The Philippine Art during American Colonization
The 1896 Philippine Revolution paved the way to the
country’s independence from Spain. However, it
became a short-lived liberty when the Americans
became the country’s new invaders. From one colonizer
to another – after more than three centuries of Spanish
rule, the Americans came. They set out to conquer the
Filipinos through education and governance – the public
school system and a system of government.
Sedition Law – banned the writing, printing and
publication of materials advocating Philippine
independence.
Drama Simbolico – one-act play representing a deep
and profound yearning of freedom.
 “Tanikalang Guinto” – Juan Abad
 “Hindi Ako Patay” – Juan Matapang Cruz
 “Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas” – Aurelio Tolentino
“A Modern Filipina” – the first Filipino play written in
English authored by Lino Castillejo and Jesus Araullo in
1915.
Vaudeville (Bodabil) – collection of slapstick, songs,
dances, acrobatics, comedy skits, chorus girls, magic
acts, and stand-up comics.
PAINTINGS
Fabian dela Rosa (1869 – 1937) was the first painter of
note for the 20th century. He was noted for his realistic
portraits, genre, and landscapes in subdued colors. He
was enrolled at the Escuela de Bellas Artes y Dibujo and
took lessons from Lorenzo Guerrero. Dela Rosa is often
considered the brightest name in Filipino painting and
certainly the most important for the first quarter of the
century.
 Women working in the rice field
 A remembrance of Villa Borghese
 Young Filipina
…but it would be his nephew, Fernando Amorsolo, who
captured the attention of the public and the buyers, and
had a long artistic career. Spanning for more than half a
century, his influence is still evident in some of today’s
painters. He was named as the country’s first National
Artist in 1972.
Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (1892 – 1972).
His paintings, bursting with yellow-orange and golden
sunlight, captured the Philippine landscape in all its
glory. If dela Rosa’s work were of subdued, cool colors,
then Amorsolo’s landscapes are bathe in the glorious
Philippine sunlight. He is the first and among the few
Filipino painters who have captured the different
striking colors and character of the country’s
magnificent sunlight.
He is the first and among the few Filipino painters who
have captured the different striking colors and
character of the country’s magnificent sunlight. Besides
his landscapes, Amorsolo also idealized the rural life of
the working men and women. He depicted farmers and
fisherfolks doing their work without much effort,
seemingly enjoying themselves in their arduous tasks.
His depiction of the ever-smiling dalagang bukid is
another trademark. Amorsolo was able to show the
ideal beauty of the Philippine landscape, the Philippine
rural life and the Filipinas.
 Palay Maiden
 Dalagang Bukid
 The Makin of Philippine Flag
 GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL
Dabbled into advertising , book design and
new forms brought by the Americans,
Amorsolo made several book and magazine
cover designs. He also designed for
commercial products, the most famous of
which is the “Markang Demonyo” for Ginebra
San Miguel, a local alcoholic drink.
The Americans established the University of the
Philippines, the country’s State University, in 1908. The
School of Fine Arts was established in 1909 with Fabian
dela Rosa as its first Dean. It would function as the
local academy for art. Amorsolo, being a faculty
member and subsequently as the Dean of the U.P.
School of Fine Arts from 1952 to 1955.
THE “AMORSOLO SCHOOL”
It was inevitable for students to emulate the works and
style of Amorsolo. Hence, the “Amorsolo School”, was
born. Followers included Jorge Pineda, Ireneo
Miranda, Dominador Castaneda, and Pablo Amorsolo.
JORGE PINEDA
Series of indoor games painting capture the intimate,
leisurely spirit of domestic life of the period.
  Sungkaan
 Las Buyeras ( Women prepapring Betel Nut Chew)
IRENEO MIRANDA
Known as a watercolorist, illustrator and cartoonist, he
was at one time called the “Dean of Philippine
Cartoonists.”
 Tausug Princess
 Portrait of a Lady
 The Fruit Vendors
Dominador Castañeda
His paintings diverged from the characteristic style of
the Amorsolo School and a different direction,
especially in terms of color. Well known for landscapes
rendered in cool tones of white and blue.
 The doomed family
 Death March
 Bahay Kubo on the River Bank
Pablo Cueto Amorsolo
(born Pablo Cueto, June 26, 1898 – February 21, 1945)
was a Filipino painter. He was the younger brother of
the Philippine National Artist Fernando Amorsolo.
 El Ciego (The Blind Man)
 Limpia Botas
 Fruit Vendor
HOWEVER…In the 1920’s, several young painters were
starting to question the Amorsolo school style that
became the standard for painting. Wanting to veer
away from the aesthetic standards, they strove to
develop new idioms in expressing themselves.
In 1928,Victorio C. Edades (1895 – 1985), fresh from a
trip to the United States opened a show at the
Philippine Columbian Club in Ermita, Manila. Edades
would be influenced by the 1913 Armory Show, an
exhibition of modern art at the United States.
 Included in Edades’ exhibition was Marcel
Duchamp’s Nude Descending the Staircase, which
created quite a stir in the U.S. The Ash Can School, a
modernist group in the U.S., who chose to depict
people covered with sweat and grime.
 CONTRADICTION
Edades’ work, The Builders, caused quite a
controversy in 1928. Instead of the smiling farmers
and fisherfolks of Amorsolo, it depicted distorted,
naked working men covered in sweat and grime.
With obvious disregard for linear perspective, the
painting will be known as the first ever Modernist
painting in the country.Contrary to Amorsolo’s
ever-smiling dalagang Pilipina.
 MURALS EXECUTION
In 1934, Edades recruited two young dropouts of
the U.P. School of Fine Arts, Carlos “Botong” V.
Francisco and Galo B. Ocampo, to help him execute
a mural. Together, they formed the Triumvirate of
Modern Art in the country. They produced several
collaborative murals such as Interaction. In 1938,
Edades, Ocampo, and foreign-trained Diosdado
Lorenzo established the Atelier of Modern Art in
Malate, Manila.
CARLOS “BOTONG” FRANCISCO, (1913 – 1969),
Angono-based painter, depicted Philippine history in
his “History of Manila” mural at the Manila City Hall.
His trademark fluid lines and brilliant colors filled up
the entire pictorial space of the mural, defying the
rules of linear perspective set by the local academy.
Francisco is known for his depiction of important
Philippine historical events such as the First Mass at
Limasawa.And for his depiction of local activities such
as Fiesta and Bayanihan.
GALO B. OCAMPO (1913 – 1985)
Filipinized Western canonical iconography with his
Brown Madonna done in 1938. The painting has a
distinctly Philippine landscape with a bahay kubo in the
background, an earth colored skin Madonna wearing a
patadyong, with anahaw leaves as a halo, and a
brown- skinned child – a reinterpretation of the
typical European- Western looking mother and child.
DIOSDADO LORENZO (1906 – 1984)
In 1935, he had an exhibition of works with “moderate
distortions” at the Philippine Columbian Club. His
choice of subject matter was conservative –
landscapes, nipa huts, and women. But Lorenzo
discarded the idealized style of Amorsolo.
 MacArthur Landing site in Palo Red Beach, Leyte
 Benigno Aquino Monument at the corner of Ayala
Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in Makati
 Rizal Monument at JRU
NAPOLEON ABUEVA

