Saint Mary’s University

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION & HUMANITIES
Department 0f Social Sciences and Philosophy

NOTES in ART APPRECIATION

IV. Paintings in the Philippines: Historical background
➢ Philippine painting started before colonial period. Pre-Spanish Filipinos painted their bodies
with tattoos. Body tattoo is a STATUS SYMBOL: among the natives symbolize beauty for
women and power for men.
➢ Damian Domingo – first Filipino painter and the father of Philippine painting. He founded the
Academia de Dibujo y Pintura. The same Academy where Filipino painters like Fr. Agustin
Saez, Lorenzo Guerrero, Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo studied and trained.
➢ Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo introduced expressionism in the Philippines. Luna’s winning
pieces were “Cleopatra and Spoliarium”.
➢ Hidalgo’s winning pieces were “Christian Virgin Exposed to the Populace and La Barca de
Agueronte”.
➢ Other Filipino painters were Fabian dela Rosa, Fernando Amorsolo, and Carlos Francisco.
➢ Postwar Filipino Painters: Arturo Rogerio Luz, Hernando Ocampo, Anita Magsaysay Ho and
Vicente Manansala.
➢ At present: there is a growing number of artists particularly painters in Angono, Rizal. For
GAPPI, the United Nations International Labor Organization has listed about 600 artists in
Angono, Rizal. Thus, Angono was dubbed as an artist’s haven in the Philippines. Angono is the
hometown of Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Maestro Lucio San Pedro as National Artists.
1. Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto was one of the most important artists in the history of painting in
the Philippines. Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. Fernando
Amorsolo was named National Artist in 1972. Born: May 30, 1892, Paco, Manila, Philippines
➢ Died: April 24, 1972, Quezon City, Philippines Spouse: Salud Jorge (m. 1916–1931) Awards:
National Artist of the Philippines Children: Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, Luz Amorsolo
2. Juan Novicio Luna was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine
Revolution during the late 19th century. Luna became one of the first recognized Philippine
artists.
Born: October 23, 1857, Badoc, Philippines Died: December 7, 1899, Cabanatuan, Philippines
On view: National Gallery Singapore, Lopez Museum, National Museum of the Philippines
Periods: Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism Spouse: Maria de la Paz Pardo de Tavera (m.
1886–1892) Siblings: Antonio Luna, Joaquin Luna, Jose Novicio Luna

His Works:
➢ “The Battle of Lepanto” (1887) is a famous painting by Filipino painter and hero Juan Luna.
Luna is one of the first Filipinos to excel and earn recognition in the international field of arts
and culture. Location: Palacio del Senado, Centro, Madrid
➢ The Blood Compact is an award-winning 1886 “historic and historical' painting by Filipino painter
Juan Luna. Dimensions: 6′ 7″ x 9′ 10 Location: Malacañang Palace Genre: History painting
Created: 1886 Subject: Datu Sikatuna.

By: Miss Luz Leal Ildefonso 1|

Page
 ➢ The Parisian Life, also known as Interior d'un Cafi, is an 1892 oil on canvas impressionist
painting by Filipino painter and revolutionary activist Juan Luna. Others: “España y Filipinas”,
➢ The Death of Cleopatra, also known simply as Cleopatra, is an 1881 painting made by the
Filipino painter Juan Luna.
➢ The famous painting was a silver medalist or second prize winner during the 1881 National
Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid.
3. Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the
great Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having
been
Born: February 21, 1855, Binondo, Philippines Died: March 13, 1913, Barcelona, Spain Period:
Impressionism Place of burial: Manila North Cemetery, Manila, Philippines Known for:
Painting, Drawing.
4. The painting on the It’s more fun in the Philippines is done by Dante D. Hipolito
5. Anita Magsaysay-Ho – is the only female member of the 13 Modern Filipino artists. Filipina
artist in 1958 chosen by panel of experts. Her subjects were beauty of Filipino women dealing
with everyday issues.
6. Vicente Alvarez Dizon has painted the famous first-prize-winning painting “After the Day's Toil”
is finally located! 70 years after it left Philippine shores. The masterpiece was bought.

