Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
Encyclopedia
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (21 February 1855 - 13 March 1913) was a Filipino
artist
. He is acknowledged as one of the great Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an acquaintance and inspiration for members of the Philippine reform movement which included José Rizal
, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce
and Graciano López Jaena
, although he neither involved himself directly in that movement, nor later associate himself with the First Philippine Republic
under Emilio Aguinaldo
.
His winning the silver medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the gold win of fellow Filipino painter Juan Luna
, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight in the memoirs of members of the Philippine reform movement, with Rizal toasting to the two painters' good health and citing their win as evidence that Filipinos and Spaniards were equals.
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
of that year. In 1878, he painted the poignant and well-crafted Los mendigos The Beggars.
His Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho
(The Christian virgins Exposed to the Populace), was awarded the ninth silver medal at the 1884 Exposición General de Bellas Artes in Madrid
. This showed a group of boorish looking males mocking semi-naked female Christians, one of whom is seated in the foreground, with head bowed in misery. In the same exposition, Luna's Spoliarium
was awarded a gold medal.
In the Exposición General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid in 1887, Resurrección Hidalgo presented La barca de Aqueronte
("The Boat of Charon"),1887, and Laguna estigia ("The Styx"), 1887, for which he received a gold medal. La barca was again shown at the Exposition Universelle
in Paris
and was awarded a silver medal by an international jury. In 1891 it was accorded a diploma of honor at the Exposición General de Bellas Artes of Barcelona. This painting also received a gold medal in the International Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid during the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America.
He exhibited Adios al sol ("Farewell to, the Sun"), 1891 at the Exposición Internacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in that year and El crepusculo ("The Dawn"), 1893, at the Universal exposition in Chicago, also in that year. He showed both paintings again at the Exposición Artistica de Bilbao in August 1894. In the Exposición Regional de Filipinas in Manila in January 1895, Resurrección Hidalgo was represented by his paintings done in the grand romantic manner. In April of the same year he exhibited Oedipus y Antigone ("Oedipus and Antigone"), El violinista ("The Violinist"), Cabeza napolitana ("Head of a Neapolitan"), Cabeza del viejo ("Head of an Old Man"), Un religioso ("A Religious"), and others at the Salon at Champs Elysees, Paris.
Hidalgo received a gold medal for his overall participation at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. His El violinista was individually accorded a gold medal. In 1912, he visited his relatives in Manila for six months, after which he hurried back to Paris. His mother, who had not seen him for 30 years, wanted him to be with her in her last days but he had to leave. The following year, Resurrección Hidalgo died at Sarrià, Barcelona
where he went to recuperate from failing health. His remains were brought to Manila, where it now lies entombed in the family mausoleum at the Cementerio del Norte.
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. He is acknowledged as one of the great Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an acquaintance and inspiration for members of the Philippine reform movement which included José Rizal
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce
Mariano Ponce
Mariano Ponce , was a Filipino physician, writer, and active member of the Propaganda Movement. In Spain, he was among the founders of La Solidaridad and Asociacion Hispano-Filipino...
and Graciano López Jaena
Graciano López Jaena
Graciano López Jaena was a Filipino journalist, orator, and revolutionary from Iloilo, well known for his written work, La Solidaridad....
, although he neither involved himself directly in that movement, nor later associate himself with the First Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...
under Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...
.
His winning the silver medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the gold win of fellow Filipino painter Juan Luna
Juan Luna
Juan Luna y Novicio was an Ilocano Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century...
, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight in the memoirs of members of the Philippine reform movement, with Rizal toasting to the two painters' good health and citing their win as evidence that Filipinos and Spaniards were equals.
Early life and education
Hidalgo was born in Binondo Manila on February 21, 1855. He was the third of seven children of Eduardo Resurrección Hidalgo and Maria Barbara Padilla. He studied in the University of Santo Tomas. He studied law, which he never finished, received a bacheller en filosifia in March 1871. He was simultaneously enrolled at the Escuela de Dibujo y Pintura. In 1876, he previewed his La banca The Native Boat, Vendadora de lanzones Lanzones Vendor and other paintings at the Teatro Circo de Bilibid before they were sent to the Centennial ExpositionCentennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
of that year. In 1878, he painted the poignant and well-crafted Los mendigos The Beggars.
