Fernando Amorsolo
Encyclopedia
Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) is one of the most important artists in the history of painting in the Philippines
. Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light. Born in Paco, Manila
, he earned a degree from the Liceo de Manila Art School in 1909.
neighborhood, when Manila
was still under Spanish sovereignty, to Pedro Amorsolo, a book keeper, and Bonifacia Amorsolo née Cueto. Amorsolo spent his childhood in Daet, Camarines Norte
, where he studied in a public school and was tutored at home in Spanish language reading and writing. After his father's death, Amorsolo and his family moved to Manila to live with Don Fabian de la Rosa
, his mother's cousin and a Philippine painter. At the age of 13, Amorsolo became an apprentice to De la Rosa, who would eventually become the advocate and guide to Amorsolo's painting career. During this time, Amorsolo's mother embroidered to earn money, while Amorsolo helped by selling water color postcards to a local bookstore for ten centavos
each. Amorsolo's brother, Pablo Amorsolo
, was also a painter.
Amorsolo's first success as a young painter came in 1908, when his painting Leyendo el periódico took second place at the Bazar Escolta, a contest organized by the Asociacion Internacional de Artistas. Between 1909 and 1914, Amorsolo enrolled at the Art School of the Liceo de Manila, where he earned honors for his paintings and drawings.
After graduating from the Liceo, he entered the University of the Philippines
' School of Fine Arts, where De la Rosa worked at the time. During college, Fernando Amorsolo's primary influences were the Spanish people court painter Diego Velázquez
, John Singer Sargent
, Anders Zorn
, Claude Monet
, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
, but mostly his contemporary Spanish masters Joaquín Sorolla Bastida and Ignacio Zuloaga
. Amorsolo's most notable work as a student at the Liceo was his painting of a young man and a young woman in a garden, which won him the first prize in the art school exhibition during his graduation year.To make money during school, Amorsolo joined competitions and did illustrations for various Philippine publications, including Severino Reyes’ first novel in Tagalog language, Parusa ng Diyos ("Punishment of God"), Iñigo Ed. Regalado's Madaling Araw ("Dawn"), as well as illustrations for editions of the Pasion
. Amorsolo graduated with medals from the University of the Philippines in 1914.
After graduating from the University of the Philippines, Amorsolo worked as a draftsman
for the Bureau of Public Works, as a chief artist at the Pacific Commercial Company, and as a part-time instructor at the University of the Philippines (where he would work for 38 years). After three years as an instructor and commercial artist, Amorsolo was given a grant to study at the Academia de San Fernando
in Madrid
, Spain by Filipino businessman Enrique Zobel
de Ayala. During his seven months in Spain, Amorsolo sketched at museums and along the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color.Through De Ayala's grant, Amorsolo was also able to visit New York City, where he encountered postwar impressionism and cubism, which would be major influences on his work.
Amorsolo set up his own studio upon his return to Manila and painted prodigiously during the 1920s and the 1930s. His "Rice Planting" (1922), which appeared on posters and tourist brochures, became one of the most popular images of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
. Beginning in the 1930s, Amorsolo's work was exhibited widely both in the Philippines and abroad. His bright,optimistic, pastoral images set the tone for Philippine painting before World War II . Except for his darker World War II-era paintings, Amorsolo painted quiet and peaceful scenes throughout his career.
Amorsolo was sought after by influential Filipinos including Luis Araneta, Antonio Araneta and Jorge B. Vargas
. Amorsolo also became the favourite Philippine artist of United States officials and visitors to the country. Due to his popularity, Amorsolo had to resort to photographing his works and pasted and mounted them in an album. Prospective patrons could then choose from this catalogue of his works. Amorsolo did not create exact replicas of his trademark themes; he recreated the paintings by varying some elements.
His works later appeared on the cover and pages of children textbooks, in novels, in commercial designs, in cartoons and illustrations for the Philippine publications such The Independent, Philippine Magazine, Telembang, El Renacimiento Filipino, and Excelsior. He was the director of the University of the Philippine's College of Fine Arts from 1938 to 1952.
