MODULE NO.

MODULE 4: DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL ART IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippine Visual Arts encompass a range of forms develop by Filipinos in the Ethnic,
Spanish, American and contemporary traditions. In ethnic communities, pottery, weaving,
carving, and metal craft are made for ritual purposes or for everyday use. Spanish
colonization introduced painting and sculpture whose subject matter was for the most part
religious, although secular theme and forms emerged in 19th century under the patronage
of the new mestizo elite. The American period witness the conflict between conservatism
and modernism, with the latter gaining around in the end in painting and sculpture. After
World War II artist explored variety of Western and Eastern styles, media, ad philosophies -
some consciously going back ethnic roots - to express themselves as individuals and as
Filipinos.

PRE-SPANISH ART IN THE PHILIPPINES

Long before the arrival of Spaniards, ancient Filipinos were living in scattered barangays
and rule by different chieftains. Although they were living separately, they were similar in
many ways, their religion, and mode of dressing, houses, system of government and
marriage practices and economic activities, in short, they were refined and civilized; they
possess a distinct culture that distinguish them from other race.

Houses

Clothes
1
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6

Ornament

❖ The natives wore ornament made gold and precious stone. Women including
men wore armlet, anklet, bracelets, gold rings and earring. Putting tattoos on their
body was practiced.

2
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6

❖ Males having many tattoos were admired because it signified bravery in the war.
They also inserted gold between their teeth as an ornament.

Music
Natives were without a doubt, music lovers. Each community had their own sets of musical
instrument. In the account of Pigafetta, the official historian of Magellan expedition,
woman from Cebu were harmoniously playing:

◆ Cymbals (plantiles)
◆ Nose flutes, bamboo mouth organs (aphiw)
◆ Brass gong (gansa)
◆ Flute (bansic)
◆ Long drum (calibao)
◆ Bamboo harp (subing)
◆ Water whistle (paiyak)
◆ Guitar (bugtot)
◆ Xylophone (agong)
◆ Drum (tugo)

Literature
The early form of literature during pre-Spanish period was a classified into written or oral.
Examples of oral literature consisted of;

◆ Maxims (sabi)
◆ Bugtong (riddles)

3
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6
◆ Boat song (talindaw)
◆ Victory song (tagumpay)
◆ Lullaby (uyayi)
◆ Wedding song (ihiman)
◆ War song (kumintang)

Examples of written literature are:

◆ Biag ni Lam-Ang (Ilocano epic)
◆ Indarapatra at Sulayman and Bidasari (Muslim epics)
◆ Handiong (Bicolanaos)

Baybayin - Ancient writing script of the Philippines

Baybayin - (also incorrectly known as Alibata) is a pre-Hispanic Philippine script. It is an
alphasyllabary belonging to family of the Brahmic scripts. It was widely used in Luzon and
other parts of Philippines prior to and during 16th and centuries before being supplanted by
the alphabet during the period Spanish colonization.

Development of Painting in the Philippines

I. Spanish Period
When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in 1521, the colonizers used art as a
tool to propagate the Catholic faith through beautiful images. With communication
as problem, the friars images to explain the concepts behind Catholicism and to tell
the stories of Christ life and passion. Filipino Artisan was taught the Chinese
brushwork technique in painting. Engraving was also introduced.

A. Painting
Spaniards used painting as religious propaganda for the first century of the Spanish
colonization, painting was limited to religious icons. Painters from the Visayas island
of Bohol were noted for their skillful manipulation of the technique. Their painting of
saints and religious scenes shows figures in frontal and static position.

In the church in Paete, Laguna are two works by Jose Luciano Dans (1805 - ca.
1870), probably of the earliest recorded painters in the Philippine art history. Langit,
4
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6
Lupa at Impierno ca. 1850 (Heaven, Earth, and Hell), a three-level painting which
shows the Holyu Trinity, Mary the mother of Christ, Saints, The Seven Blessed
Sacraments and a macadre depiction of hell. The Second painting is entitled
Purgatorio (Porgatory) which shows the eight forms of punishments the soul passes
through for cleansing before reaching Heaven.

During the early part of the Spanish occupation, painting was exclusively for the churches
and for religious purposes. Occasionally, it was used for propanda. Esteban Villanueva of
Vigan, Ilocos Sur depicted the Ilocos revolt against the basi monopoly in a 1821. the
Spanish government commissioned the work. The fourteen panels show the series of events
and led to the crushing of Ilocano basi workers revolt by Spanish forces. It also showed the
appearance of Halley’s Comet in the Philippines during that time.

5
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6
Tagalog painters Jose Lode, Tomas Nazario and Miguel de los Reyes, did the first still life
paintings in the country. They were commissioned in 1786 by a Spanish botanist to paint
the flora found in the country.

The earliest known historical painting in the Philippines was a mural at the Palacio Real
(Royal Palace) in Intramuros entitled The Conquest of the Batanes done in 1783.
unfortunately, it was destroyed during 1863 earthquake.