Life abroad
In 1877, Resurreccion Hidalgo was awarded second place in the contest for best cover design for the de luxe edition of Fr. Manuel Blanco's Flora de Filipinas ("Plants of the Philippines"). In 1879 he left for Spain as a pensionado in fine arts of the Ayuntamiento of Manila.His Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho
Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho
Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho or The Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace is a famous 1884 history painting by Filipino painter, reformist, and propagandist Félix Resurrección Hidalgo...
(The Christian virgins Exposed to the Populace), was awarded the ninth silver medal at the 1884 Exposición General de Bellas Artes in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. This showed a group of boorish looking males mocking semi-naked female Christians, one of whom is seated in the foreground, with head bowed in misery. In the same exposition, Luna's Spoliarium
Spoliarium
The Spoliarium is a painting by Filipino artist Juan Luna. The painting was submitted by Luna to the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884, where it garnered a gold medal. In 1886, it was sold to the Diputación Provincial de Barcelona for 20,000 pesetas...
was awarded a gold medal.
In the Exposición General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid in 1887, Resurrección Hidalgo presented La barca de Aqueronte
La barca de Aqueronte
La barca de Aqueronte, translated in English as The Boat of Charon or Charon’s Boat, is an 1887 oil on canvas and allegorical painting by award-winning Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo. The work was a gold medalist during the Exposicion General de las Filipinas in Madrid...
("The Boat of Charon"),1887, and Laguna estigia ("The Styx"), 1887, for which he received a gold medal. La barca was again shown at the Exposition Universelle
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and was awarded a silver medal by an international jury. In 1891 it was accorded a diploma of honor at the Exposición General de Bellas Artes of Barcelona. This painting also received a gold medal in the International Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid during the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America.
He exhibited Adios al sol ("Farewell to, the Sun"), 1891 at the Exposición Internacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in that year and El crepusculo ("The Dawn"), 1893, at the Universal exposition in Chicago, also in that year. He showed both paintings again at the Exposición Artistica de Bilbao in August 1894. In the Exposición Regional de Filipinas in Manila in January 1895, Resurrección Hidalgo was represented by his paintings done in the grand romantic manner. In April of the same year he exhibited Oedipus y Antigone ("Oedipus and Antigone"), El violinista ("The Violinist"), Cabeza napolitana ("Head of a Neapolitan"), Cabeza del viejo ("Head of an Old Man"), Un religioso ("A Religious"), and others at the Salon at Champs Elysees, Paris.
Hidalgo received a gold medal for his overall participation at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. His El violinista was individually accorded a gold medal. In 1912, he visited his relatives in Manila for six months, after which he hurried back to Paris. His mother, who had not seen him for 30 years, wanted him to be with her in her last days but he had to leave. The following year, Resurrección Hidalgo died at Sarrià, Barcelona
Sarrià, Barcelona
Sarrià is a neighborhood in the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district of Barcelona, Catalonia .- Former municipality :Today what was the old municipality is divided into various neighborhoods and districts...
where he went to recuperate from failing health. His remains were brought to Manila, where it now lies entombed in the family mausoleum at the Cementerio del Norte.
Paintings and Drawings
- Primer Estudio de las Jovenes Cristianas, 1884, oilOil paintingOil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
on canvas, Lopez Museum - En el Jardin, 1885, oilOil paintingOil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
on canvas, Lopez Museum - Woman Holding a Sword (study under Per Pacem et Libertatem), Lopez Museum
Books
- Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo & the Generation of 1872, by Alfredo R Roces, Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1998
- A Guide to Luna and Hidalgo Paintings in the López Memorial Museum, by Lopez Museum, Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1979