RAFAEL VILLANUEVA ENRIQUEZ

ENRIQUEZ, RAFAEL VILLANUEVA b. Nueva Caceres (now Naga), Camarines Sur 1 Jul 1950 d. May

1937. Painter. He is the son of Antonio Enriquez y Seguera and Ciriaca Villanueva, both immigrants from

Spain. He studied at the Ateneo Municipal and the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura. He received his bachiller en

artes degree from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) where he also enrolled in law. At 18, he continued his

law studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain. After getting his licenciado en derecho in I874 he

enrolled in painting at the Real Academia de San Fernando. From 1879 to 1887, he lived in Paris where he did

portrait painting. In 1887 he went to London where he finished a historical canvas, La muerte de D. Simon de

Anda (The Death of D. Simon de Anda), which won a medal at the Exposicion General de Filipinas in Madrid

in 1887. The painting was later acquired by the National Library, Manila. He returned to Manila in 1896, in

time to witness the execution of Jose Rizal.

Enriquez was one of the organizers of the Sociedad internacional de Artistas, and it was partly due to his

initiative that the society held an exposition of fine and industrial arts in Manila in 1908. He was the first

director of the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Fine Arts and was its head for 17 years.

Enriquez's works depict foreign themes, figures and scenes including San Agustin (St Agustin), Una jitana

tocando la pandereta (A gypsy lady playing the tambourine), 1875, Una dama de la edaa media (A middle aged

woman), Carmen de Granada (Carmen of Granada), Alhambra (Alhambra), La lealtad Filipina (Philippine

Loyalty), A Portrait of a Young English Woman, 1888, [Head of Christ with the Cross], 1890, Saint

Augustine, San Francisco de Asis (St Francis of Assisi), El Juicio de Dios (The judgement of God), and El

pano de la Veronica (Veronica's Veil). Other works are Un Patio Andaluz (Andalucian Yard) and Un jitano

tocando la guitarra (A gypsy playing the guitar) from the Jorge B. Vargas collection; and four works at the

UST Museum.