HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fernando Cueto Amorsolo (born Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto; May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. Nicknamed the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art," he was the first-ever to be recognized as a
National Artist of the Philippines The Order of National Artists of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas'') is an order bestowed by the Philippines on Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philipp ...
. He was recognized as such for his "pioneering use of impressionistic technique" as well as his skill in the use of lighting and backlighting in his paintings, "significant not only in the development of Philippine art but also in the formation of Filipino notions of self and identity."


Early life and education

Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892, in Metro, Manila. His parents were Pedro Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto. His father quickly found work in Daet, Camarines Norte months after Fernando's birth, and the family lived there until his father died when Amorsolo was 11. While he studied in a public school in Daet, his parents taught him to read and write Spanish at home. After his father's death, the family moved back to Manila, where they stayed with one of his uncles, Don Fabián de la Rosa, his mother's cousin, who was also a Filipino 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 did embroidery to earn money, while Amorsolo helped by selling water color postcards to a local bookstore for 10
centavos The centavo ( Spanish and Portuguese 'one hundredth') is a fractional monetary unit that represents one hundredth of a basic monetary unit in many countries around the world. The term comes from Latin ''centum'', ('one hundred'), with the added s ...
each. His younger brother, Pablo Amorsolo, also became 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, he enrolled at the Art School of the Liceo de Manila. His 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. After graduating from the ''Liceo'', he entered the
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Mig ...
' School of Fine Arts, where De la Cruz taught at that time. During college, Fernando Amorsolo's primary influences were the Portuguese people court painter
Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of the ...
,
John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and mor ...
,
Anders Zorn Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish painter. He attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist. Among Zorn's portrait subjects include King Oscar II of Sweden and three American ...
,
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
,
Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) 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 " ...
, but mostly his contemporary Spanish masters Joaquín Sorolla Bastida and
Ignacio Zuloaga Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (July 26, 1870October 31, 1945) was a Spanish painter, born in Eibar ( Guipuzcoa), near the monastery of Loyola. Family He was the son of metalworker and damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the organizer and ...
. 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 ''
Pasyon The ''Pasyón'' ( es, Pasión) is a Philippine epic narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, focused on his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. In stanzas of five lines of eight syllables each, the standard elements of epic poetry are interwoven wit ...
''. Amorsolo graduated with medals from the University of the Philippines in 1914. He died while falling in line.. Waiting for medical assistance, Doctors and nurses did not even lift a finger to help...


Career

After graduating from the University of the Philippines, Amorsolo worked as a
draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans f ...
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. He taught at the University for 38 years, including 14 years as director of the Art Department. After three years as an instructor and commercial artist, Amorsolo was given a grant to study at the Academia de San Fernando in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
, Spain by Filipino businessman
Enrique Zóbel de Ayala Enrique Jacobo Pedro Luis Plácido Zóbel de Ayala (October 9, 1877 – February 17, 1943) was a Spanish-born industrialist and philanthropist who became the first patriarch of the Zóbel de Ayala family. He was also one of the leaders in the ...
. During his seven months in Spain, Amorsolo sketched at museums and along the streets of Madrid experimenting with the use of light and color. Still through the Zóbel grant, Amorsolo was also able to travel to New York City, where he encountered postwar
impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...
and
cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
which would become major influences on his work. Amorsolo set up his own studio upon his return to Manila and painted 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 The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...
. Beginning in the 1930s, Amorsolo's work was exhibited widely in the Philippines and abroad. Amorsolo was sought after by influential Filipinos including Luis Araneta, Antonio Araneta and Jorge B. Vargas. Due to his popularity, Amorsolo had to resort to photographing his works, sticking and mounting them in an album allowing patrons to choose from this catalog of his work. Amorsolo avoidedd creating exact replicas of his trademark themes by recreating 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 Philippine publications such ''The Independent'', ''Philippine Magazine'', ''Telembang'', ''El Renacimiento Filipino'', and ''Excelsior''. He served as 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 finishing 10 paintings a month. However, during his later years, diabetes, cataracts, arthritis, headaches, dizziness and the death of two of his 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. Amorsolo was a close friend of the Philippine sculptor Guillermo Tolentino, the creator of Filipino patriot Andrés Bonifacio's monument in Caloocan City.