V. Sculpture
“The Sculptor has this advantage over all the artists; that his chief subject it the most
beautiful thing in the world – the human body” (Dewitt H. Parker)
Sculpture – is defined as a technique of modeling. It is a creation of three-dimensional
figures, forms of designs from a single block mass of materials.
The Sculptor – is one of the most realistic of the arts because it preserves the body; the chief
subject of the artist – the human body.
Sculpture can be:
1. FREE-STANDING – sculpture can be seen from more than one position and is called
SCULPTURE in the ROUND. In the Contemporary times this kind of sculpture is
called STATUARY.
2. The figures in RELIEF – structure is projected from a flat background and is called
BAS RELIEF when the form is slightly raised. But when one of the thickness or more
figures are projected it becomes almost round, it is HIGH RELIEF.
3. KINETIC - sculpture is called mobile sculpture, is made of strips of metals, glass or
plastic arranged with wires and are hung in places where they can be moved.
MEDIA IN SCULPTURE:
1. STONE – artist may use limestone, granite, marble or jade:
Limestone - is relatively porous and soft, easy to carve, finished product are dull and
granular and are suited for strong generally simple effects.
GRANITE – is usually combined with other materials and quite difficult to chisel. This is good
for large works with only few designs and details.
MARBLE – easier to carve than granite due to its relatively softer. It is capable for
By: Miss Luz Leal Ildefonso 2|
Page
 smooth and lustrous surface.
JADE - is a fine, colorful and usually green. It is highly esteemed as an ornamental
stone for carving and fashioning jewelry.

2. METALS – possess three unique qualities: tensile strength ductility, and malleability.
Metals used are copper, brass, bronze, gold, silver, lead, and aluminum.
BRONZE – one of the most universally popular metals for sculpture. It is ideal material
for sculpture placed in open places like parks due to its strength, durability and
resistance to atmospheric corrosion.
BRASS - not popularly used due to its limitations as a medium. But have many
practical uses. Brass sculpture does not RUST and it takes a brilliant polish.
COPPER - is usually shaped through hammering and can be handled in sheets and
fashioned into relief forms. It has also high resistance to atmospheric corrosion.
GOLD & SILVER – are used in casting materials for small objects like medals, coins,
and pieces of jewelry. Because they are expensive, they are often used either for
personal accessories or religious adornments.
LEAD – is a bluish-gray metal used for casting and forging with the help of a welding
torch iron, it can be worked into a variety of unique and exciting abstract forms.
3. WOOD – it is easier to carve than any other medium due to its lighter and softer
quality than stone. It can be intricately carved and subjected to variety of treatment
than stone.
4. PLASTER – is a composition of lime and water. When mixed with water, it forms a
solid material and with new qualities of workability. When the material has been set,
the artist can easily carve away excess parts or can add plaster where he needs to.
The setting process of the plaster can be slowed down or sped up as desired.
5. CLAY- it is a natural earthly material and generally fragile so it is necessary to cast it
in another material. Earthenware and stoneware are baked clay or clay fired at high
temperature. It is called terra cotta. Porcelain is made from mixed materials containing
great amount of kaolin and feldspar. Plasticine is a synthetic no hardening compound
of earth clays, sulfur and oil or grease.
6. GLASS – the medium is hard, brittle, non-crystalline, more or less transparent
substances produced by fusion of dissolved silica and silicates that contains soda and
lime. It can be molded in various colors and shapes.
7. PLASTICS – are durable substance that can be made look and feel like glass,
ceramics, leather, wood or even metal. They are light weight, easy to handle and
remarkably scratch and stain-resistant.
8. IVORY- Ivory comes from the tusks of elephants. It’s hard-white substances are used to
make carvings and billiard balls. Ivory is worked by scrapping with a sharp knife. Because it is
expensive and come in small chunks, it is frequently used only for small religious images.
9. LUMINAL Sculpture – The newest materials for sculpture are electronic devices.
These can make beams of light travel in patterns or just remain in place to subtly light
up a sculptural form. Lights may blink alternately or glow steadily.
10. Sand Sculpture – is typically an elaborate one, as of a building, animal or human figure,
etc., fashioned from wet sand, as at the beach.
11. Ice Sculpture –is a form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures
from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative. Ice
sculptures are generally associated with special or extravagant events because of
their limited lifetime.
The lifetime of a sculpture is determined primarily by the temperature of its
environment; thus, a sculpture can last from mere minutes to possibly months. There

By: Miss Luz Leal Ildefonso 3|

Page
 are several ice festivals held around the world, hosting competitions of ice sculpture
carving.

