Name: Kim Ivan Rada Sumagaysay Date:09/17/23

Teacher: Fabiana T. Epondulan Year/Course: 2nd Criminology

PICTURE ANALYSIS
2ND REQUIRMENT

DALAGANG BUKID (FERDINAND AMORSOLO)

Born on May 30, 1892 in Paco Manila, Fernando Amorsolo became the first recipient of the
National Artist Award as mandated by the Marcos administration. Although he grew up in Manila,
he spent his childhood in the small town of Daet, Camarines Norte. Inspired by rural life,
Fernando Cueto Amorsolo’s paintings consistently focused on showing the “vibrant tropical
Philippine sunlight” as mentioned by art historian Eric Torres, Amorsolo painted landscapes that
supposedly depict the “simple and happy life” of the farmers in the provinces. Moreover, the artist
studied at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts where his uncle Fabian Dela Rosa,
who trained him at the young age of 13, served as an instructor. He, then, eventually followed his
uncle’s footsteps and began his teaching career at the same university.
Enrique Zobel de Ayala, a Spanish businessman and one of the ascendants of the Ayala
Empire which remains to be one of Philippine’s largest conglomerates until now, sponsored
Amorsolo’s further education in Madrid. This equipped the artist with the stylistic tools that
eventually transformed him into an internationally acclaimed artist of his time. As the art historian
Floriana Capistrano-Baker said, Amorsolo’s style involved the use of swift, broken brushwork, and
thick impasto with emphasis on landscapes and daily scenes as he was exposed to Western
Impressionism. As seen in the image of one of his estimated 10, 000 works, Dalagang Bukid
(1937), depicts a portrait of an ideal young Filipina maiden showing a sweet smile as if she enjoys
the agricultural life in the Philippines. His use of vibrant colors explicitly gives off the impression
that life in the Philippines during his time, particularly around 1937 was particularly agricultural-
dependent which was evident in his other works that shows farmers planting rice.

The “Dalagang Bukid” or the maiden in the rice field shows a medium brown-skinned
woman portraying the Maria Clara image. Guided by the use of texture and impressionism
characterized by relatively thin and small brushstrokes, the vibrant tropical sunlight emphasized the
appearance of the woman in terms of her outfit and skin color. Amorsolo’s style further emphasized
movement. Although it is not that conspicuous, the image that the painting depicts, in my
perspective, is that the woman was enjoying her walk by the fields, looking at the trees, she looked
back with a smile. Hence, her shoulder gave emphasis on the way women dressed which attempted
to depict Filipino conservative demeanor that every Filipina must possess during the American
colonial period. Thus this portrait created a narrative that life in the province is merely agricultural,
that life was good and that the ideal Filipino woman must be conservative, beautiful, and happily
serving her family and doing reproductive jobs such as taking care of the house chores and of
upbringing the children given her gentle and warm demeanor.

With the use of bright tones of yellow and green, the space behind the smiling young maiden
appeared to offer an ideal environment where everything is abundantly flourishing. Although the
portrait of the woman now appears to be very traditional and is no different from the countryside-
themed works of the artist, I still find it alluringly attractive perhaps because decades have already
passed but it remains “ideal” because it does not reflect what is really happening in the provinces.
Amorsolo may have created ten thousand paintings where the majority of which shares the same
theme as Dalagang Bukid, but, even after the first National Awardee’s death, today’s political,
economic, and social reality remains far from this portrait. Perhaps that is what makes his works
attractive, such that they remain to be published in the elementary, high school and even college
textbooks and being taught as part of the mandated K-12 curriculum.

Given that I am 20 years old as of this writing who is quarantined inside a house with my
parents for the past three months and yearning to see the outside world again, I see the painting as a
timeless standard of what is beautiful in the Philippines. It may have alienated the lives of other
Filipino women in the city and regarded women as the weak, gentle and the calm one taking care of
the “female responsibilities” given the soft implied lines that guided the figure, but it must be
recognized that this work of Amorsolo is a reminder of what could be and how happy would it be to
live in the countryside, had Philippines became successful in taking care of their natural resources
and if only the politicians did not exploit the farmers as merely machineries but as manpower that
are equally valuable. Looking at the image of the portrait, it seems as if the woman is smiling at me
as if she was telling me that countryside life is simple but it is joyful. It appears as if she is inviting
me to go to the province and live her way of life.