Style and techniques


Women and landscapes

Amorsolo is best known for his illuminated landscapes,"Fernando Amorsolo". ''Filipinos in History''. Manila, Philippines: National Historical Institute. Available for download thoug
nhi.gov.ph
(requires registration).
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 backlighting technique,
Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrast (vision), contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts ...
, 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 a rainy-day scene only once.


Sketches

Amorsolo was an incessant sketch artist,Paras-Perez, Rodriguez (1992). ''Fernando C. Amorsolo: Drawings''. Manila: Lopez Museum. . 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.


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 Pigafetta Antonio Pigafetta (; – c. 1531) was an Venetian scholar and explorer. He joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of the emperor Charles V and after Magellan's death in the Philippine Islands, ...
, 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.Ocampo, Ambeth
"Amorsolo's Brush with History"
. Lopez Memorial Museum (2003). Retrieved June 30, 2007.
His work on historical periods, especially his most famous work in popular culture, ''Confeccion de la Standarte Nacionale'' or ''Making of the Philippine Flag'' in 1955, has been frequently reproduced in commercial goods and has become a mainstay in Filipino popular culture. Amorsolo also painted oil portraits of Presidents like General
Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and is recognized as the first president of the Philippin ...
,
Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...
, and
Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino ente ...
, and other prominent individuals such as Don Alfredo Jacób and Doña Pura Garchitorena Toral of
Camarines Sur Camarines Sur ( bcl, Habagatan na Camarines; tl, Timog Camarines), officially the Province of Camarines Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and ...
. He also painted the wedding picture of Don Mariano Garchitorena and Doña Caridad Pamintuan of
Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tar ...
. He also did a portrait of American
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
Warren Grant Magnuson (1905–1989), of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
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 The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...
in Bethesda,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...
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 garrison, where he sketched war scenes from the house's windows or rooftop.Amorsolo Lazo, Sylvia
"Remembering Papa"
. Lopez Memorial Museum (2003). Retrieved June 30, 2007.
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 Palace Malacañang Palace ( fil, Palasyo ng Malakanyang, ; es, Palacio de Malacañán), officially known as Malacañan Palace, is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines. It is located in the Manila distric ...
.


Critical evaluation

Amorsolo's supporters consider his portrayals of the countryside as "the true reflections of the Filipino Soul."Benesa, Leo
"An Amorsolo Festival"
(originally from Philippine Sunday Express, November 16, 1975). ''What is Philippine about Philippine Art? and Other Essays'', Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2000, pp. 24-27.
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 underwhelming, considering 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 ngwell together plastic-ally." 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 dimensions."


Death

After being confined at the St. Luke's Hospital in Quezon City for about two months, Amorsolo died of heart failure at the age of 79 on April 24, 1972.


Legacy

Four days after his death, Amorsolo was posthumously honored as the first
National Artist of the Philippines The Order of National Artists of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas'') is an order bestowed by the Philippines on Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philipp ...
at the
Cultural Center of the Philippines The Cultural Center of the Philippines ( fil, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.Presidential Decree No. ...
. 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 Alcuaz. 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."Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation"
FernandoAmorsolo.com. Retrieved July 2, 2007.


Auction records

Since the 2000s, works by Amorsolo have achieved record prices at auction with the growth of the Philippine art market. On April 28, 2002, an early work from 1915 called ''Portrait of Fernanda de Jesus'' sold for a record price of PHP19.136 million (US$376,177) at a
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, t ...
auction in Hong Kong. This record on May 30, 2010, was later broken as a work from 1923 ''Lavanderas'' previously held by an American-based collector sold for PHP20.83 million (US$434,067) also at a
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, t ...
auction in Hong Kong. By the 2010s, the prominence of local auction houses in the country has substantially increased the value of Amorsolo's works with the constant repatriation of Philippine art. On June 9, 2018, a 1931 work called the ''Mango Gatherers'' better known as the ''Conde de Peracamps Amorsolo'' as it was previously in the collection of Antonio Méilan Zóbel, the 4th Count of Peracamps, was sold at a Leon Gallery auction in Manila for a world record price of PHP46.720 million (US$883,883). In its wake, other works by Amorsolo have surpassed the PHP20 million mark including a 1946 genre work by Amorsolo titled ''Cooking under the Mango Tree'' previously in the collection of the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas (Tabacalera) was sold at another Leon Gallery auction in Manila for a record
PHP PHP is a General-purpose programming language, general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP reference implementati ...
23.360 million on 23 February 2019. More recently, a 1949 genre work called ''Planting Rice'' reached PHP 30.368 million at a Salcedo Auctions sale on 13 March 2021, presently the world record price for a post-war work by the artist.