 BRIDGEWAY TO MODERNISM goes against the standards, set by his teacher,

Guillermo Tolentino. Working with a variety of
Lorenzo, a graduate of the U.P. School of Fine Arts, materials and techniques, Abueva integrated the
continued to paint traditional subjects done in the
sculptural and functional qualities in his works. He
modernist style of strong, vigorous brushstrokes, using
bright oranges and greens. Surprisingly, some of his produced highly stylized, simplified, and eventually
works were sold. The public now was slowly starting to abstract works under the influence of Moore and
accept MODERNISM. Brancusi. His works sometimes contain elements of
eroticism, fun, wit, and playfulness.
SCULPTURE
 His Kaganapan shows a woman in the height of
If Amorsolo dominated Philippine painting for the first
her pregnancy. He did away with the traditional,
decades of the 20th century, in sculpture it was
idealized, voluptuous muse of classicism and
Guillermo Tolentino (1890-1976). In 1973, Tolentino
replaced it with the beauty of a woman bearing a
was named as a National Artist for Sculpture. Several
child
sculptors followed the standards set by Tolentino, such
 The Pegaraw-pegasus and tamaraw
as Anastacio Caedo and his son Florentino.
 Nine Muses
GUILLERMO TOLENTINO (1890-1976)
ARCHITECTURE
Trained in the classical style in Rome, Tolentino’s
The architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham was
masterpieces include the Oblation in the University of
commissioned by the American government to design
the Philippines and the Bonifacio Monument in
Manila and Baguio, while architect William Parsons
Caloocan.
implemented the Burnham Plan.
 His Oblation, the symbol of the country’s premiere
State University, reflects the classical ideals –
discipline, order, symmetry, and restraint. It stands JAPANESE PERIOD (1941-1945)
naked – resolute and proud, with arms wide open
MUSIC
to accept knowledge and change.
 His Bonifacio Monument is classical in execution Awit sa Paglikha ng Bagong Pilipinas – written by the
but romantic in content. Bonifacio, holding a bolo composer National Artist Felipe P. De Leon.
and a pistol, stands quietly, dignified, resolute, but
defiant. He is surrounded by dynamic figures of Sa Kabukiran – echoed by Sylvia La Torre and written in
oppression, struggle and revolution. Here, in Tagalog by the acclaimed composer Levi Celerio
Tolentino’s work, Andres Bonifacio remains strong (National Artist for Music and Literature, awarded
amidst the turbulent storm of the Revolution. 1997).

