed a strong folk character. He painted an innovative mother and child, Madonna
of the Slums, 1950, which reflected the poverty in postwar Manila. Besides the mother-
and-child, his subjects included jeepnevs, barong-barong, cockfighters, families
gathering for a modest meal, and Quiapo women vendors of various goods. His women
vendors sit veiled and hunched over their wares, their brown impassive faces like the
archaic bulol, blocklike with broad planes, their large bare feet projecting from the hem
of their saya. He did still life’s of native fruits, vegetables, and dried fish in the setting of
a native kitchen with its folk utensils, palayok, kawali and almires, against capiz
windows. The cubist aspect of Manansala’s work rests largely on the geometric facetting
of forms and in the shifting and overlapping of planes. But his facets and planes are
broader than in original cubism as they bring out larger rhythms. Here and there, he
incorporates linear decorative patterns, as in the ironwork curlicues of gates
and windows. In his work, he developed the style of transparent cubism which was
generally shared by his fellow neo-realists Cesar Legaspi and Romeo Tabuena. Unlike
analytical cubism, which arbitrarily fragments and dissects the figure into complex
abstract compositions with only clues of the subject remaining, Manansala stayed close
to the figure which he simplified to its basic geometric shape. He went through the black-
and-white phase of crucifixions and madonna-and-child paintings, but, on the whole, he
used color in all its folk vibrancy, sensuous appeal, and evocative power. In composition,
his works often feature lines of perspective with receding space, although shallow; but
recession in depth is simultaneously defined by lines and planes which create spatial
ambiguities. His still life’s have a tapestrylike quality, the various objects from the
domestic context, not fragmented but left integral, occupy he entire visual field, bright
elements on a dark, ambiguous space, and at times showing the influence of I7th
century paintings of Dutch interiors with their checkerboard motifs. As a whole,
Manansala reinterpreted or indigenized cubism as he drew his themes from the familiar
Filipino environment.

Manansala’s vision of the city and his fundamentally native Filipino approach to his
subjects would influence numerous artists who took up his folk themes within an urban
context. Among those who show his influence are Mauro Malang Santos, with his own
version of folk romanticism in paintings which convey the fragile, makeshift character of
the 1950s, and others from the University of Santo Tomas where Manansala taught for a
time, such as Antonio Austria, Angelito Antonio, and Mario Parial. Like him, they draw
their inspiration from the folk, their occupations and pleasures. He influenced Manuel
BaIdemor, whose roots are in Paete, Laguna, as well as some Laguna lakeshore artists.
Manansala’s art exemplified a solution to the problems of the 1950s in terms of the use
of modem Western idioms and their local transformations, and in terms of the subject
matter and content of art reflective of a people’s identity.

Manansala won first prize for Barong-barong $ 1 in the 1950 Manila Grand Opera
House Exhibition. His awards from the Art Association of the Philippines include: third
prize, Banaklaot, 1948; second prize, Kahi (Scratch), 1953,second prize, Fish Vendors,
1955; third prize, Best Served, Well-Gained, 1955; second prize, Give Us This Day,
1962; and best in show, Give Us This Day, 1962. He received the Republic
Cultural Heritage Award in 1963. He also received the Patnubay ng Sining at
Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1970 He was proclaimed National Artist in
Painting in 1982.

Madonna of the Slums

Vicente Manansala
Vicente Manansala is
famous for his own style
of art which is bringing
the provincial
and city lives together or
separately to show their
differences and
reflections of
reality. According to my
research, Vicente uses a
transparent and
translucent works
of art. It defines the
clarity and meaning of
his artworks. This means
that what you
see in his paintings or
canvas are not so apart
from its literal and
suggested meaning.
He uses his subject as a
symbolism of a thing that
represent mainly the
barrios or the
provincial life like the
“Jeepneys” and ”
Kalabaw”. His artwork,
“Madonna of the
Slums” pictured a woman
bearing a child as a
subject. It was clearly
shown in the
picture together with the
houses most commonly
found in slang areas or
highly
populated residential
areas as a background.
The woman in the canvas
is Madonna
and the child is her son
or daughter. According to
my research, they both
stay in the
slums where they
manage to find a living.
Vicente, according to my
research uses his
artwork to show the life
of the leftist having no
choice to live in the
downside areas
of the city. It was once a
province or a rural area
but one day, they started
finding
themselves away from
development. Their place
became a city and is now
congested
with a lot of businesses
and modern homes. The
conventional meaning of
his
artwork mainly focuses of
the lives of people finding
refuge in the slums or a
highly
populated urban
residential areas. It is
where they are born but
grew up being
indifferent with the
frequent changes
brought by modernization
and economic
development. The people
in this specific area
experienced being “left”
by the
continuous change in the
society. Madonna of the
Slums expresses
sadness. The
subject both looking
away implies that they
were both thinking
maybe what to eat,
where to go or what to do
next. It also portrays the
truth about all these
people, they
live in poverty. Madonna
wears ragged clothes and
her child having no
clothes at all.
When I first glanced in
the artwork, I can
preliminary assess that
this talks about the
mother and her child,
poorly living in the slums
of the city, but there are
deeper
meaning behind it. In real
life, I already seen
poverty and the people
who needs
more financial
assistance. I’ve seen
changes and
development from my
hometown,
Lucena. There are a lot of
establishments and
business born nowadays
but there are
also people who seems
left and clueless about
these changes. Back to
the time when
there is no pandemic, I
often see people living
under a bridge although
they live near
the city proper, there are
a lot of beggars and
street dwellers. They
know the city well
and its smallest streets
because this is the place
where they are born, but
it seems
like they are the one who
was left with all these
rural changes.
Date: 1950

Manansala’s canvases were described as masterpieces that brought the

cultures of the barrio and the city together. His Madonna of the Slums is a
portrayal of a mother and child from the countryside who became urban
shanty residents once in the city.