Ni: Bb.

Amie Milano
 Harana, 1957
Carlos “Botong Francisco
The awareness of showcasing art in
a formal venue in the country, the
purpose of art exhibits, and the
vision of giving art its proper
liberty of expression, only came
into being in the 1900s.
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Pre-Colonial Art is functional:
1. For practicing and evoking their religion or method of worship;
2. For making known their designated or newly acquired social status;
3. For telling stories or legends;
4. For showing off their recent achievements.
 Spanish proto art
galleries were the
churches erected during
the spread
of Catholicism in the
country. Stone
churches were built, and
the education of
engraving, painting, and
sculpture from the friars
followed suit.
Art could only exist through
religious works, objects, or
relics of worship due to the
Real Orden and the
Comision de Permanente de
Censura, which required
that all artistic productions
passed through strict friar
supervision.
If one were to find another venue that would be
similar to an art gallery during the Spanish times in
Metro Manila, it would be found in workshops.
Some were found in the Parian, the so-called first
mall and employment agency in the Philippines,
where every kind of craftsman was available.
Together with the sale of silk, furniture, porcelain,
etc., anyone could commission a painting or a
monument from certain artisans, a scenario which
resurfaced in today’s Art Walk at the Shoemart
(SM) Megamall. With such progression in the
Philippine art scene, the need for an art gallery
inevitably followed.
In spite of the economic
disruption between the
Spanish rule and the
beginning of the
American regime, art
activity soon became
active.
National Museum, the Philippine Vistas Gallery, and the
first university gallery in the Philippines (the Art Gallery in
the UST Museum) were established. Philippine art scene
under the American period was largely conservative.
The art patrons became the American
officials, teachers, merchants, and tourists
who sought paintings which depicted
landscapes, genre, still-lifes, and
portraiture.
The production of monuments were also
encouraged.
walking galleries
Fernando Amorsolo was gaining ground and soon earned international and local fame,
outshining all the other artists. To add to the artists’ dilemma, with Amorsolo
dominating the limelight, there were not enough art galleries yet except for the
Philippine Vistas, a small art gallery in Intramuros; the National Museum, and the Art
Gallery in the UST Museum-the latter two of which did not exhibit works of unknown
artists. Art activity was hence dictated by Amorsolo and a few other established
artists. For the unknown artists, the opportunity for exposure to the public then
became an essential factor for their quest to gain popularity. That there were also
other talents worthy of praise and patronage, was an existent fact.
q It was instituted to promote the interests of artists, to exhibit their works, and
to serve as an education center.
q This association even offered incentives that challenged the upliftment of
artistic standards.
q There were annual competitions, exhibitions, scholarships, and even free art
lessons for hobbyists and art enthusiasts
q In 1995, AAP held an exhibit, which was marked by a walkout of the
conservatives. This group formed themselves into the Academy of Filipino
Artists (AFA), and eventually held sidewalk exhibitions and annual outdoor
shows at the Luneta Park. Many of these artists since then have put up
galleries along Manila’s tourist belt.
q One of the prominent remembered venues for struggling Young Modern Artists
was the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG). It functioned not only as an art gallery
but also as a venue for artists, leading literary men, and intellectuals who
frequented the place to exchange ideas about the art scene, art-making, art
trends, etc.
THE ART SCENE IMPROVED DURING THE POST-LIBERATION
YEARS. AS THE NUMBER OF BUSINESSES INCREASED, SO
DID THE MIDDLE-CLASS GROW IN NUMBER, IN ECONOMIC
AND INTELLECTUAL STATUS. IN FACT, HIGH SOCIETY WAS
ADDED TO A LIST OF TRADERS, BUSINESSMEN AND
INDUSTRIALISTS. WHAT FOLLOWED FROM THIS WAS THE
PUBLIC’S RISING AWARENESS AND CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE
TALENT AND PROFICIENCY OF THE FILIPINO ARTIST. THUS,
ART PATRONAGE AND ITS PROMOTION INCREASED
ALTOGETHER.
 COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS DECADES, THE COMMUNITY
DURING THE 1960S HAVE BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE
ARTS. ONE EXAMPLE WAS THE INCREASE INVOLVEMENT OF
PRIVATE FIRMS LIKE SAN MIGUEL BREWERY, INSULAR LIFE,
FGU, ETC. WHO PROVIDED CASH AWARDS FOR ART
COMPETITIONS. ANOTHER WAS THE CREATION OF A
COMMISSION ON CULTURE, AND THE ALAY AT PAMANA
CEREMONY WHICH FORMALLY LAUNCHED THE CULTURAL
PROJECT OF THEN FIRST LADY IMELDA MARCOS.
MALACAÑANG PARK ITSELF BECAME A VENUE FOR ONE-MAN
SHOWS. EVEN THE AAP ALSO CAME UP WITH NEW
PROJECTS FOR ART AWARENESS AND APPRECIATION.
In the year 1960 alone, the Luz Gallery, the Ateneo Art Gallery, and the Lopez Museum were inaugurated. About nine more
galleries and one museum opened by the time the decade ended including: Lawrence D’ Art Gallery; Avans Art Galler; Gallery
7; Gallery Indigo; Solidaridad Galleries; Print (also known as the Joy-Dayritt Gallery) and the galleries inside the Cultural
Center of the Philippines.
Arturo Luz, owner of the Luz Gallery, had three objectives when he opened
his gallery:
1. To properly show paintings that deserved to be shown;
2. To seek genuine talent and give it the needed approval and recognition
that it needs; and
3. To mold taste and exercise a certain degree of critical judgment.
 When Mrs. Marcos stepped into the Malacañang Palace in
1966, she launched her own program that was focused on
the wider acceptance of the artist and his role in the
nation’s cultural and social development. She sponsored art
shows in the palace, graced art openings, bought artworks,
and in turn influenced many of her friends to do the same.
Art acquisition through her example drove the social elite to
ardent, frenzied-buying in the 1970s. Hence, the
patronage of art was in no time associated with prestige,
status symbols, and making a suitable investment. (1)

