Reading in Visual Art

Fernando Amorsolo Y Cueto| Burning of Manila | 1942 | Oil on Masonite

The first artwork is “Burning in Manila” by Fernando Cueto Amorsolo, a Filipino artist
known for his paintings of Philippine landscapes, Filipino maiden, rural folks and traditions, and
portraits. The painting depicts the destruction of Manila when the Japanese invaded during
World War II. In the painting, you can see a large fire, smoke, and the people running over the
place showing the tragedy and horror of that time. Since the scene is tragic, the color used in
the painting consists mostly of black and red and other dark colors to set a somber look to the
overall painting. The use of different elements such as color and changes in its properties gives
the painting a more realistic look. For example, in the color of the sky and smoke -the artist
changes the intensity and value as well as the shades of the colors to make it more realistic and
define the form of the element well. The position and scales of elements in the foreground (the
grass, people, and ships) and background (sky and smoke) are proportional to each other which
I think shows a balance of spaces between the elements and creates a depth in the art piece.