Great Filipino Painters of All Time - Carlos "Botong" Francisco

Katipunan



Education - mural (1964)



Muslim Wedding (1958)



Rajah Soliman



Mangingisda (Fishermen) - (1957)



Lapu- Lapu (1964)



Fiesta With Higantes



The Cockfight



Bayanihan (1962)




Carlos V. Francisco (1914-1969)

In 1973, Carlos “Botong” Francisco was the second Filipino to receive the title of National Artist in Painting, after Fernando C. Amorsolo. Also known as the Poet of Angono, he single-handedly brought back the art of mural painting in the Philippines and was its most distinguished painter in his time. He was on the forefront of modernist art in the country, and with Victorio C. Edades and Galo B. Ocampo became part of “The Triumvirate” of modern art. His is best known for his historical epics, and one of his favorite subjects is fisherfolk. His images of women came from mythology, history, legend, customs and contemporary life.

On November 4, 1914, Francisco was born to Felipe Francisco and Maria Villaluz in Angono, Rizal. He went to college at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, and before the Second World War did illustrations for The Tribune and La Vanguardia. Although he came from the same school of arts as Amorsolo, he veered away from the style of the traditional artist and developed a modernist style. Together with Victorio Edades and Fermin Sanchez, he painted for the Manila Grand Opera House and the Clover Theater. He and Edades started mural-painting, and together they formed the Thirteen Moderns, a group of modernists, in 1938.

After the Second World War, he taught at the University of Santo Tomas School of Fine Arts at the same time that he was doing work in cinema with Manuel Conde. He worked as a scriptwriter for films such as “Genghis Khan,” “Putol na Kampilan,” and “Tatlong Labuyo.” In addition, he designed costumes for films such as “Romeo at Julieta,” “Prinsipe Tenoso,” “Ibong Adarna,” “Siete Infantes de Lara,” and the “Juan Tamad” series.

Francisco further enhanced his art in mural painting as he, together with Edades and Ocampo, was commissioned to do several murals for lobbies and private residences. They developed the Filipino imagery in their work, taking images from the customs and traditions of the people. Some of the murals they worked on as a triumvirate are Rising Philippines for the Capitol Theater, murals for the Golden Gate Exposition, the State Theater, and the private residences of President Manuel Quezon, Ernesto Rufino and Vicente Rufino. However, his major masterpiece is the mural he did for the Bulwagang Katipunan of the Manila City Hall.

After Francisco’s death on March 31, 1969, what came to be known as the Botong Francisco School of Painting grew, exemplifying lyricism and heroism.

His major works include:

• 1945 – Kaingin
• 1948 – Fiesta
• 1953 – 50 Years of Philippine History, his first important mural, for the International Fair held in Manila
• 1954 – Life and Miracles of St. Dominic, for Santo Domingo Church
• 1956 – Stations of the Cross, for the Far Eastern University
• 1956 – The Invasion of Limahong
• 1957 – Mangingisda
• 1958 – Muslim Wedding
• 1962 – Bayanihan


Achievements:

• 1948 – 1st Prize, First National Art Exhibition of the Art Association of the Philippines, for Kaingin
• 1964 – Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan, from the City of Manila

Sourced at Cultural Heritage, Phantom Bookshop- Ventura, California

Tags: Great Filipino Painters, National Artist, Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Angono, Rizal, Philippines, National Commission For Culture and the Arts, National Museum of the Philippines, Wikipedia, Pinoy Wikipedia, Great Masters, Philippines

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Great Filipino Painters of All Time- Vicente Manansala

Vendors From The Marketplace



"Landscape" - Watercolor - 1968



"Untitled" Oil on Canvas - 1978



Prayer Before Meals



Barung-Barung (Houses)



"Nude" - Charcoal on Paper - 1972



Vicente S. Manansala (1910-1981)

Honored as National Artist in Painting in 1981, Vicente S. Manansala is considered the country’s pioneer in Cubism. He was one of the Thirteen Moderns led by Victorio C. Edades, and was one of the Big Three in the modernist movement, along with Cesar Legaspi and H. R. Ocampo. In addition, he formed the group of Neo-Realists together with Romeo Tabuena and Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Manansala developed transparent cubism and his works were done mostly in the figurative mode, reflecting the society and the local environment. He favored the styles of Picasso and Cezanne, and believed that the true beauty of art lay in the process of creating it.