Secular subject matter in painting only increased during 19th century. With more tourists,
ilustrados and foreigners demanding souvenirs and decorations from the country, tipos del
pais develop in painting. These watercolor paintings show their social status and
occupation. It also became an album of different native costumes. Damian Domingo y
Gabor (ca. 1790-1832) was the most popular who worked in this style.

In the early 19th century, the rise of the illustrados saw a rise of portraiture. The need to
adorn their newly constructed bahay-na-bato and the want to document their new found
wealth and social status, the illustrados commissioned painters to make portraits of
Ascunsion captured the intricately designed jewelry and fashion accessories, the minuet
details of the embroidered cloths, and ornately designed domestic furniture of the patrons.
The painstaking attention to minuet details characterized miniaturismo.

Governor General Narciso Claveria in 1849 issued a decree that all Philippine natives
should assume Spanish names. Letras Y Figuras, (letters and figures), a style developed by
Jose Honorato Lozano, combines both tipos del pais and genre paintings by forming the
letters of the patron’s name from figures of people in local costumes doing everyday
activities. It also utilized landscape scenes as background.

In 1821, Damian Domingo opened the first formal fine arts school in the country in his
house, the Academia de Dibujo. Perhaps realizing his importance to Philippine art history,
Damian Domingo is known for having made the first self-portrait in the country. In 1823, the
Real Sociedad Economica Filipina de Amigos del Pais (Royal Economic Society of the
Friends of the Colony) opened their own art school. In 1826, the society offered Domingo
to be the professor in their school, in effect merging the two art schools. In 1828, Domingo
was promoted to school director. Domingo must have taught miniaturismo to his students,
but a publication by the academy entitled Elements de Perspectiva (Elements of
Perspective) suggests that he must have also taught the classical ideals of the European
academies. Due to lack of funds and probably due to Domingo’s death in 1832, the
school eventually closed in 1834.

In 1845, under the Junta de Commercio, a new art school, the Academia de Dibujo Y
Pintura, was opened with 70 enrollees. Enrique Nieto y Zamora, a new employee at the
Post Office and a graduate of the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid, was appointed
as acting director of the academy. Paintings by Spanish master were brought in to serve as
models for the students, propagating the European academic style of painting - using
grand subject from classical Greek and Roman mythologies, depicting historical scenes,
and the use of chiaroscuro.

The academy was renamed Escuela de Dibujo, Pintura y Grabado in 1889. it was later
incorporated with teh Escuela de Artes y Oficios in 1891. In 1893, the school of arts and

6
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6
trades was separated from the academy. The academy was later elevated to the Escuela
Superior de Pintura, Escultura y. Grabado.

Other subject matter became increasingly popular such as genre, landscapes (paisajes),
and bodegones (still life) with artists like Simn Flores, Lorenzo Guerrero, Felix Martinez, Paz
Paterno and her half sister Adelaida Paterno. Flores’ two extand works, Primeras Letras and
Feeding the Chicken show the close bond between mother and child.

The academic style was still favored by the church and government and was used for
religious icons. The miniaturist style, thought, was favored by illustrado patrons and
continued to prosper.

Several Filipino painters had the chance to study and work abroad. Among them were
Juan Novicio Luna and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo who became the first international
Filipino artists when they won the gold and silver medals in the 1884 Madrid Exposition.

Luna’s academic painting Spoliarium won gold medal. It showed the dead and dying
Roman Gladiators being dragged into the basement of the Coliseum. It is often interpreted
as an allusion to Imperial Spain’s oppression of the natives. Though winning the gold
medal, Luna was not awarded the Medal of Excellence, the top award for the
competition, because he was a Filipino. The King of Spain, to assuage Luna’s feelings,
commissioned him to paint The Battle of Lepanto. Hidalgo won the silver medal for Virgenes
Christianas Expuestas al Populacho or Christian Virgins Exposed to the Public. The feat of
Luna and Hidalgo caught the attention of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippine’s National Hero, that
in a gathering of Filipinos in Madrid, he gave a speech praising Luna and Hidalgo for their
mastery and nationalism.

B. Sculpture
Of all the new art forms introduced, the natives took to sculpture instantly. The
carving of anito was transformed into sculpture of the saints. These santos were
used primarily for the church altars and retablos. It also replaced the anitos in the
altars of the natives’ homes.

Carvings for churches include altar pieces called retablos (usually with niches for
the icons), the central point of any Catholic church. The retablo houses the
tabernacle and the image of the town’s patron saint. Usually referred to as a
‘’cabinet of saints’’, one would see a hierarchy of saints depending on their
importance to the townspeople. The patron saint would be in the middle; less
important saints would be in the periphery. The most elaborate retablos can be
seen in the San Agustin Church in Intramuros.

Other parts of the church that may have carvings are church doors, pulpits, and
carrozas (floats that carry the saints for processions). The façade of churches may
be carved from adobe, coral stone, and volcanic rock, among others. It may have
carved images of saints, floral decorations or leaf decors. In the case of the
Miag-ao Church in Iloilo, the façade is decorated with a carved image of St.
Christopher carrying the Christ Child on his shoulders under a coconut tree.

7
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6
Relleves (carved images in relief) usually depict the Via Crucis. It may also show
holy images in religious scenes.

