In the beginning, art in the Philippines consisted of religious themed artworks, as pre-colonial inhabitants concerned themselves with depicting images of their various deities. With the Spanish conquest of the archipelago in 1521 came exposure to Spanish culture. The main interest in art remained religiously inclined, this time with a concentration on paintings and sculptures relating to the Catholic religion. And with increasing prosperity from the exports of raw materials such as sugar, coconut, hemp (abaca) and tobacco, as well as the import of goods from China, Mexico and Europe, by the late 19th century, many families from the landed gentry and the exporting classes began sending their offspring to Europe for further education.
IMAGES COURTESY OF CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2000
(Left) Ronald Ventura’s “Transporter”
(Right) Detail of Geraldine Javier’s “Curating the Sky”
In the beginning, art in the Philippines consisted of religious themed artworks, as pre-colonial inhabitants concerned themselves with depicting images of their various deities. With the Spanish conquest of the archipelago in 1521 came exposure to Spanish culture. The main interest in art remained religiously inclined, this time with a concentration on paintings and sculptures relating to the Catholic religion. And with increasing prosperity from the exports of raw materials such as sugar, coconut, hemp (abaca) and tobacco, as well as the import of goods from China, Mexico and Europe, by the late 19th century, many families from the landed gentry and the exporting classes began sending their offspring to Europe for further education.
Cultural Exchange: Bringing Back Modern Ideas
From these Filipinos studying in Spain came some of the greatest minds of the country such as National Hero, Jose P. Rizal. Others became writers, journalists, great thinkers and nationalists. A few of them became exceptional painters, such as Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, both of whom won international recognition for their art. Luna won a silver medal at the Madrid Art Exposition of 1881 for his painting “The Death of Cleopatra”. In 1884, he won the first gold medal at the Madrid Art Exposition for “Spoliarium”, a painting of gladiators in the aftermath of mortal combat, clearly an allusion to the exploitation of the Philippines by Spain. Many people in Spanish society then felt Juan Luna should have won the Grand Prize instead of just the gold medal. As a form of compensation, King Alfonso XII commissioned the artist to make a painting of “The Battle of Lepanto”, the decisive naval battle where the forces of a Catholic coalition of countries and citystates defeated the mighty Ottoman fleet. To this day, the painting by this great Filipino artist hangs in the halls of the Spanish Senate. Resurreccion Hidalgo, like Luna, studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain, the same school that at different periods in history graduated Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. In 1884, in the same competition where Juan Luna had received a gold medal, Hidalgo won the silver for his “Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populache.” In 1887, he won gold for his work “La Barca de Aqueronte”.
Prior to World War II, international recognition came from the efforts of Fernando Amorsolo, who is considered “The Grand Old Man of Philippine Art” and is the first person to ever be given the Order of National Artist by the Republic of the Philippines for his achievements in the visual arts. After taking fine arts at the University of the Philippines, Amorsolo received a study grant for the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. In 1939, his oil painting “Afternoon Meal of the Workers” won first prize at the New York Arts Fair. In 1959, he received a Gold Medal from the UNESCO National Commission. Another important painter of the pre-war era was Victorio Edades, who earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Painting degree from the University of Washington. Before his return to the Philippines, his entry to the 1927 Annual Exhibition of North American painters entitled “The Sketch” won second prize. Edades is considered by many as the father of modern art, having brought home modernist ideas encouraging artists to paint reality as they see it in their own unique and creative way.
After World War II, many of the leaders of Philippine modern art had, in one way or another, been exposed to art from other countries by visiting, studying or living in Europe or the United States. National Artist Cesar Legaspi after graduating from the University of the Philippines studied in Madrid at the Cultura Hispanico as well as in Paris at the Academie Ranson. National Artist Arturo Luz, after graduating from the University of Santo Tomas, pursued further studies in art at the California College of Arts and Crafts, the art school of the Brooklyn Museum and, finally, at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. National Artist Vicente Manansala, who introduced a cubist approach to painting the Philippine way of life, pursued further studies at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Banff and Montreal, Canada. In 1950, he received a nine-month scholarship to study at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris from the French government. Anita Magsaysay-Ho, after her studies at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA.
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As the art world converges in Singapore for the annual ARTSingapore in October 2008, RENE GUATLO remembers one fine moment in the Philippines and Singapore’s flourishing art alliance
BenCab's "The Meeting"
2005
Unique monoprint with etching, aquatint and collagraph on STPI handmade abaca paper from 1 copper and 1 aluminum plate
132.1 x 167 cm
IMAGE COURTESY OF SINGAPORE TYLER PRINT INSTITUTE
As the art world converges in Singapore for the annual ARTSingapore in October 2008, RENE GUATLO remembers one fine moment in the Philippines and Singapore’s flourishing art alliance
BenCab's "The Meeting"
2005
Unique monoprint with etching,
aquatint and collagraph on STPI handmade abaca paper
from 1 copper and 1 aluminum plate
132.1 x 167 cm
BenCab: Impressions, the fruit of the artist’s stint at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), featured etchings, woodcuts and paper pulp works described as “beguiling though they are images of despair, isolation and poverty.” A number of pieces from the collection were exhibited at the Cultural Center of the Philippines following their Singapore debut. All of the artworks were executed on paper especially made at the Institute by master papermaker Richard Hungerford, using abaca pulp, a nod to Bencab’s Filipino roots.
BenCab was artist in residence at STPI between May and June 2005, and the works exhibited were the products of his residency. While he became well known for his paintings at the onset, a reputation sustained to the present day, graphic art is one of his first loves, and his prints have always had a loyal following.