Manansala was born in Macabebe, Pampanga on January 22, 1910. He was the second of the eight children of Perfecto Q. Manansala and Engracia Silva. At the age of 15, he studied under painter Ramon Peralta while doing work painting movie posters at a shop in Manila. He entered the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1926 and graduated in 1930. He continued his studies under a UNESCO grant at the École de Beaux Arts in Banff and Montreal, Canada in 1949, and under a French government scholarship at the École de Beaux Arts in Paris in 1950. His training did not end there. In 1960, he received a grant from the United States to study stained glass techniques in New York. He also trained at the Otis Art Institute in 1967, and received another grant in 1970, this time from Germany, to study in Zurich.

Manansala worked as an illustrator for the Philippines Herald and Liwayway and as a layout artist for Photonews and Saturday Evening News Magazine in the 1930’s. He held his first one-man show at the Manila Hotel in 1951, and then went on to work as a professor at the University of Santo Tomas School of Fine Arts from 1951 to 1958.

Vicente C. Manansala died in Makati in 1981.

His major works include:

• 1940 – Bangkusay Seascape
• 1948 – Banaklaot
• 1950 – Madonna of the Slums
• 1951 – Jeepneys
• 1967 – Reclining Mother and Child

He also painted several historical murals including:

• Stations of the Cross for UP Diliman Chapel
• Mural for Philippine Heart Center
• Fresco mural for the National Press Club


Achievements:

• 1941 – 1st Prize, National Art Exhibition, UST, for Pounding Rice
• 1950 – 1st Prize, Manila Grand Opera House Exhibition, for Barong-Barong #1
• 1950 – 1st Prize, Art Association of the Philippines First Annual Art Competition, for Banaklaot
• 1953 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Kahig (Scratch)
• 1955 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Fish Vendors
• 1955 – 3rd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Best-Served, Well-Gained
• 1957 – Outstanding UP Alumnus
• 1962 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Give Us This Day
• 1962 – Best in Show, Art Association of the Philippines, for Give Us This Day
• 1963 – Republic Cultural Heritage Award
• 1970 – Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the City of Manila

From Various Sources including Kulay Diwa Gallery of Philippine Contemporary Art

Tags: Great Filipino Painters, Vicente Manansala, Cubism, Filipino Artist, Outstanding Painter, Multi Awarded, Philippines, Filipino Arts, Proud to be Pinoy

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Great Filipino Painters of All Time - Fernando Amorsolo (Batch 2)

Sunday Market, Baguio



Banawe Rice Terraces


Water Carrier



Bombing of Intendencia



Lavanderas (Laundrywomen)



Woman With Banga (Woman With Jar)



Tinikling in Barrio

Batch 2 of The Great Masterpieces of Fernando Amorsolo


Fernando Amorsolo (The Greatest Filipino Painter)

The Philippine artist Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) was a portraitist and painter of rural land scapes. He is best known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light.

Fernando Amorsolo was born May 30, 1892, in the Paco district of Manila. At 13 he was apprenticed to the noted Philippine artist Fabian de la Rosa, his mother's first cousin. In 1909 Amorsolo enrolled at the Liceo de Manila and then attended the fine-arts school at the University of the Philippines, graduating in 1914. After working three years as a commercial artist and part-time instructor at the university, he studied at the Escuela de San Fernando in Madrid. For seven months he sketched at the museums and on the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color. That winter he went to New York and discovered the works of the postwar impressionists and cubists, who became the major influence on his works. On his return to Manila, he set up his own studio.

During this period, Amorsolo developed the use of light - actually, backlight - which is his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. Characteristically, an Amorsolo painting contains a glow against which the figures are outlined, and at one point of the canvas there is generally a burst of light that highlights the smallest detail.

During the 1920s and 1930s Amorsolo's output of paintings was prodigious. In 1939 his oil Afternoon Meal of the Workers won first prize at the New York World's Fair. During World War II Amorsolo continued to paint. The Philippine collector Don Alfonso Ongpin commissioned him to execute a portrait in absentia of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, which he did at great personal risk. He also painted Japanese occupation soldiers and self-portraits. His wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacanang presidential palace in 1948. After the war Amorsolo served as director of the college of fine arts of the University of the Philippines, retiring in 1950. Married twice, he had 13 children, five of whom became painters.

Amorsolo was noted for his portraits. He made oils of all the Philippine presidents, including the revolutionary leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and other noted Philippine figures. He also painted many wartime scenes, including Bataan, Corner of Hell, and One Casualty.