SCULPTURAL TECHNIQUES:
1. Carving – a subtracted process by removing unwanted portions of the raw materials to
reveal the form as visualized by the artist.
2. Modeling – is an additive process by building the form using highly plastic material
such as clay or wax. The use of modeling technique enables the sculptor to build up,
tear down and modify without ruining his material e. g. metal wire to hold the clay.
3. Casting – is a complex process where a sculptor used a technique with the production
of a negative mold first. The sculptor covers the original model with a mold like
ceramic material to create a negative material.
4. Fabrication – is an additive process by putting the materials together by joining or
fastening such as nailing, stapling, soldering and welding.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SCULPTURE
1. Egyptian sculpture forms vary in two kingdoms:
Old Kingdom (2686 BC–2182 BC) – depicts the idealistic character where deformities
are seldom represented.
New Kingdom (ca. 1479–1425 B.C) – characterized by a more realistic in nature.
2. Greek sculpture is traced in three periods:
Archaic period – mythological characters as the subjects. This was also the time when
sculpture in the ROUND developed.
Classical Period -– emotion was emphasized like in Polyclitus’ Doryphoros or the Spear
Bearer and a well-developed human body like Myron’s Discobolus or Discuss Thrower.
Early Classical - (480-450BCE)
High Classical - (450-400BCE)
Late classical - (400-323BCE)
Hellenistic period – facial serenity disappeared. Statues of males and females were
shown with very little to no clothing at all such as the Venus de Milo.

3. Roman Sculpture – were commemorative statues of Roman leaders and generals,

Roman senators and equestrians as the subjects and due to these subjects, Roman
sculpture is
more realistic.
4. RENAISSANCE Sculpture: Early Renaissance sculptor was Donatello who made the
statue of David and the bust of the Child Jesus.
In High Renaissance – well-known sculpture was of Michelangelo’s Pieta and the
marble statue of Moses.
5. BAROQUE Sculpture – prominent sculptor was Lorenzo Bernini who made the bronze
bust of Louis XIV of France.
6. ROCOCO Sculpture - Houdun was the greatest French sculptor of the Rococo period.
His works:
Busts of Diana, goddess of Hunt, George Washington & The Ecstasy of St. Teresa of
Avila.
7. MODERN Sculptors: Auguste Roudin – “The Thinker” (Impressionism) William Zorach
Cubism, & Alexander Calder introduced the elements of chance in sculpture and was
known in his “mobile sculpture”.
8. TODAY’S Sculptors: the most outstanding is Henry Moore, who expressed his destruction
of the human form with the used of voids and hollowed-out forms. He viewed human
existence between chasms of destructions.
By: Miss Luz Leal Ildefonso 4|
Page
SCULPTURE in the PHILIPPINES

1. Pre-colonial – sculptural forms were made for their anitos.

2. Spanish Era – the “pagan idols” were replaced by Christian symbols and human
figures e.g. Estaciones, wooden statue of St. Michael - Slaying the Dragon (18th
Century).
3. 19th Century – sculpture flourished in the Philippines and Paete, Laguna became the
center of REALISTIC painting. Martinez Montañez, Miguel Palatino, and Angelo
Saavedra were among the greatest sculptors of Paete. The most prominent was
Romualdo de Jesus who taught Rizal in wood carving.
4. American Period – sculpture was to commemorate Filipino heroes e.g. monuments of
Rizal and Bonifacio was built. Prominent Filipino Sculptors: Guillermo Tolentino and
Graciano Nepumuceno. Guillermo stated that there should be no distortions in
sculpture.
Tolentino’s works:
Bonifacio’s Monument, Calaocan Sanduguan, Oblation – UP
Nepomuceno’s works: Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere characters: Crisostomo Ibarra,
Filosofo Tasio, Sisa, and Maria Clara
5. Modern Period – sculptors: Napoleon Abueva, Solomon Saprid, Eduardo Castrillo, and
Abdul Mari Imao
a. Napoleon Abueva, though a student of Guillermo, advanced the sculpture of
distortions. His works: Kaganapan (wood) Homage to the New Filipino (stainless
metal)
b. Solomon Saprid’s winning works: Candila Vendor, Rat Race, Peace Loving
Tikbalang and his neo-cubist - GomBurZa.
c. Eduardo Castrillo – Most outstanding in metal sculpture. Famous work: Pieta –
Loyola Memorial Park
d. Imao - is a Muslim sculptor who made the Sarimanok.
e. Anselmo Bayang Day-ag - famous during Marcos Regime. His works: Bust of
Marcos, Lion, Kennon Rd. Baguio City, Eagle in La Union, Battle of Mactan, Cebu,
Quezon Memorial, Yamashita Shrine, Kiangan, Ifugao.

References:

1. Caslib, B. N., Garing, D, and Casaul, J.A. (2018). Art Appreciation. Quezon City: Rex
Book Store, Inc.
2. Marquez, C.A. (2020). Art Appreciation. Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya: Saint Mary’s
University Publishing House.
3. Douley, L., Faricy, A., and Rice, J. (1978). The Humanities. Sixth Edition, New York:
McGrawl-Hill Book Company.
4. Private Notes from the members of Pagpapahalaga sa Sining, NGEC Training for
Trainers, Ateneo de Davao, Davao City October 2016.

By: Miss Luz Leal Ildefonso 5|

Page