''Mi Novia'' ("My Girlfriend") is a painting by
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
painter
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 recogniz ...
. Created in the academic-style, it was in an exhibition ''
hors concours'' or not for the purpose of competing for a prize. Instead it was a painting that was aimed to please the viewing public.
[
]
Description
In ''Mi Novia'', Luna employed an "ingratiating technique" that is predisposed to stifle the personality of the painter. The woman in ''Mi Novia'' resembles the "other ladies of distinction" portrayed by the other so-called Salon painters. It is designed to capture the attention of viewers using "glamorous clichés," such as the "girlish tilt of the head", the "dewy eyes", the "auburn curls" on the forehead, the lacy and ornamental "clots" of pigment of the garment, the slickness of the pictorial surface, the banal and sweet rosiness of the facial expression, and the presence of a "winy purple" background. The painting is full of "obvious" gimmickry that evokes an emotional response from the spectators. The attractive face of the woman in the painted picture was set to make the onlookers’ imagination float or wander "in reverie". The characteristic of Luna's ''Mi Novia'' is similar to Félix Resurrección Hidalgo
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (February 21, 1855 – March 13, 1913) was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an ...
's scholarly portrait of ''A Girl Carrying a Flowerpot''.[Torres, Eric]
"Mi Novia" by Juan Luna
The Art of Juan Luna, Infocus, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, ncca.gov.ph, May 3, 2004
According to rumours, this painting is haunted and cursed since Juan Luna was working on it when he killed his wife and mother-in-law using a shotgun due to his suspicions of infidelity.
In spite of Luna's technique and cliché, the ''Mi Novia'' painting – together with his other painting the ''Odalisque
An odalisque (, tr, odalık) was a chambermaid or a female attendant in a Turkish seraglio, particularly the court ladies in the household of the Ottoman sultan. In western usage, the term came to mean the harem concubine, and refers to the ...
'' – was one of the reasons that made Luna an officially accepted painter at the so-called " Salon of Paris".[
]
References
Paintings by Juan Luna
Philippine paintings
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