Amorsolo, who died in 1972, is said to have painted more than 10,000 pieces. He continued to paint even in his late 70s, despite arthritis in his hands. Even his late works feature the classic Amorsolo tropical sunlight. He said he hated "sad and gloomy" paintings, and he executed only one painting in which rain appears.

Sourced: Biographies - Answers.com

Tags: Great Filipino Painters, Fernando Amorsolo, Philippines, Arts, Great Artists, Filipiniana

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Great Filipino Painters of All Time - Fernando Amorsolo

Rice Harvest (Threshing)



Returning Fisherman



Winnowing



Harvest Time



Tinikling



Pagsanjan Falls



Fernando Amorsolo (The Greatest Filipino Painter)

The Philippine artist Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) was a portraitist and painter of rural land scapes. He is best known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light.

Fernando Amorsolo was born May 30, 1892, in the Paco district of Manila. At 13 he was apprenticed to the noted Philippine artist Fabian de la Rosa, his mother's first cousin. In 1909 Amorsolo enrolled at the Liceo de Manila and then attended the fine-arts school at the University of the Philippines, graduating in 1914. After working three years as a commercial artist and part-time instructor at the university, he studied at the Escuela de San Fernando in Madrid. For seven months he sketched at the museums and on the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color. That winter he went to New York and discovered the works of the postwar impressionists and cubists, who became the major influence on his works. On his return to Manila, he set up his own studio.

During this period, Amorsolo developed the use of light - actually, backlight - which is his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. Characteristically, an Amorsolo painting contains a glow against which the figures are outlined, and at one point of the canvas there is generally a burst of light that highlights the smallest detail.

During the 1920s and 1930s Amorsolo's output of paintings was prodigious. In 1939 his oil Afternoon Meal of the Workers won first prize at the New York World's Fair. During World War II Amorsolo continued to paint. The Philippine collector Don Alfonso Ongpin commissioned him to execute a portrait in absentia of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, which he did at great personal risk. He also painted Japanese occupation soldiers and self-portraits. His wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacanang presidential palace in 1948. After the war Amorsolo served as director of the college of fine arts of the University of the Philippines, retiring in 1950. Married twice, he had 13 children, five of whom became painters.

Amorsolo was noted for his portraits. He made oils of all the Philippine presidents, including the revolutionary leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and other noted Philippine figures. He also painted many wartime scenes, including Bataan, Corner of Hell, and One Casualty.

Amorsolo, who died in 1972, is said to have painted more than 10,000 pieces. He continued to paint even in his late 70s, despite arthritis in his hands. Even his late works feature the classic Amorsolo tropical sunlight. He said he hated "sad and gloomy" paintings, and he executed only one painting in which rain appears.

Sourced: Biographies - Answers.com

Tags: Great Filipino Painters, Fernando Amorsolo, Philippines, Arts, Great Artists, Filipiniana

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Great Filipino Painters of All Time- Juan Luna

The Spoliarium



Juan Luna (Self Portrait)

Juan Luna y Novicio (October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter in the late 19th century.

Early life

He was born in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, the third child of seven children. He is a descendant of the Cala Family of the Philippines. Luna obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1874. He showed artistic promise early on and was encouraged to take up painting and traveled to Rome to study the masters. He settled in Paris and married Maria de la Paz, a prominent Filipina from the Mestizaje family of Pardo de Tavera. In a rage over his suspicion of infidelity on the part of his wife, he mercilessly shot her and her mother to death in September 1892. Tried by a French court and subsequently convicted in 1893, he was sentenced to pay the victims' immediate kin but one franc each for their loss, as the court had deemed the murders a crime of passion. In 1894, Luna returned to the Philippines after an absence of almost 20 years.

His most famous piece, The Spoliarium, for which he won gold prize at the 1884 Madrid Exposition, is currently in the National Museum in Manila.

Upon his return to the Philippines, he was arrested two years later under suspicion of sedition. He was later pardoned. His brother, General Antonio Luna, was an active participant in the insurgent Katipunan movement.

In 1898, after the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War, the fledgling Philippine Republic appointed him as a delegate to the Paris convention and to Washington, D.C. to help gain recognition of Philippine sovereignty and independence.

Luna died of heart failure in Hong Kong on December 7, 1899. He was rushing home from Europe after hearing of his brother’s assassination by members of the Katipunan. Luna was buried at the San Agustin Church in Intramuros.

