Art Critique

STEP 1: Description

Title: Bayanihan
Artist: Fernando Amorsolo
Style of the Artwork: Oil on Canvas

A painting by the late Fernando Amorsolo in 1959. It utilized rough-hewn brush strokes using oil
on canvas. The artwork displays a group of people composed of several adult men carrying a
Nipa-hut or what is commonly called as “Bahay Kubo” with their bodies and bare hands only,
with no other machine that could greatly assist them. The group of people is being led by a
man while being accompanied by a woman who appears to be carrying a preschooler (some
aged between 3–5 years old ) child. The area where the event is taking place is somewhere in
rural areas where fields of grass and hills are at large. By the look of the sky on the artwork, the
time it is taking place is probably sometime in the afternoon nearing the setting of the sun.

STEP 2: Analysis
The Artist was able to utilize the primary colors which are red, yellow, and blue. The colors were
utilized for the sky, and a green-brown color combination was also used to showcase the
presence of vegetation in the area. As for the mountain in the background, the color of a light
shade of blue was applied. The color combination of brownish yellow and tan was used on the
Bahay Kubo structure, imbuing golden hues and contrasting warm colors to convey the
temperature. Rough-hewn strokes made the texture of the hut and the clouds more realistic,
the perspective depth of the grass mixes with ground. As for the clothing of the people present
in the artwork, the Artist used several color combinations of close-to-dull natural colors with
the exception of the color combination used on the clothing of the woman on the right which
appears to be a vibrant shade of red and white combination.

Different types of lines were applied to the artwork with the vertical line being the most
distinguishable on the structure of the Bahay Kubo, making the Bahay Kubo taller and therefore
the main subject of the artwork. The diagonal line which leveled the plane of the ground where
the subjects stand can be seen on the bottom region of the artwork and also on the woman.
Horizontal lines can also be seen but barely to represent the wide area of the land of the land.

Several shapes in the background can be observed. Geometric shapes are mostly seen on the
structure of the Bahay Kubo. While the organic shapes are mostly seen in the major region of
the artwork. The shape of the mountain is observable and is shaped in organic form. Other
subjects between the Bahay Kubo and the land are shaped in human-like form and also fall
under the classification of organic form.

The movement of the subjects can be observed in a diagonal line form. Subjects are seen to be
moving from the lower left to the higher right region of the artwork. This is proved by the man
on the right with his left knee being higher than the other indicating that the man is walking to
a higher part of the area. The diagonal line present on the woman signifies the wind is blowing
against them. Moving slowly but surely.

Unity of subjects is also observed on the left. The Artwork exhibits an asymmetrical balance.

STEP 3: Interpretation
By looking at this artwork, I can feel and sense hope, ambition, future, unity, camaraderie,
resiliency, passion, and patriotism.

The painting is giving a sense of heroism, as people in the painting give their all to move the hut,
while the warm colors of the painting implies how warm the golden hour is in the Philippines as
well as how exhilarating it is to haul the hut along the fields. The colors used on the sky kinda
give me an illusion of a burning flame. Like the deepest desire buried within our hearts that we
have been aiming to achieve all our life. The direction where they are bringing the Bahay Kubo
to a higher place signifies they are aiming for a life of a better tomorrow. The curvy-looking
backs of the men carrying the Bahay Kubo indicate the hardships they are feeling and their
outfits may represent their status in their lives. The well dressed man on the right may
represent the characteristics of a leader leading these men into a better and more abundant
life. The woman carrying a child may mean legacies among these men that they are working to
leave a mark on society. The Bahay Kubo signifies their lives and their culture and identities that
they are possessing with them, they are carrying it because they would be nothing if they left it,
nothing to lean on to, nothing to rest on to. It gives us a sense of nostalgia, about what my
ancestors used to do, and how the Philippines had fewer cities and more provinces. The Bahay
Kubo here can also represent the fact that they are uniting to serve the same purpose which is
the essence of “Bayanihan”.

STEP 4: Judgment/Evaluation

Fernando Amorsolo has successfully utilized the elements and principles of arts to convey a
meaningful and profound message. Which is the title of the artwork stated, “Bayanihan”.
Amorsolo is also able to represent the culture of the Filipino people through his artworks. The
artwork portrayed the likeness of the Filipino People, as well as the traditions of the tight-knit
relationship between the people, the painting successfully imitates the heart of the Filipinos
and even the hot temperature of the tropical countryside. We can really see in these artworks
why Fernando Amorsolo is our National Artist in Painting of our country.