Art collectors are familiar with iconic images in his prints, such as the draped Philippine flag, soldiers, the domestic helper, Edo gestures, two mestizas, and various Sabel portraits.
Many of the recurring themes in his paintings are echoed in his prints – the iconic vagrant, images from the Larawan series, as well as his famous female nudes. But while BenCab is a master of print-making techniques, the entire Singapore experience was a novel one, not only because of the scale of the finished pieces, and the use of specially manufactured paper, but more so because of the interactive process with the technicians and artists of STPI.
Photographs of BenCab by Nicky Sering
Images of artworks courtesy of the Singapore Tyler Print Institute.
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FEDERICO AGUILAR ALCUAZ LIVED IN THE SPANISH CITY DURING A GLORIOUS TIME IN ITS CULTURAL HISTORY. FOUR DECADES LATER, A NEW SHOW RAISES THE CURTAIN ON THE WORKS HE PRODUCED IN SPAIN, AND PROVES WHY HIS BARCELONA YEARS ARE WIDELY CONSIDERED THE MOST PRODUCTIVE PERIOD IN THIS DISTINGUISHED ARTIST’S CAREER.
By Jack Teotico
Photos of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz are courtesy of the Aguilar Alcuaz family.
Photos of paintings by Mark Anthony Vivar
FEDERICO AGUILAR ALCUAZ LIVED IN THE SPANISH CITY DURING A GLORIOUS TIME IN ITS CULTURAL HISTORY. FOUR DECADES LATER, A NEW SHOW RAISES THE CURTAIN ON THE WORKS HE PRODUCED IN SPAIN, AND PROVES WHY HIS BARCELONA YEARS ARE WIDELY CONSIDERED THE MOST PRODUCTIVE PERIOD IN THIS DISTINGUISHED ARTIST’S CAREER.
By Jack Teotico
Photos of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz are courtesy of the Aguilar Alcuaz family.
Photos of paintings by Mark Anthony Vivar
Aragon 285, 4th Floor, Barcelona, Spain. For 40 years, starting in the year 1957, this was the address that Federico Aguilar Alcuaz considered his main studio. The studio was in the business area of bustling Barcelona, a very busy part of town, and this was where the artist Aguilar Alcuaz would retreat to — his creative base and sanctuary — after he would return to the city from sojourns to Europe, Eastern Europe, the United States and the Philippines. It was also in this studio where he painted some of the most important works of his career.
The studio started as a one-room affair. It had sizeable windows that let in ideal amounts of sunlight, conditions that the artist found suitable for his work. After several successful exhibitions, Aguilar Alcuaz acquired the adjoining room. He continued to acquire more rooms until, by the time he left his studio in 1997, there were six connecting rooms altogether totaling 150 square meters.
The maestro himself was the building’s last remaining tenant after all the others had moved away. In the early 1990s, the owners had wanted to tear down the building to build a newer and more modern structure. There was, however, one problem: their artist-tenant refused to move, and there was nothing that could be done to make him. He had not violated any laws and was conscientious about paying the rent on time. In 1997, Aguilar Alcuaz finally agreed to to transfer the studio to the family house in Hannover, Germany. But that was not until so many important works, so many artistic concepts had come to fruition.
In 1956, Aguilar Alcuaz left the Philippines on a scholarship from the Spanish government in Madrid. From Madrid, he visited Barcelona. Taking a liking to its vibrant art scene, he left Madrid and took up residence in the capital of Catalonia.
BACKA CLOSER LOOK AT HOW A COLLECTIVE KNOWN AS SANGVIAJE IS REINFORCING THE PRESTIGE OF CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ART — BY ASSERTING THE POWER OF INDIVIDUALITY
By Kristine Fonacier
Photographs by Carlo Bandoquillo of Team Pat Dy
READ MOREA CLOSER LOOK AT HOW A COLLECTIVE KNOWN AS SANGVIAJE IS REINFORCING THE PRESTIGE OF CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ART — BY ASSERTING THE POWER OF INDIVIDUALITY
By Kristine Fonacier
Photographs by Carlo Bandoquillo of Team Pat Dy
Once upon a time, vaudeville was brought by the Americans to the Philippines in the early 20th century, a live variety show of “assorted entertainments” ranging from song-and-dance numbers to stand-up comedy to ventriloquist acts. But the modern forms of bodabil that is envisioned by Sangviaje, the Antipolo-based artists’ collective of young up-and-comers, is dark with ulterior motives.
This bodabil is hardly about lighthearted entertainment; these images are about the farces and travesties of contemporary Filipino society. Truth and untruth, information and misinformation — these are the modern currencies that Sangviaje seeks to explore. “Whatever they tell you, whatever they claim is true, whatever I may have sufficient evidence to claim is true, may not be true at all,” says Edrick Daniel, the most voluble of the six twentysomethings in the group. “And come to think of it, another part of the philosophical question is — Isn’t everything truth?” He is earnest and glib at the same time, unashamed at the kind of questions he is asking.
His Sangviaje cohorts — John Paul Antido, Jaypee Samson, Guerrero Habulan, Dennis Fortozo, and Joven Mansit, plus their manager, Ronnel Britania — look on solemnly, thoughtfully. This is likely a conversation they have had many times before, they are quick to admit, probably over drinking sessions. “Yes, wherever San Miguel and Red Horse and Nagaraya are…,” Daniel laughs.
Ranging in age from 22 to 27, the members of Sangviaje have known each other since they were in rival high schools in the late 90s, competitors for art prizes. Converging at the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts later on in their careers, the group’s common denominator was Jerson Samson, Jaypee’s older brother and himself an established name in art circles, who became their mentor.
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© Contemporary Art Philippines 2010