The earliest known sculptor in the Philippines is the 17th century sacristan, sculptor
and silversmith Juan de los Santos (ca. 1590 – ca. 1660) of San Pablo, Laguna. A
few of his extant works may be found at the San Agustin Convent museum.

Except for de los Santos, carvers were anonymous artisans before the 19th century.
But in the mid-19thcentury, with the rise of the ilustrados and the opening of the
country to international trade, higher artistic standards were demanded from the
carvers/sculptors. A number of Filipinos found fame in sculpture such as Crispulo
Hocson, Romualdo de Jesus, Leoncio Asuncion and Isabelo Tampinco.

The second half of the 19th century, as travel in and around the country
considerably improved, saw a marked increase in the demand for non-religious
souvenirs. Tipos del pais (human types of the country) sculptures, showing ordinary
people doing everyday activities and wearing their local costumes, became the
favorite. They also depicted the heads of the various ethnic groups.

The inclusion of sculpture in the Academia de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado de

Manila’s curriculum in 1879 formalized training in sculpture. Known sculptors during
this time were Bonifacio Arevalo, Graciano Nepomuceno, Marcelo Nepomuceno,
and Anselmo Espiritu. Philippine National Hero Jose P. Rizal was a sculptor. He took
up woodcarving lessons from Romualdo de Jesus and Paete master carver Jose
Caancan.

Paete, a small woodcarving town in Laguna, Southern Luzon, produced the finest
santo carvers during this period. The most prominent name is Mariano
Madriñan who won a gold medal in the 1883 Amsterdam Exposition for his Mater
Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother).

In 1889, the first woman student, Pelagia Mendoza y Gotianquin, was accepted in

the Academia de Dibujo Y Pintura by then Director Lorenzo Rocha. In 1892, Pelagia
Mendoza won in the 1892 Columbus Quadricentennial Art Contest with a bust of
Christopher Columbus.

C. GRAPHIC ARTS
Engraving was introduced in the 1590’s by the Spanish colonizers. In 1593, the
Dominicans published the La Doctrina Christiana en la Lengua Española y
Tagala (The Christian Doctrine in the Spanish and Tagalog Language), first book
printed in the country. On it was a woodcut engraving of St. Dominic by Juan de
Veyra, a Chinese convert.

The religious orders owned printing presses and printed mostly prayer books and
estampas. The estampas (prints of miraculous images) usually featured portraits of
saints and religious scenes. Estampas and estampitas (smaller version of estampas)
were distributed during town fiestas to the natives.

8
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6
In the 18th century, copper etching became more popular. Filipino engravers like
Francisco Suarez, Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay, Laureano Atlas, and Felipe Sevilla were
the first Filipino artists to sign their works. And with words like “Indios Tagalo” or
“Indio Filipino”, affixed their social status on their works.

Francisco Suarez (ca. 1690 – ca. 1762) and Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay (1702 – ca.
1765) collaborated to depict landscapes, genre scenes and flora and fauna on
the borders of maps commissioned by Fr. Murillo Velarde in 1733. These were
probably the first secular images done in the country. The two also illustrated the
pasyon written by Gaspar Aquino de Belen entitled Mahal na Passion ni Jesu
Christong Panginoon Natin Na Tola (The Holy Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ in
Verse), possibly the first pasyon written in the country.

Laureano Atlas made religious scenes and images. He did one of the earliest
known portrait engraved on copper, a portrait of Archbishop Juan Angel
Rodriguez in 1743. Phelipe Sevilla depicted scenes from the life of Christ.

Filipino engravers were the first to depict and reproduce brown madonnas. The
Nuestra Senora de Guia was made in 1711, the oldest Marian image. The natives
worship this icon like an anito.

Copperplate engraving remained popular until the introduction of a new printing

medium. Lithography was introduced and this facilitated the printing of
newspapers and periodicals in the country. It also enabled the printing of the local
edition of Fr. Manuel Blanco’s Flora de Filipinas in 1878.

One of the popular newspapers during the 19th century was La Illustracion

Filipina published by Don Jose Zaragosa. It had more than 100 issues from
November 1891 to February 1895. It usually featured lithograph prints of people,
landscapes and genre scenes. Since most of the family members know how to
draw (including Carmen Zaragosa mentioned earlier), some of their works must
have been published here.

II. American Period

⮚ American colonial strategy lay primarily in the domain of ideology and culture
through the implementation of public educational system and educational
program.
⮚ Demand for textbook illustrations and cartoons lead to incorporating commercial
and advertising into the fine arts curriculum.
⮚ Americans as a new art patron favored idyllic landscaped and genres.

In the field of art…

With the arrival of the new colonial power came in shift art patronage - the native
illustrados to the Americans. The new patrons, including the tourists and foreign investors,
favored landscapes, still life, and genre themes that show the beauty of the land and its
people. Portraits were still favored by the public officials, usually depicting them in dignified
poses. There from, the American Colonization brought high influence to the major Filipino
art forms: paintings, sculptures and architectures.

9
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6

Examples of Artists and their Artworks:

10
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED
 MODULE NO. 6

11
Art Appreciation. AA01. BEED