Fernando Amorsolo
- 2. Author’s Background FERNANDO CUETO AMORSOLO Was known as the National Artist of the Philippines Born: May 30, 1892, Paco, Manila Parents: Pedro Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto Spouses: Salud Tolentino Jorge with whom he had six children. Maria del Carmen with whom he had eight more children
- 3. Author’s Background Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light Awards: 1908 – 2nd Prize, Bazar Escolta tea and taki (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, UNESCO National Commission 1961 – Rizal Pro Patria Award 1961 – Honorary Doctorate in the Humanities, 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.
- 4. Author’s Background 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". Died: April 24, 1972, at the age of 79, Quezon City
- 5. Amorsolo’s work continues to resonate among his countrymen decades after his death. His portrayals of an ideal and beautiful world drew the most ardent praises and the harshest criticisms. To understand the artist one has to appreciate the man behind Amorsolo. He was shy, innocent, and most importantly pure. These traits spilled over onto his canvas. It was not because Amorsolo was not capable of recognizing the dark side of society. He had his share of heartbreak and disappointment in his life but he deliberately isolated himself from these and chose to portray the bright side of the world. Not a shred of wickedness permeated his character and as a result his art is the purest manifestation of beauty. The basic desire to identify with what is good is what people inherently have in common with the artist. It is for this legacy that Amorsolo will be most fondly remembered.
- 6. Paintings of Fernando Amorsolo
- 7. These paintings are characteristic of Amorsolo's skill in affectionately and idealistically depicting rural Filipino life. The scenes in his paintings typically draw attention to both the joy of peasant farm workers dressed in colorful native clothing and the beauty of their surroundings, reflecting the innocence and optimism of Filipinos during the colonial period.
- 8. Afternoon meal of the rice workers, 1951, oil on canvas. Won first prize at the New York World's Fair.
- 9. “Fruit Pickers Harvesting Under The Mango Tree” was painted in 1939
- 10. Crossing the River (1924) depicts a river in the province of Tarlac. It was commissioned by tobacco company La Tabacalera.
- 11. Another powerful postwar creation is The Filipino Family (1952). Nakpil explains the painting as rich in metaphor, and describes it as one of the most epic works of Amorsolo. “A strong, sinewy Juan de la Cruz cradles a child, a symbol of our young nation in 1952. It’s been just six years since the end ofWorldWar II and the grant of our independence,” says Nakpil. “Lady Liberty is his wife, staunchly at his side. Her back is half-turned in a pose that recalls Juan Luna’s victorious tandem, ‘Espana y Filipinas.’Three boatmen, no doubt, depicting the perseverance and discipline that we would need to make our nation bountiful, launch their craft into a rose-colored, robust future.”
- 12. Fernando Amorsolo's Smiling Plain Maiden/Palay Maiden (1920's). 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. He said that the women he painted should have "a rounded face, not of the oval type often presented to us in newspapers and magazine illustrations. The eyes should be exceptionally lively, not the dreamy, sleepy type that characterizes the Mongolian. The nose should be of the blunt form but firm and strongly marked. ... So the ideal Filipina beauty should not necessarily be white complexioned, nor of the dark brown color of the typical Malayan, but of the clear skin or fresh colored type which we often witness when we met a blushing girl."
- 13. The making of the Philippine Flag
- 14. His Water Maiden (1935) also belongs to the same Tabacalera collection. It features a Filipina carrying a water jug. Here, Amorsolo displays his mastery of light and color, combined with his faithfulness to the painterly style.
- 15. After the war, Amorsolo resumed painting idyllic scenes depicting the countryside. In 1953, he created The Bathers, which is representative of one of Amorsolo’s favorite themes: maidens in the water.
- 16. 1945 Defence of a Filipina Woman's Honour, which is representative of Amorsolo's World War II-era paintings. Here, a Filipino man defends a woman, who is either his wife or daughter, from being raped by an unseen Japanese soldier. Note the Japanese military cap at the man's foot
- 17. In one of his more famous works, a woman is pictured clutching her veil while kneeling in front of her dead son --- apparently a guerilla soldier killed during a battle. The woman is looking up to the sky with a calm look of sorrow on her face. The subtle and restrained depiction proved to be a more powerful portrayal as the woman’s tearless eyes conveyed a more intense form of pain. It communicated to the viewer the deep sense of loss a mother feels when her child is taken away from her.
- 20. The Planting Rice (1946)
- 21. Relevance in the Contemporary Period • Through paintings, it gives significant information of what happened in the Philippine history. • Fernando Amorsolo’s paintings depicts the earlier life of the Filipinoes, how they are ruled by the Spaniards and Japanese and how Filipinoes live with their culture and tradition. It gives information of what culture and tradition the Filipinoes exercised a long time ago. It also shows how the Spaniards treats the Filipinoes in their time. • The Paintings, the visions and the life of Fernando Amorsolo can be an inspiration to the future generation artist and painters in order for them to live with their dreams and depicts how beautiful the world they are in through paintings.