Museums

The Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center in Manila displays a major collection of Amorsolo's work.


Major works

Major works by Amorsolo include: *''Babaeng Nagbabasa'' *''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) *''Confeccion de la Standarte Nacionale'' (''Making of the Philippine Flag'') (1955) *''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'' (c. 1955–1960) *''The Explosion'' (1944) *''The First Baptism in the Philippines'' (1949) *''The First Mass in the Philippines'' *''Fruit Gatherer'' (1950) *''Fruit Pickers Harvesting Under the Mango Tree'' (1939) *''Maiden in a Stream'' (1921) *''Marca Demonio''/'' St. Michael the Archangel'' (1917) *''The Mestiza'' (1943) *''My Wife, Salud'' (1920; lost in World War II) *''One Casualty'' *'' Our Lady of Light'' (1950) *''Planting Rice'' (Multiple versions: 1946, 1949 with Mayon, 1951) *''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'') *''Sunrise'' (1958)


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,
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
National Commission *1961 – Rizal Pro Patria Award *1961 – Honorary Doctorate in the
Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...
, 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 In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaug ...
of the Manila Hilton'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
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
in 1914, at a one-man show at the
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, Ed ...
in New York City in 1925, and at the
National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numbe ...
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''. In 1948 an Amorsolo exhibit was sponsored by the Art Association of the Philippines in the National Museum. 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.


Personal life

During his lifetime, Amorsolo had a total of 20 children from two marriages and a common-law-wife. In 1916, he married Salud Tolentino Jorge, with whom he had six children; Salud died in 1931. He then met and lived with common-law wife, Virginia Guevarra Santos, with whom he had three children, namely Manuel (who followed in his father's footstep, with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines), Jorge and Norma before he met his would-be second wife, Maria del Carmen. While they were still together, Virginia found an engagement ring in one of Amorsolo's drawers; she knew the ring was for Maria, that prompted her to leave his house with her three children. In 1935, Fernando married Maria del Carmen who gave him eight more children. Among her daughters with her are
Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo (born 1943) is a Filipino painter and the president of the Fernando C. Amorsolo Foundation. She is the daughter of Fernando Amorsolo, Philippine's first national artist. She is one of the five siblings who followed in her fa ...
and Luz. But while they were married and Maria was giving birth to his children, Fernando had three more children with Virginia. His reputation was growing as fast as his brood and his work was more than enough to provide for his rather large family. Six of Amorsolo's children became artists themselves.


See also

* Arts of the Philippines * Ginebra San Miguel * José Honorato Lozano *
Juan Luna Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (, ; October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recogni ...
* Fabián de la Rosa *
Boxer Codex The ''Boxer Codex'' is a late sixteenth century Spanish manuscript that was produced in the Philippines. The document contains seventy-five colored illustrations of the peoples of China, the Philippines, Java, the Moluccas, the Ladrones, and Sia ...
* Justiniano Asuncion * Félix Resurrección Hidalgo


References


External links


Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation
*Photographs of Amorsolo'
palettewallet
an
other personal effects
at flickr.com.
Amorsolo works
at Allinson Gallery.
Amorsolo works
at Frazer Fine Art.

at Geringer Art. * Amorsolo works at Philippine Consulate San Francisco, California {{DEFAULTSORT:Amorsolo, Fernando 1892 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Filipino painters Burials at the Loyola Memorial Park Filipino landscape painters Filipino portrait painters National Artists of the Philippines People from Camarines Norte Bicolano people People from Paco, Manila University of the Philippines alumni