During the 1950s until his death in 1972, Amorsolo averaged to finishing 10 paintings a month. However, during his later years, diabetes, cataracts, arthritis, headaches, dizziness and the death of two sons affected the execution of his works. Amorsolo underwent a cataract operation when he was 70 years old, a surgery that did not impede him from drawing and painting. Two months after being confined at the St. Luke's Hospital in Manila, Amorsolo died of heart failure at the age of 79 on April 24, 1972 .
Four days after his death, Amorsolo was honoured as the first National Artist in Painting
at the Cultural Center of the Philippines
by then President
Ferdinand Marcos
.
Amorsolo was a close friend of the Philippine sculptor Guillermo Tolentino, the creator of the Caloocan City
monument to the patriot Andres Bonifacio
.
He was educated in the classical tradition and aimed "to achieve his Philippine version of the Greek ideal for the human form." 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.
Amorsolo used natural light in his paintings and developed the backlight
ing technique, which became his artistic trademark and his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. In a typical Amorsolo painting, figures are outlined against a characteristic glow, and intense light on one part of the canvas highlights nearby details. Philippine sunlight was a constant feature of Amorsolo's work; he is believed to have painted only one rainy-day scene.
artist, often drawing sketches at his home, at Luneta Park, and in the countryside. He drew the people he saw around him, from farmers to city-dwellers coping with the Japanese occupation
. Amorsolo's impressionistic tendencies, which may be seen in his paintings as well, were at their height in his sketches. His figures were not completely finished but were mere "suggestions" of the image.
, other available reading materials, and visual sources. He consulted with the Philippine scholars of the time, H. Pardo de Tavera and Epifanio de los Santos
.
Amorsolo also painted oil portraits of Philippine General Emilio Aguinaldo
, Philippine presidents, and other prominent Filipino individuals such as Don ALfredo Jacob and Dona Pura Garchitorena Toral, a member of the prominent Familia Garchitorena of Camarines Sur. He also painted the wedding picture of Don Mariano Garchitorena
and Dona Caridad Pamintuan of Pampanga.
He also did a portrait of US Senator Warren Grant Magnuson (1905–1989), of the Democratic Party from Washington, whom the Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building
at the University of Washington and the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health
in Bethesda, Maryland are named after.
, where he sketched war scenes from the house's windows or rooftop.
During the war, he documented the destruction of many landmarks in Manila and the pain, tragedy and death experienced by Filipino people, with his subjects including "women mourning their dead husbands, files of people with pushcarts and makeshift bags leaving a dark burning city tinged with red from fire and blood." Amorsolo frequently portrayed the lives and suffering of Filipina women during World War II. Other World War II-era paintings by Amorsolo include a portrait in absentia of General Douglas MacArthur
as well as self-portraits and paintings of Japanese occupation soldiers. In 1948, Amorsolo's wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacañang Presidential Palace.
Amorsolo has been accused, however, of succumbing to commercialism and merely producing souvenir paintings for American soldiers. Critic Francisco Arcellana
wrote in 1948 that Amorsolo's paintings "have nothing to say" and that they were not hard to understand because "there is nothing to understand." Critics have criticized Amorsolo's portraits of Philippine Commonwealth personalities, his large, mid-career anecdotal works, and his large historical paintings. Of the latter, critics have said that his "artistic temperament was simply not suited to generating the sense of dramatic tension necessary for such works."
Another critic, however, while noting that most of Amorsolo's estimated ten thousand works were not worthy of his talent, argues that Amorsolo's oeuvre should nonetheless be judged by his best works instead of his worst. Amorsolo's small landscapes, especially those of his early career, have been judged as his best works, "hold[ing] well together plastically." Amorsolo may "be considered a master of the Philippine landscape as landscape, even outranking Luna
and Hidalgo
who also did some Philippine landscapes of the same measurements."
.
In 2003, Amorsolo's children founded the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving Fernando Amorsolo's legacy, promoting his style and vision, and preserving a national heritage through the conservation and promotion of his works.
, two original 1950s paintings by Amorsolo, The Cockfight and Resting Under the Trees, were bought by a New Jersey collector for $36,000 and $31,500, respectively. During a 2002 episode of Antiques Roadshow
, a Sotheby's antiques appraiser estimated that an attendee's signed 1945 rural landscape painting by Amorsolo could fetch between $30,000 and $50,000 at auction. At a 1996 Christie's
auction, Amorsolo's The Marketplace went for $174,000. In April 2002, Portrait of Fernanda De Jesus was bought for US$ 377,947.