Sourced at WIKIPEDIA

Tags: Great Filipino Painters of All Time, Juan Luna, The Spoiliarium, Philippines, Pearl of the Orient Seas, Filipiniana

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Timeless Masterpieces of The Great Masters- El Greco

The Holy Trinity (1577-1579)



The Assumption of The Virgin (1577-1579)



The Modena Triplych (1568) Tempera on panel



The Opening of The Fifth Seal (1608-1614)



View of Toledo (c. 1596-1600)



The Burial of Count Orgaz (1586-1588)


El Greco


El Greco (1541- April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. He usually signed his paintings in Greek letters with his full name Domenicos Theotokopoulos underscoring his Greek origin. El Greco was born in Crete which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice and the center of Post-Byzantine art. El Greco received his initial training as an icon painter of the Cretan school.

In 1570, El Greco moved to Rome where he executed a series of works strongly marked by his Venetian apprenticeship. Unlike other Cretan artists who had moved to Venice, El Greco substantially altered his style and sought to distinguish himself by inventing new and unusual interpretations of traditional religious subject matter. In 1577, El Greco emigrated first to Madrid, then to Toledo, where he produced his mature works.

The primacy of imagination and intuition over the subjective character of creation was a fundamental principle of El Greco's style. El Greco discarded classical criteria such as measure and proportion. He believed that grace is the supreme quest of art, but the painter achieves grace only if he manages to solve the most complex problems with obvious ease. El Greco regarded color as the most important and the most ungovernable element of painting and declared that color had primacy over form. He died on April 7, 1614.


Tags: Timeless Masterpieces, Great Masters, El Greco, Post-Byzantine Art, Spanish Rennaisance, Greece, Venice, Rome, Crete, Madrid, Toledo, Spain, Icon

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Timeless Masterpieces of The Great Masters- Van Gogh

The Starry Night (1889)



The Red Vineyard (1888)



The Night Cafe (1888)



The Old Mill (1888)



Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers (1888)



The Cafe' Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night (1888)



The Cherry Tree (1888)



Self Portrait (1887)


Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Willem van Gogh (March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890) was a Dutch Post- Impressionist artist. His paintings and drawings include some of the world's best known, most popular and most expensive pieces. Van Gogh spent his early adult life working for a firm of art dealers. He did not embark upon a career as an artist until 1880. Initially, van Gogh worked only with somber colors until he encountered Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in Paris. He incorporated their brighter colors and style of painting into a uniquely recognizable style which was fully developed during the time he spent at Arles, France.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born in Goef-Zundert, a village close to Breda in the Province of North Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. While in Antwerp, he applied himself to the study of color theory and spent time looking at the works of Peter Paul Rubens, gaining encouragement to broaden his palette to carmine, cobalt and emerald green. In March 1886, he moved to Paris to study at Fernand Cormon's studio. It was not difficult to see and study Impressionist works in Paris at this time.

Van Gogh's depression deepened and on July 27, 1890 at the age of 37, he walked into the fields and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. Without realizing that he was fatally wounded, he returned to the Ravoux Inn where he died in bed two days later.

Tags: Timeless Masterpieces, Great Masters, Vincent van Gogh, Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Netherlands, Depression, Suicide, Starry Night

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Timeless Masterpieces of The Great Masters- Rembrandt

The Night Watch (1642)



The Mill (1648)



The Abduction of Europa (1632)



Belshassar's Feast (1636- 1638)




The Polish Rider



Rembrandt's Son Titus as a Monk (1660)



Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee (1633)



Descent from the Cross (1634)



Abraham and Isaac (1634)



Self Portrait by Rembrandt (1661)


Rembrandt

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 - October 4, 1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age.

Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, his later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardship. Yet his drawings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, his reputation as an artist remained high and for tenty years he taught nearly every important Dutch painter.

In both painting and printmaking, he exhibited a complete knowledge of classical iconography, which he molded to fit the requirements of his own experience. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called "one of the great prophets of civilization."

Throughout his career, Rembrandt took as his primary subjects themes of portraiture, landscape and narrative painting. For the last, he was especially praised by his contemporaries, who extolled him as a masterful interpreter of Biblical stories Sourcedfor his skill in representing emotions and attention to detail. Rembrandt died on October 4, 1669 at Amsterdam, Netherlands at the age of 63.


Tags: Timeless Masterpieces, Great Masters, Rembrandt, Narrative Painting, Dutch Golden Age, The Night Watch, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla