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We pay the highest possible prices for works by Carlos Villaluz Francisco E-mail: geringerart@yahoo.com |
CARLOS VILLALUZ FRANCISCO
FRANCISCO, CARLOS VILLALUZ aka Botong b. Angono, Rizal 4 Nov 1914 d. Angono, Rizal 31 Mar
1969. National Artist in Painting. He is the son of Felipe Francisco and Maria Villaluz of Angono, Rizal.
Francisco studied at the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Fine Arts. Before the war, he did
illustrations for the Tribune and La Vanguardia, and later, with Victorio Edades and Fermin Sanchez painted
sets for the Manila Grand Opera House and the Clover Theater. He also formed a group of modern artists
called the Thirteen Moderns in 1938. After WWII, Francisco taught at the University of Santo Tomas,
simultaneously working in cinema with Manuel Conde, as scriptwriter of Genghis Khan, Putol na Kampilan
(Broken Sword), and Tatlong Labuyo (Three Wild Roosters). He also designed costumes for Romeo at Julieta
(Romeo and Juliet), as well as Prinsipe Tenoso (Prince Tenoso), lbong Adarna (Adarna Bird), Siete Infantes
de Lara (Seven Devils), and the Juan Tamad series.
Francisco belonged to the first generation modernists who, with Edades and Galo B. Ocampo, constituted the
pioneering triumvirate which attempted to change the direction of Philippine art from the tenacious influence of
the Amorsolo school in new and fresh idioms of visual expression. In the struggle for modern art, Francisco
was one of the artists/protagonists in the center of the fray. His painting Kaingin (Swidden), which heralded
modernism in its strong sense of design and rhythm, won for him the grand prize in the historic first national
art exhibition of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) held at the National Museum in July 1948.
Francisco, along with Edades and Ocampo were commissioned to do a number of murals for lobbies and for
private residences such as that of the architect Juan Nakpil. These murals featured stylized figures in flowing
curvilinear lines: nymphs dancing or playing the flute, often against a background of tropical vegetation.
Through these works, the artists contributed towards developing a Filipino imagery, drawing inspiration from
the customs and traditions of the people, as well as from the familiar environment.
In the quest for a Filipino modernist idiom, Francisco, who chose to be based in his fishing village of
Angono, observed Philippine folk aesthetics and researched Philippine histon,, customs, and traditions. He
arrived at an idiom which was both Filipino and Asian in the fresh colors of the folk, the flowing, curvilinear
lines in rhythm creating, decorative patterns and the particular disposition of space which satisfies the Filipino
penchant for covering the entire field. Filipino, too, was his sense of the communal life the crowds of people
in interaction as they engage in trade, enjoy themselves in fiestas or unite in common struggle.
His images of women were drawn from mythology. such as Mariang Makiling; from history and legend, such
as Princesa Urduja; from customs of the past, such as the maiden carried on a hammock across the mountain
in Antipolo; and from contemporary folk, such as the woman preparing fish for sinigang. Fisherfolk were
among his favorite subjects since he lived in a fishing village. He showed his closeness to the folk in paintings
like Camote Eaters, his last and unfinished work.
Francisco's first important mural was done for the 1953 International Fair held in Manila. On the theme of
Five Hundred Years of Philippine History, its scope covered the legendary origin of the Filipino with the first
man and woman Malakas at Maganda springing from the primal bamboo, up to the administration of then
incumbent president Elpidio Quirino. The mural was finely executed in wood by the Paete woodcarvers.
Foreign visitors to the Fair were impressed by Francisco's mural which received full Newsweek, but local
appreciation was lukewarm since it was promptly carelessly disposed of after the fair.
Francisco's major masterpiece is the mural for the Bulwagang Katipunan of the Manila City Hall,
commissioned by Manila mayor Antonio Villegas during his administration. Filipino Struggles through
History chronicles the history of Manila from the first great Rajahs of Tondo, the Spanish colonial period,
Balagtas, Rizal, and the Revolution of 1896 up to the American colonial period which becomes the history of
the entire nation itself. In this work Francisco often integrated several historical episodes, in smaller scale,
under one period. The episode groups, however, are not static but flow into each other by means of various
linking devices, such as a winding river, flames branching out, or clouds coiling in spirals. The murals are
marked by artistic vigor and inexhaustible inventiveness, a lively characterization of the numerous historical
personages, and unifying all, an admirable sense of design. Andres Bonifacio's figure makes a visual impact
as he is shown forging onward, leading the Katpunero with their long bamboo spears, rifles, and bolos.
Among the many dynamic scenes is the encounter between Limahong and the Spanish soldiers in the thrust
and counterthrust of weapons.
A smaller mural is the Pageant of Commerce in four sections: two sides on the history of Philippine trade,
from commercial relations with China and Arabia to the Manila Acapulco galleon trade: a section on the
development of modern industry in factories, travel and communication; and the central one of a Filipino
couple in native costume, the woman slipping a coin into a bamboo alkansya, with the spirit of commerce
hovering above.
He also did the murals on the Life and Miracles of St Dominic for Santo Domingo Church, 1954; and the
Stations of the Cross for Far Eastern University, 1956. He worked with Victorio Edades and Galo B. Ocampo
on the mural of Rising Philippines for the Capitol Theater and murals for the Golden Gate Exposition, the
State Theater, the houses of Pres Manuel Quezon, Ernesto Rufino, and Vicente Rufino.
Francisco's Kaingin won first prize in the 1948 painting competition of the Art Association of the Philippines.
He received the Patnubav ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1964. He was proclaimed
National Artist in painting in 1973.
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We pay the highest possible prices for works by Carlos Villaluz Francisco E-mail: geringerart@yahoo.com |