VMA GLOBAL COLLEGE AND TRAINING CENTER, INC

High School Department

Learning Module

TEACHER: JOHN CARLO B. CONIENDO

GRADE LEVEL: 12
SUBJECT: CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS FROM
THE REGIONS
UNIT TITLE: CONTEMPORARY ARTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
NO. CLASS HOURS: 4 HOURS

IV. PHILIPPINE ART HISTORY

LEARNING COMPETENCIES
1. To differentiate different art forms in various period in Philippine art history epecially during
the spanish, american and japanese colonization era

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 PHILIPPINE ART HISTORY

III. SPANISH ERA (1521-1898)

 Art became a hand maiden of religion, serving to propagate the Catholic faith and thus
support the colonial order at the same time. Religious orders were dispatched to convert the
natives to Catholicism as part of the religious art, lowland Christian art or folk art.
 During this period, cruciform churches following the shape of the latin cross were built.
In keeping with the prevailing, they were characterized by grandeur, drama, and elaborate
details that purposely appealed to the emotions.
 The use of adobe, limestone or brick and the construction of thick buttresses or wing like
projections reinforce the church structure to make it more resistant to earthquake. In other
words, the result is a fusion of both native and European elements, prompting some art
historians to refer to the style as colonial baroque or Philippine or tropical baroque.
*Some of the qualities most frequently associated with the Baroque are grandeur, sensuous
richness, drama, dynamism, movement, tension, emotional exuberance, and a tendency to blur
distinctions between the various arts.

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 Miag-ao Church

Important Happenings related to art during Spanish era

• Chinese artisans were engaged in making icons or saints made in wood or ivory

• Colonial churches were built

• Western musical instruments were introduced, pipe organ,

violin, guitar,and piano
• Catholic liturgical music was introduced in 1742
• Choral music to boys were introduced and created the first
Filipino composers named Marcelo Adonay (1848 – 1928)

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• Musical form based on Catholic faith have emerge in the Pasyon – the biblical of Christ’s
passion chanted in an improvise melody.

• Secular music was formed; the awit and the corridor – these were the two musical forms
based on European literature and history.
• Kundiman became a vehicle for conflict – the lyrics were that of unrequited love, except that
the love object was the Philippines who would be cleverly concealed as beautiful woman.
• Mangyans made the baybayin script made of bamboo poles cut into smaller nodes that are
carved used to composed short poems, expressing one’s feelings and other emotional concerns.
Pomp and pageantry of religious processions were introduced.

• Zarzuela was introduced, it was an opera which features singing and dancing with prosed
dialogue which allowed the story to be carried out in a song.

• Severino Reyes (left) and Hermogenes Ilagan (right) were awarded as the most
distinguished playwrights as they wrote zarzuela in Tagalog

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• Honorata “ Atang” dela Rama awarded as the most celebrated

leading actress

• The first Senakulo was written in 1704 by Gaspar Aquino de Belen

* Senakulo is a nationwide event that helps devout locals relieve biblical events
pertinent to the life, tribulations and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

• Komedya were also introduced; komedya de santo (it centers on life of Christ ) and Secular
Komedya.
*It describes conflicts between Christians and Muslims. It was used by the Spanish to promote
Christianity in the Philippines.

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• Folk dances such as carinosa, pandango, polka , dansa and rigodon,habanera, and tango
were introduced.
• Visual arts, and paintings must be visual interpretation of biblical texts center to Catholic
devotion ex. Heaven Earth and Hell by Jose Dans (1850)

• Reprographic art of printmaking was introduced, Doctrina Christiana is an example, the

first printed book in the Philippines compiling song lyrics, commandments, sacraments and
other catechetical material.
- Fray Juan de Plasencia

• Juan Luna ( Spolarium) won gold medals and Felix Resurrection Hidalgo (Virgenes
christianas expuestas al populacho) won silver medals.

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IV. AMERICAN ERA (1898 –1940) to the Post war Republic (1946 – 1969)

 In the American regime, commercial and advertising arts were integrated into fine arts
curriculum. Moreover, Americans favored idyllic sceneries and secular forms of arts.

 Because the lingua franca of this period was English, poems and stories from books were
dramatize in classroom, to facilitate the teaching of the English language.
 Unlike, the Spanish, the Americans passionate thought their language through an efficient
public school system.

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 In less than decade, Filipino playwrights began to write plays in English.In the
beginning of the 20th century, new urban pattern that responded to the secular goals of
education, health and governance was imposed.
 The new patrons of the arts included the Americans who engaged in governance and
education, business and tourism. The demand for artists who could do illustrations in
textbooks or graphic design to product labels thus emerged.

 The inclination towards genre, still life and portrait paintings persisted. Landscapes
on the other hand, became cherished as travel souvenirs, especially those that captured the
exotic qualities of Philippine terrain.
 In 1909, a year after the establishment of the University of the Philippines, its School of Fine
Arts was opened. It also offered a course on commercial design to fulfill the
aforementioned demand.
 For some time, the academic ( a term referring to the kind of art was influenced by European
academies) tradition of painting and sculpture in the manner of Amorsolo and Tolentino
prevailed in the art scene.

V. JAPANESE ERA (1941 – 1945)

 Since the Japanese advocated for the culture of East Asia, preference was given to the
indigenous art and traditions of the Philippines.

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  Genre paintings were the most widely produced, particularly those that presented a
neutral relationship between Filipinos and the Japanese through worksthat showed the
normality of daily living.
 KALIBAPI ( Kapisanan sa Paglingkod ng Bagong Pilipinas) sponsored art competitions.
 The Japanese forces led the formation of the greater East asia Co –Prosperity Sphere, a
propaganda movement that sought to create a Pan – Asian identity rejected Western
traditions.

VI. MODERN ERA (Neo Realism, Abstraction Modern styles)

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 Modern era in the Philippine art began after World War 2 and the granting independence.
 Writers and Artists posed the question of national identity as the main theme of various
art forms.
 It is referred to as “traditional compared to contemporary art.

 Neo-Realism
“less interested in capturing a photographic semblance of nature” and “more preoccupied with
the creation of new realities in terms of stress and strain.”

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 The Beggars by Manansala

Genesis by Ocampo

 Abstraction
It consists of simplified forms, which avoided mimetic representation. It is sometimes referred
as nonrepresentational or non objective art as it emphasizes the relationship of colors, line,
space or the flatness of the canvas rather than an illusion of three dimensionality.

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 Street Musician by Arturo Luz

Barrio Mother and Child by Nena Saguil

REFERENCES
Cagampang, J. and Ladera, M. (2020).DEPED Learning Module: Contemporary Philippine Art
from the Region: Integrative Art as Applied to Contemporary Art.

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