Name: Ruby Baltar

Grade &Sec: Grade 12/ABM2

Art title: Tobin Reese Fine Art

Artist: FERNANDO AMORSOLO(1892-1972)

Art Description: Amorsolo was known as “The
Painter of Philippines Sunlight” because his
illuminated landscapes displayed the magnificence
of the country’s sunshine and portrayed traditional
Filipino customs, culture, fiestas, and ordinary
occupations, such as rice harvesting and mango
picking. 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. Amorsolo’s use of
chiaroscuro—an Italian term for a backlighting
technique meaning “light-dark” that involves the
interplay of light and dark—became his artistic
trademark as well as 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. Only one painting by
Amorsolo is believed to include rain, as sunlight was his constant element. Art historian Eric
Torres describes Amorsolo’s sunlight paintings as “…overflow[ing] with sweetness and
optimism.” Others consider his countryside paintings to be the “true reflections of the Filipino
Soul.”