Felix Hidalgo
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y
Padilla (21 February 1855 - 13 March
1913) was a Filipinoartist. 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
Ponceand 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.
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 theTeatro Circo de
Bilibid before they were sent to the Centennial
Exposition in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania 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.
Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho, 1884, Metropolitan
Museum of Manila.
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 Spoliariumwas awarded a gold medal.
In the Exposición General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid in 1887,
Resurrección Hidalgo presentedLa 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 Parisand 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.
Mayon Volcano
Mayon Volcano, also known as Mount Mayon, is
an active stratovolcano in theprovince of Albay, in the Bicol
Region, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines.
Renowned as the "perfect cone" because of its almost
symmetrically conical shape, Mayon forms the northern boundary
of Legazpi City. Local folklore refers to the volcano as Bulkang
Magayon (Filipino: 'Magayon Volcano'), after the legendary
heroine Daragang Magayon (Bikol: 'Lady Beautiful').[3]