On November 30, 2009, the Family Gathering Fruit sold for USD 77,257 at Christie's. On December 6, 2009, Fruit Gatherer was auctioned off in Maryland
, in record-breaking manner, topping 19th and 20th century European and American paintings. In May 2010, the highest priced Amorsolo painting was auctioned off at Christie's for about US$ 440,000.
In 2010, South East Asian Fine Art had an increasing demand and so prices of Filipino Old Masters investment pieces escalated and continue to escalate as the western world starts embracing Asian Art. Demand for Amorsolo's works plays a vital part of this emerging global demands. Certified Amorsolo works are not readily available in the market and so art investors hire dealers who have direct access to these works. These independent agents could provide last bid prices vis-a-vis competitive bidding in Sotheby's and Christie's. They also have an excellent network. They know existing private collectors, museums and galleries that can provide authenticated and certified works by the Artists and additional certifications from duly recognized experts can be attained for additional fees. Private offices such as "T1W Masters Arts" offer this service to pre-qualified investors.
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" during the inauguration
of the Manila Hilton
's art center, where his paintings were exhibited on January 23, 1969.
in 1914, at a one-man show at the Grand Central Art Galleries
in New York City in 1925, and at the National Museum
in Herran on November 6, 1948. During the 1931 Paris Exposition, Amorsolo exhibited one of his anecdotal paintings, The Conversion of the Filipinos. Amorsolo's entries at the Exposicion in Panama were a portrait of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and the piece La Muerte de Socrates. At the 1948 National Museum in Herran, Amorsolo exhibition was sponsored by the Art Association of the Philippines. In 1950, Amorsolo exhibited two more historical paintings, Faith Among the Ruins and Baptism of Rajah Humabon at the Missionary Art Exhibit in Rome. In 1979, Fernando Amorsolo's legacy as a painter was celebrated through an exhibition of his works at the Art Center of the Manila Hilton. His art was also featured in a 2007 exhibition in Havana.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light. Born in Paco, Manila
Paco, Manila
Paco, is a district of Manila, Philippines. It is located south of Pasig River, and San Miguel, west of Santa Ana, southwest of Pandacan, north of Malate, northwest of San Andres, and east of Ermita. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 64,184 people in 13,438 households...
, he earned a degree from the Liceo de Manila Art School in 1909.
Formative years
Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in the PacoPaco, Manila
Paco, is a district of Manila, Philippines. It is located south of Pasig River, and San Miguel, west of Santa Ana, southwest of Pandacan, north of Malate, northwest of San Andres, and east of Ermita. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 64,184 people in 13,438 households...
neighborhood, when Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
was still under Spanish sovereignty, to Pedro Amorsolo, a book keeper, and Bonifacia Amorsolo née Cueto. Amorsolo spent his childhood in Daet, Camarines Norte
Daet, Camarines Norte
Daet, also known as the "Gateway to Bicolandia". A 1st class municipality in the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines. It is the capital municipality of Camarines Norte. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 94,184 or 18.33% of Camarines Norte's population. The current mayor of...
, where he studied in a public school and was tutored at home in Spanish language reading and writing. After his father's death, Amorsolo and his family moved to Manila to live with Don Fabian de la Rosa
Fabian de la Rosa
Fabián Cueto de la Rosa was a Filipino painter. He was uncle and mentor to the Philippines' national artist in painting, Fernando Amorsolo, and to his brother Pablo. He is regarded as a “master of genre” in Philippine art....
, his mother's cousin and a Philippine painter. At the age of 13, Amorsolo became an apprentice to De la Rosa, who would eventually become the advocate and guide to Amorsolo's painting career. During this time, Amorsolo's mother embroidered to earn money, while Amorsolo helped by selling water color postcards to a local bookstore for ten centavos
Philippine peso
The peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
each. Amorsolo's brother, Pablo Amorsolo
Pablo Amorsolo
Pablo Cueto Amorsolo is a Filipino painter. He is the younger brother of the Philippine National Artist Fernando Amorsolo.-Biography:...
, was also a painter.
Amorsolo's first success as a young painter came in 1908, when his painting Leyendo el periódico took second place at the Bazar Escolta, a contest organized by the Asociacion Internacional de Artistas. Between 1909 and 1914, Amorsolo enrolled at the Art School of the Liceo de Manila, where he earned honors for his paintings and drawings.
After graduating from the Liceo, he entered the University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines
The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
' School of Fine Arts, where De la Rosa worked at the time. During college, Fernando Amorsolo's primary influences were the Spanish people court painter Diego Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
, John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
, Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained international success as a painter, sculptor and printmaker in etching.-Biography:...
, Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
, but mostly his contemporary Spanish masters Joaquín Sorolla Bastida and Ignacio Zuloaga
Ignacio Zuloaga
Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta was a Basque Spanish painter, born in Eibar, near the monastery of Loyola. He was the son of metalworker and damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the organizer and director of the royal armoury in Madrid.-Biography:In his youth, he drew and worked in his father's...
. Amorsolo's most notable work as a student at the Liceo was his painting of a young man and a young woman in a garden, which won him the first prize in the art school exhibition during his graduation year.To make money during school, Amorsolo joined competitions and did illustrations for various Philippine publications, including Severino Reyes’ first novel in Tagalog language, Parusa ng Diyos ("Punishment of God"), Iñigo Ed. Regalado's Madaling Araw ("Dawn"), as well as illustrations for editions of the Pasion
Pasyon
The Pasyon is a narrative of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ woven with the standard elements of epic poetry and a colorful dramatic theme, with stanzas of five lines. Each line has eight syllables...
. Amorsolo graduated with medals from the University of the Philippines in 1914.
After graduating from the University of the Philippines, Amorsolo worked as a draftsman
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
for the Bureau of Public Works, as a chief artist at the Pacific Commercial Company, and as a part-time instructor at the University of the Philippines (where he would work for 38 years). After three years as an instructor and commercial artist, Amorsolo was given a grant to study at the Academia de San Fernando
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando , located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery....
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...
, Spain by Filipino businessman Enrique Zobel
Enrique Zobel
Enrique Jacobo Emilio Zobel y Olgado , was a prominent Filipino businessman. The only child of Colonel Jacobo Zóbel y Roxas and Ángela Olgado, he was a member of the influential Zobel de Ayala family of the Philippines and a first cousin of Jaime Zobel de Ayala.Zobel was chief executive officer of...
de Ayala. During his seven months in Spain, Amorsolo sketched at museums and along the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color.Through De Ayala's grant, Amorsolo was also able to visit New York City, where he encountered postwar impressionism and cubism, which would be major influences on his work.
Amorsolo set up his own studio upon his return to Manila and painted prodigiously during the 1920s and the 1930s. His "Rice Planting" (1922), which appeared on posters and tourist brochures, became one of the most popular images of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth of the United States. The Commonwealth was created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934. When Manuel L...
. Beginning in the 1930s, Amorsolo's work was exhibited widely both in the Philippines and abroad. His bright,optimistic, pastoral images set the tone for Philippine painting before World War II . Except for his darker World War II-era paintings, Amorsolo painted quiet and peaceful scenes throughout his career.
Amorsolo was sought after by influential Filipinos including Luis Araneta, Antonio Araneta and Jorge B. Vargas
Jorge B. Vargas
Jorge B. Vargas was a lawyer and youth advocate born in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911 and a Bachelor of Law degree with honors in 1914, both from the University of the...
. Amorsolo also became the favourite Philippine artist of United States officials and visitors to the country. Due to his popularity, Amorsolo had to resort to photographing his works and pasted and mounted them in an album. Prospective patrons could then choose from this catalogue of his works. Amorsolo did not create exact replicas of his trademark themes; he recreated the paintings by varying some elements.
His works later appeared on the cover and pages of children textbooks, in novels, in commercial designs, in cartoons and illustrations for the Philippine publications such The Independent, Philippine Magazine, Telembang, El Renacimiento Filipino, and Excelsior. He was the director of the University of the Philippine's College of Fine Arts from 1938 to 1952.
During the 1950s until his death in 1972, Amorsolo averaged to finishing 10 paintings a month. However, during his later years, diabetes, cataracts, arthritis, headaches, dizziness and the death of two sons affected the execution of his works. Amorsolo underwent a cataract operation when he was 70 years old, a surgery that did not impede him from drawing and painting. Two months after being confined at the St. Luke's Hospital in Manila, Amorsolo died of heart failure at the age of 79 on April 24, 1972 .
Four days after his death, Amorsolo was honoured as the first National Artist in Painting
National Artist of the Philippines
A National Artist of the Philippines is a title given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts...
at the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines. The CCP was established through Executive Order No. 30 s. 1966 by President Ferdinand Marcos...
by then President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
.
Amorsolo was a close friend of the Philippine sculptor Guillermo Tolentino, the creator of the Caloocan City
Caloocan City
The City of Caloocan is one of the cities and municipalities that comprises the Metro Manila region in the Philippines. It is a major residential area inside Metro Manila...
monument to the patriot Andres Bonifacio
Andres Bonifacio
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary. He was a founder and later Supremo of the Katipunan movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Philippine Revolution...
.
Marriage and Issue
During his lifetime, Amorsolo was married twice and had 14 children. In 1916, he married Salud Jorge, with whom he had six children. After Jorge's death in 1931, Amorsolo married Maria del Carmen Zaragoza, with whom he had eight children. Among her daughters are Sylvia Amorsolo Lazo and Luz Amorsolo. Five of Amorsolo's children became painters themselves.Style and techniques
Women and landscapes
Amorsolo is best known for his illuminated landscapes, which often portrayed traditional Filipino customs, culture, fiestas and occupations. His pastoral works presented "an imagined sense of nationhood in counterpoint to American colonial rule" and were important to the formation of Filipino national identity.He was educated in the classical tradition and aimed "to achieve his Philippine version of the Greek ideal for the human form." 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.
Amorsolo used natural light in his paintings and developed the backlight
Backlight
A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid crystal displays . As LCDs do not produce light themselves , they need illumination to produce a visible image...
ing technique, which became his artistic trademark and his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. In a typical Amorsolo painting, figures are outlined against a characteristic glow, and intense light on one part of the canvas highlights nearby details. Philippine sunlight was a constant feature of Amorsolo's work; he is believed to have painted only one rainy-day scene.
Sketches
Amorsolo was an incessant sketchSketch (drawing)
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
artist, often drawing sketches at his home, at Luneta Park, and in the countryside. He drew the people he saw around him, from farmers to city-dwellers coping with the Japanese occupation
Japanese occupation of the Philippines
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines was the period in the history of the Philippines between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan occupied the previously American-controlled Philippines during World War II....
. Amorsolo's impressionistic tendencies, which may be seen in his paintings as well, were at their height in his sketches. His figures were not completely finished but were mere "suggestions" of the image.
Historical paintings and portraits
Amorsolo also painted a series of historical paintings on pre-Colonial and Spanish Colonization events. Amorsolo's Making of the Philippine Flag, in particular, was widely reproduced. His The First Baptism in the Philippines required numerous detailed sketches and colored studies of its elements. These diverse elements were meticulously and carefully set by the artist before being transferred to the final canvas. For his pre-colonial and 16th-century depiction of the Philippines, Amorsolo referred to the written accounts of Antonio PigafettaAntonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer from the Republic of Venice. He travelled with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew on their voyage to the Indies. During the expedition, he served as Magellan's assistant and kept an accurate journal which later assisted him...
, other available reading materials, and visual sources. He consulted with the Philippine scholars of the time, H. Pardo de Tavera and Epifanio de los Santos
Epifanio de los Santos
Epifanio de los Santos y Cristóbal, sometimes known as Don Pañong or Don Panyong was a noted Filipino historian, literary critic, art critic, jurist, prosecutor, antiquarian, archivist, scholar, painter, poet, musician, musicologist, philosopher, philologist, bibliographer, translator,...
.
Amorsolo also painted oil portraits of Philippine General 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...
, Philippine presidents, and other prominent Filipino individuals such as Don ALfredo Jacob and Dona Pura Garchitorena Toral, a member of the prominent Familia Garchitorena of Camarines Sur. He also painted the wedding picture of Don Mariano Garchitorena
Mariano Garchitorena
Mariano Garchitorena was a Filipino politician of Spanish-French descent. He was born in Tigaon, Camarines Sur. He was known as Don Mariano C. Garchitorena. He was the son of Don Andres Garchitorena and a French lady, Margarite Chereau. He was married to Dona Caridad Pamintuan of Pampanga, and...
and Dona Caridad Pamintuan of Pampanga.
He also did a portrait of US Senator Warren Grant Magnuson (1905–1989), of the Democratic Party from Washington, whom the Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building
Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building
The Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building is part of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington and the world's largest single university building with a total floor area of . Although the building is made up of over 20 wings built over more than 50 years, the interior hallways are...
at the University of Washington and the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
in Bethesda, Maryland are named after.
World War II-era works
After the onset of World War II, Amorsolo's typical pastoral scenes were replaced by the depictions of a war-torn nation. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II, Amorsolo spent his days at his home near the Japanese garrisonGarrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
, where he sketched war scenes from the house's windows or rooftop.
During the war, he documented the destruction of many landmarks in Manila and the pain, tragedy and death experienced by Filipino people, with his subjects including "women mourning their dead husbands, files of people with pushcarts and makeshift bags leaving a dark burning city tinged with red from fire and blood." Amorsolo frequently portrayed the lives and suffering of Filipina women during World War II. Other World War II-era paintings by Amorsolo include a portrait in absentia of General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
as well as self-portraits and paintings of Japanese occupation soldiers. In 1948, Amorsolo's wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacañang Presidential Palace.
Critical evaluation
Amorsolo's supporters consider his portrayals of the countryside as "the true reflections of the Filipino Soul."Amorsolo has been accused, however, of succumbing to commercialism and merely producing souvenir paintings for American soldiers. Critic Francisco Arcellana
Francisco Arcellana
Francisco "Franz" Arcellana was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September 16, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of becoming a writer during his years in the elementary. His actual writing, however, started when he became a member of The Torres...
wrote in 1948 that Amorsolo's paintings "have nothing to say" and that they were not hard to understand because "there is nothing to understand." Critics have criticized Amorsolo's portraits of Philippine Commonwealth personalities, his large, mid-career anecdotal works, and his large historical paintings. Of the latter, critics have said that his "artistic temperament was simply not suited to generating the sense of dramatic tension necessary for such works."
Another critic, however, while noting that most of Amorsolo's estimated ten thousand works were not worthy of his talent, argues that Amorsolo's oeuvre should nonetheless be judged by his best works instead of his worst. Amorsolo's small landscapes, especially those of his early career, have been judged as his best works, "hold[ing] well together plastically." Amorsolo may "be considered a master of the Philippine landscape as landscape, even outranking 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...
and Hidalgo
Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla 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...
who also did some Philippine landscapes of the same measurements."
Legacy
The volume of paintings, sketches and studies of Amorsolo is believed to have reached more than 10,000 pieces. Amorsolo was an important influence on contemporary Filipino art and artists, even beyond the so-called "Amorsolo school." Amorsolo's influence can be seen in many landscape paintings by Filipino artists, including early landscape paintings by abstract painter Federico Aguilar AlcuazFederico Aguilar Alcuaz
Federico Aguilar Alcuaz was an award winning Filipino Painter who exhibited extensively Internationally and whose work earned him recognition both in the Philippines and abroad....
.
In 2003, Amorsolo's children founded the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving Fernando Amorsolo's legacy, promoting his style and vision, and preserving a national heritage through the conservation and promotion of his works.
Amorsolo paintings in the art market
At a 2001 auction in Wellesley, MassachusettsWellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...
, two original 1950s paintings by Amorsolo, The Cockfight and Resting Under the Trees, were bought by a New Jersey collector for $36,000 and $31,500, respectively. During a 2002 episode of Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...
, a Sotheby's antiques appraiser estimated that an attendee's signed 1945 rural landscape painting by Amorsolo could fetch between $30,000 and $50,000 at auction. At a 1996 Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
auction, Amorsolo's The Marketplace went for $174,000. In April 2002, Portrait of Fernanda De Jesus was bought for US$ 377,947.
On November 30, 2009, the Family Gathering Fruit sold for USD 77,257 at Christie's. On December 6, 2009, Fruit Gatherer was auctioned off in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, in record-breaking manner, topping 19th and 20th century European and American paintings. In May 2010, the highest priced Amorsolo painting was auctioned off at Christie's for about US$ 440,000.
In 2010, South East Asian Fine Art had an increasing demand and so prices of Filipino Old Masters investment pieces escalated and continue to escalate as the western world starts embracing Asian Art. Demand for Amorsolo's works plays a vital part of this emerging global demands. Certified Amorsolo works are not readily available in the market and so art investors hire dealers who have direct access to these works. These independent agents could provide last bid prices vis-a-vis competitive bidding in Sotheby's and Christie's. They also have an excellent network. They know existing private collectors, museums and galleries that can provide authenticated and certified works by the Artists and additional certifications from duly recognized experts can be attained for additional fees. Private offices such as "T1W Masters Arts" offer this service to pre-qualified investors.
Major works
Major works by Amorsolo include:- Afternoon Meal of the Workers (Noonday Meal of the Rice Workers) (1939)
- Assassination of Governor Bustamante
- Bataan
- The Bombing of the Intendencia (1942)
- The Building of Intramuros
- Burning of the Idol
- The Burning of Manila (1946)
- El Ciego (1928)
- The Conversion of the Filipinos (1931)
- Corner of Hell
- Dalagang Bukid (1936)
- Defense of a Filipina Woman's Honor (1945)
- La destruccion de Manila por los salvajes japoneses (The Destruction of Manila by the Savage Japanese)
- Early Filipino State Wedding
- Early Sulu Wedding
- The Explosion (1944)
- The First Baptism in the Philippines
- The First Mass in the Philippines
- Fruit Gatherer (1950)
- Maiden in a Stream (1921)
- Making of the Philippine Flag
- The Mestiza (1943)
- My Wife, Salud (1920)
- One Casualty
- Our Lady of Light (1950)
- Planting Rice (1946)
- Princess Urduja
- The Rape of Manila (1942)
- Rice Planting (1922)
- Sale of Panay
- Sikatuna
- Sunday Morning Going To Town (1958)
- US Senator Warren Magnuson Oil Portrait (1958)
- Traders
- El Violinista (The Violinist)
Awards and achievements
- 1908 – 2nd Prize, Bazar Escolta (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, UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
National Commission - 1961 – Rizal Pro Patria Award
- 1961 – Honorary Doctorate in the HumanitiesHumanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, 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
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" during the inauguration
Inauguration
An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
of the Manila Hilton
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
's art center, where his paintings were exhibited on January 23, 1969.
Major exhibitions
Outside the Philippines, his exhibitions were held in Belgium, at the Exposicion de PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in 1914, at a one-man show at the Grand Central Art Galleries
Grand Central Art Galleries
The Grand Central Art Galleries were the exhibition and administrative space of the nonprofit Painters and Sculptors Gallery Association, an artists' cooperative established in 1922 by Walter Leighton Clark together with John Singer Sargent, Edmund Greacen, and others...
in New York City in 1925, and at the National Museum
National museum
A national museum is a museum maintained by a nation.The following is a list of national museums:-Australia:*Australian National Aviation Museum*Australian National Maritime Museum*, Sydney*Australian War Memorial*Museum Victoria...
in Herran on November 6, 1948. During the 1931 Paris Exposition, Amorsolo exhibited one of his anecdotal paintings, The Conversion of the Filipinos. Amorsolo's entries at the Exposicion in Panama were a portrait of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and the piece La Muerte de Socrates. At the 1948 National Museum in Herran, Amorsolo exhibition was sponsored by the Art Association of the Philippines. In 1950, Amorsolo exhibited two more historical paintings, Faith Among the Ruins and Baptism of Rajah Humabon at the Missionary Art Exhibit in Rome. In 1979, Fernando Amorsolo's legacy as a painter was celebrated through an exhibition of his works at the Art Center of the Manila Hilton. His art was also featured in a 2007 exhibition in Havana.
External links
- Photographs of Amorsolo's palette, wallet, and other personal effects at flickr.com.
- Amorsolo works at Allinson Gallery.
- Amorsolo works at Frazer Fine Art.
- Amorsolo bio at Geringer Art.