Anastacio Tanchauco Caedo (14 August 1907 – 12 May PAINTING

1990). His style of sculpture was classical realist in the
Fernando Amorsolo – Harvest Scene (1942), Rice
tradition of his mentor, Guillermo Tolentino.He
Planting (1942), Bombing of the Intendencia (1942),
produced numerous commissioned representational
Ruins of the Manila Cathedral (1945).
sculptures mainly monuments of national heroes and
successful Filipino politicians, businessmen, and Crispin Lopez – Study of an Aeta (1943).
educators. Caedo is also notable for having refused the
honor of being awarded as National Artist of the Diosdado Lorenzo – Atrocities in Paco
Philippines - in 1983, 1984, and 1986.
Dominador Castaneda – Doomed Family
Vicente Manansala – The Beggars (1952), Tuba Drinkers
(1954)
Cesar Legaspi – Gadgets II (1949), depicts half-naked
men almost engulfed in the presence of machines.
HR Ocampo – The Contrast, Genesis
Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) – were
established in 1948 under the leadership of artist Purita
Kalaw-Ledesma.
Philippine Art Gallery – was put up in 1951 through the
efforts of the artist-writer Lydia Arguilla.
Angry Christ – mural of Christ by the Filipino-American
artist Alfonso Ossorio.
Abstraction:
Street Musicians – Arturo Luz
Cargadores – Nena Saguil
ARCHITECTURE
 Church of Holy Sacrifice
 Church of the Risen Lord
 Chapel of St. Joseph the Worker
LITERATURE
Between 1941-1945,
Philippine Literature was interrupted in its
development when we were again conquered by
another foreign country, Japan.
Philippine literature in English came to a halt.
Except for the Tribune and the Philippine Review,
Pillars, Free Philippines, and Filipina, almost all
newspapers in English were stopped by the Japanese.
During this time, there was no freedom of speech and
of the press.
Victoria Abelardo has described Filipino writing during
the Japanese occupation as being pessimistic and
bitter.
There were some efforts at escapist literature, but in
general, the literary output was minor and insignificant.
Because of strict censorship, few literary works were
printed during the war years.
The weekly Liwayway was placed under strict
surveillance until it was managed by a Japanese named
Ishiwara
The only contact with the outside world was done with
utmost secrecy through the underground radio
program called “Voice of Freedom”.
Tagalog was favored by the Japanese military authority
and writing in English was consigned to a limbo.
Japanese were able to influence and encourage the
Filipino in developing the vernacular literature.
The only Filipino writers who could write freely were
those who were living in the United States.
Most writers and authors were lead to either go
underground or write in Tagalog.
So, Filipino literature was given a break during this
period.
Filipino literature also experienced renewed attention
because writers in English turned to writing in Filipino.
Filipino Drama
The drama experienced a lull during the Japanese
period because movie houses showing American films
were closed.
The big movie houses were just made to show stage
shows. Many of the plays were reproductions of English
plays to Tagalog.
The translators were Francisco Soc Rodrigo, Alberto
Concio, and Narciso Pimentel. They also founded the
organization of Filipino.
A few of the playwriters were:
1. Jose Ma. Hernandez – wrote PANDAY PIRA
2. Francisco Soc Rodrigo – wrote sa PULA, SA PUTI
3. Clodualdo del Mundo – wrote BULAGA (an
expression in the game Hide and Seek).
4. Julian Cruz Balmaceda – wrote SINO BA KAYO?,
DAHIL SA ANAK, and HIGANTE NG PATAY.
FILIPINO POETRY Noteworthy writer of the period was

Three types of poems emerged during this period. Carlos P. Romulo who won the Pulitzer Prize for his
bestsellers I SAW THE FALL OF THE PHILIPPINES, I SEE
 HAIKU
- a poem of free verse that the Japanese liked. It is THE PHILIPPINES RISE and his MOTHER AMERICA AND
made up of seventeen (17) syllables divided into MY BROTHER AMERICANS.
three (3) lines. The first line has five, the second –
seven and the third – five. It is allegorical in Journalists include Salvador P. Lopez, Leon Ma.
meaning, short and covers a wide scope in Geurrero, Raul Manglapuz and Carlos Bulosan.
meaning.
 TANAGA Nick Joaquin produced THE WOMAN WHO LOOKED
- like the haiku, it is short, but has measure and LIKE LAZARUS. Fred Ruiz Castro wrote a few poems.
rhyme. Each line has seventeen syllables and is also
allegorical in meaning.
 KARANIWANG ANYO (Usual Form)
- the usual and common form of poetry

SHORT STORY

The field of the short story widened during the

Japanese Occupation.

Many wrote short stories.

Among them were:

Brigido Batungbakal Serafin Guinigindo

Narciso Ramos Alicia Lopez Lim

Macario Pineda Liwayway Arceo,

NVM Gonzales Ligaya Perez

Gloria Guzman

The best writings in 1945 were selected by a group of

judges composed of Francisco Icasiano, Jose Esperanza
Cruz, Antonio Rosales, Clodualdo del Mundo and
Teodoro Santos.

As a result of this selection,the following got the first

three prizes:

First Prize: Narciso Reyes with his LUPANG TINUBUAN

Second Prize: Liwayway Arceo’s UHAW ANG TIGANG

NA LUPA

Third Prize: NVM Gonzales’ LUNSOD NAYON AT

DAGAT-DAGATAN