Painting by Fernando Amorsolo
FERNANDO CUETO AMORSOLO (Philippine, May 30, 1892- February, 1972)
AMORSOLO, FERNANDO CUETO b. Paco, Manila 30 May 1892 d. Manila 26 Feb 1972. National Artist in
Painting. He is the son of Pedro Amorsolo a bookkeeper, and Bonifacia Cueto. He married Salud Jorge in
1916, they had six children. When Salud died in 1931, Amorsolo married Maria del Carmen, with whom he
had eight children. He spent his youthful days in Daet, Camarines Norte. When his father died, Bonifacia
moved the entire family to Manila to live with a first cousin, painter Fabian de la Rosa. To raise money,
Amorsolo sold watercolor postcards to a bookstore which paid him 10 centavos a piece, while his mother took
on embroidery. Somehow he managed to complete his schooling at the Liceo de Manila, where he gained
honors especially in drawing and painting. At 17 he enrolled at the University of the Philippines (UP) School
of Fine Arts, where his uncle taught. He was one of its first graduates in 1.919, receiving several medals for
excellence. During his college days he was Influenced by the works of the Spanish painter Diego de Velazcuez
and other European painters, such as Sargent, Zorn, Sorolla, and Zuloaga.
While a student, Amorsolo lived in a rented accesoria and, in order to survive, joined competitions and did
illustrations for publications, like Severino Reyes' first novel, Parua ng Diyos (God's Punishment). He also
designed chairs for the Bureau of Public Works. Upon graduation, he became an instructor at the UP, while
continuing as a draftsman at the Public Works and chief artist of the Pacific Commercial. For 38 years he
taught at the UP School of Fine Arts, and served as its director, 1938-1952. He was such a formidable
influence that a younger brother Pablo had to make a conscious effort not to imitate him. In 1916 entrepreneur
Enrique Zobel de Ayala gave him a grant to visit Spain, Europe, and the United States.
In 1922 Amorsolo made his first important painting, Rice Planting, which became one of the most popular
images of the Commonwealth period, appearing in several versions in calendars, posters, and tourist
brochures. During his peak years in the 1930s, 1940s, and the 1950s, he widely exhibited both in the
Philippines and abroad, including New York and Belgium. His works covered a wide range which included
portraits, landscapes, and genre. He also did illustrations for children's textbooks and novels, commercial
designs, cartoons for the magazine The Independent, and illustrations for Philippine Magazine and Telembang,
Renacimiento Filipino, and Excelsior.
In his canvases, Amorsolo popularized the image of the beautiful and modest dalagang Filipina (Filipino
maiden) in her traditional domestic roles. Of great influence was his ideal feminine type: the smiling, young
woman of fair complexion and slender figure, wearing a colorful native costume which showed no sign of
wear and tear from work and the tropical weather. He idealized the peasant, whom he situated in a rural idyll
where nature was ever bountiful and hunger and strife were unknown.
He was the first to extensively portray traditional Filipino customs and manners, fiestas, and occupations like
fishing, planting, going to market, washing laundry, cooking, and reading. He also did a series of historical
canvases on precolonial scenes, such as Early Filipino State Wedding, Traders, and Sikatuna, as well as
events surrounding 'the colonization or' the Philippines, such as The First Mass in the Philippines, The
Building o! Intramuros, and Burning of the Idol. These works, reproduced in many textbooks and calendars,
shaped the visual imagination of many generations or Filipino children.
Amorsolo is credited with having captured the elusive Quality of Philippine light. In his landscapes and genre
paintings, he used the technique of backlighting in which the figures are situated against the light, thus
outlining them with a golden glow. He preferred to paint in natural light, learning to be quick and decisive in
his work since "light changes rapidly and you have to be fast in order to catch the mood with which you
started out."
In the 1930s he was earning enough from his painting that he gave up commercial artwork. His idyllic genre
scenes were a favorite with American officials and visitors in search of tropical exotica. A master of
portraiture, he was lionized by the moneyed and powerful for whom he painted countless works. Over the
years he took to photographing his works, mounted them in an album, and asked prospective patrons to
choose what they wanted and indicate the size they needed. Amorsolo did not make exact replicas, varying
some elements in the painting.
The volume of paintings, not to mention sketches and studies that came from Amorsolo is formidable. A
complete listing of his works is yet to be made. Some have unfortunately been lost or stolen, among them a
mural he painted for the Metropolitan Theater. Also remarkable was his speed at executing his works three life
size paintings for the Philippine Pavilion in the 1931 Paris Exposition were finished in less than a month. In
the 1950s till his death he averaged 10 paintings a month; but, during his final years, diabetes and cataracts
and the death of two sons affected his works.
When another generation of Filipino painters wanted to break new paths, it took the form of a revolt against
the Amorsolo school, which had been dominant for at least three decades. Modernism arose largely as a
reaction to Amorsolo's style. He and sculptor Guillermo Tolentino were the object; of a diatribe led by such
modems as Victorio Edades and Galo B. Ocampo.
Among the honors he received are: the Outstanding UP Alumnus Award, 1940; the Rizal Pro Patria Award,
1961; an honorary doctorate in the humanities from the Far Eastern 'University, 1961; 'the Patnubay ng
Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila, 1963; the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, 1967; and
the Gawad CCP para sa Sining, 1972. In 1973 he became the first artist to be proclaimed National Artist by
the government.
Above: Artist Fernando Amorsolo's Signature
Click on image above to view a gallery of paintings by Fernando Amorsolo
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