Mrs. Marcos’ decision to actually push her

program into providing a home for the arts.
The decade’s innovative artists who practice
conceptual, environmental, kinetic, and other
new forms of expression eventually found a
refuge in the Cultural Center of the Philippines
that became the weather vane of the winds of
modern Philippine Art. (2)
Art awareness among the public was intensified with the government’s
issuance of Proclamation No. 1001 (pertaining to the National Artist
Award). Amid the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, the art scene
managed to flourish and was even helped by certain events that grew out
from this environment. With the big number of artists already
professionally honing their art full time, the numerous artist-groups vying
for recognition and patronage, the large audience clamoring for artworks
as investments, and of course the curious viewing public who did not want
to be left out of the developing art scene.

There were on record 34 art galleries and four art museums inaugurated
in the 1970s (1970-1979). Among these were the Hidalgo Art Gallery,
Red Gallery, Palette Gallery, Sining Kamalig, Galerie Bleue, Diliman Gallery,
Miladay Art Center, Village Gallery, Impressions Gallery, Rear Room Gallery,
Metro Gallery, Galleria Duemila 2000, Print Collections Gallery, and the
Kawilihan Art Gallery. The museums were the Ayala Museum, Metropolitan
Museum of Manila, Contemporary Art Museum of the Philippines (CAMP),
and the Museum of Philippine Art (MOPA).
 Sometime between 1976-1977, visual
artworks were considered to function as
subversive material against the
government.
On the other hand, the Museum of Philippine Art (MOPA) as
mentioned earlier, was one of the major contributions of the
Marcos government to the cultural scene. Built around the
donations of artists and collectors, chiefly by the Purita
Kalaw Ledesma Art Foundation, the collection was housed in
the former Elks Club building. Inaugurated in 1977, the
museum’s founding director was Arturo Luz and its function
was to act as the national venue for Philippine Modern Art.

1980 saw an economic recession, and in the immediate years

(1980-1983) that followed, there were only seven galleries
that opened. Familiar names were Hiraya Gallery, Greenhills
Art Center, Lliongoren Gallery, Gallery Genesis, and the
Artists Gallery.
By the time the mid-80s came, the Philippine economy posted a negative GNP
growth resulting to a significantly reduced art market.

But in spite of the plunging economy, there were still worthy shows as recounted
by art writers, in which art became increasingly political in character. It was in
1983 that a massive, open, and protest movement would ensue due to the Ninoy
Aquino assassination. From this time on, the decade would be filled with a series
of demonstrations and indignation rallies.

But in terms of activity for the artists themselves, there was a great number of
them who engaged in socio-political themes. Many forms of art spilled out of the
galleries and into the confetti-showered streets as large portable murals or
symbolic paper mache effigies. As for art galleries and their exhibits, much
performance art expressed a political content. Accompanying the exhibits were
film showings, lectures, and art symposia.
The number of art galleries that were established in the eighties were much fewer compared to the seventies. The uncertain times before the February
revolution caused most proprietors or institutions to hesitate in establishing an art gallery-more so if it were a gallery that mainly sold artworks. After
1986, the country carried a colossal economic problem. The Cory administration was faced with an inheritance of a $28-billion foreign debt burden.
Along with the decision of the government to close the MOPA, fewer than ten galleries and one museum were born. La Galerie of Alliance Francaise,
Madrigal Center, West Gallery, Brix Gallery, and the Vargas Museum were among them.
In the early 1990s and under the Ramos administration (1992), when
the turtle-paced economy had improved and many economic reforms
were seen to be taken seriously, many art galleries opened. The Ramos
government had also showed early efforts to help the art scene.

q First, there was the Republic Act No. 7356 that was signed into
law in 1992 to create the National Commission for Culture and the
Arts (NCCA), particularly the National Committee on Independent
Commercial Galleries.
q Secondly, there was also the granting of a permanent home to the
National Museum.
q Other continuous forms of support came in the form of Presidential
Proclamation No. 798 that declared October as the Museums and
Galleries Month, and the creation of the Committee of Art Galleries
(CAG) during the mid-90s, specified under the sub-commission on
Cultural Heritage. Through this, a number of member galleries met
monthly and discussed special projects for the promotion of art.
Today, more major city shopping malls have given the initiative to invite art galleries to open within their infrastructure. It started in early 1992 that the idea and
opening of an Art Walk, a lane of art galleries clustered in a shopping mall, first germinated from the successful exhibit of Juvenal Sanso in the SM Megamall. With
many paintings sold mostly to art collectors, as well as to “chance-passerby customers,” SM’s vice-president for engineering and development Mr. Sy-who himself
was an avid art collector, decided that it was possible for art to be brought closer to the people. And with a successive show by another artist that attracted a
receptive audience, the establishment of a gallery row was put into action. New museums that also entered into the art scene and continues to flourish are the
GSIS Museum and the Museo ng Maynila.
Reference:

Yusi, Lyn. “The Development of Art Galleries in the

Philippines”. NCCA