The Philippine Arts During American Colonization

FOREWORDS
The 1896 Philippine Revolution paved the way
to the country’s independence from Spain.
However, it became a short-lived liberty when
the Americans became the country’s new
invaders. From one colonizer to another – after
more than three centuries of Spanish rule, the
Americans came. They set out to conquer the
Filipinos through education and governance –
the public school system and a system of
government.

IN THE FIELD OF ARTS…
With the arrival of the new colonial power came
a shift in art patronage – from the
native ilustrados to the Americans. The new
patrons, including the tourists and foreign
investors, favored landscapes, still life, and
genre themes that show the beauty of the land
and its people. Portraits were still favored by
the public officials, usually depicting them in
dignified poses. There from, the American
Colonization brought high influence to the major
Filipino art forms: paintings, sculptures and
architectures.

Here goes the
timeline of the
Philippine paintings
under American
colonization…

Fabian dela Rosa (1869
– 1937)
was the first painter of
note for the 20th century.
He was noted for his
realistic portraits, genre,
and landscapes in
subdued colors. He was
enrolled at the Escuela de
Bellas Artes y Dibujo and
took lessons
from Lorenzo Guerrero.
De la Rosa is often
considered the brightest
name in Filipino painting
and certainly the most
important for the first
quarter of the century.

…but it would be his nephew, Fernando
Amorsolo, who captured the attention of
the public and the buyers, and had a long
artistic career. Spanning for more than half
a century, his influence is still evident in
some of today’s painters. He was named as
the country’s first National Artist in 1972.

Fernando Amorsolo y
Cueto (1892 – 1972).
His paintings, bursting with
yellow-orange and golden
sunlight, captured the
Philippine landscape in all its
glory. If de la Rosa’s work were
of subdued, cool colors, then
Amorsolo’s landscapes are
bathe in the glorious Philippine
sunlight. He is the first and
among the few Filipino painters
who have captured the different
striking colors and character of
the country’s magnificent
sunlight.

FILIPINOS AND THE PHILIPPINES
He is the first and among the few Filipino painters
who have captured the different striking colors
and character of the country’s magnificent
sunlight. Besides his landscapes, Amorsolo also
idealized the rural life of the working men and
women. He depicted farmers and fisherfolks doing
their work without much effort, seemingly enjoying
themselves in their arduous tasks. His depiction of
the ever-smiling dalagang bukid is another
trademark. Amorsolo was able to show the ideal
beauty of the Philippine landscape, the Philippine
rural life and the Filipinas.

GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL
Dabbled into
advertising , book
design and new
forms brought by the
Americans, Amorsolo
made several book
and magazine cover
designs. He also
designed for
commercial products,
the most famous of
which is the
“Markang Demonyo”
for Ginebra San
Miguel, a local
alcoholic drink.

MOREOVER…
The Americans
established the
University of the
Philippines, the
country’s State
University, in 1908. The
School of Fine Arts was
established in 1909 with
Fabian dela Rosa as its
first Dean. It would
function as the local
academy for art.
Amorsolo, being a
faculty member and
subsequently as the
Dean of the U.P. School
of Fine Arts from 1952 to

THE “AMORSOLO SCHOOL”
It was inevitable for
students to emulate
the works and style
of Amorsolo. Hence,
the “Amorsolo
School”, was born.
Followers included
Jorge Pineda,
Ireneo Miranda,
Dominador
Castaneda, and
Pablo Amorsolo.

IRENEO MIRANDA
Known as a
watercolorist,
illustrator and
cartoonist, he
was at one time
called the “Dean
of Philippine
Cartoonists.”

His paintings
diverged from the
characteristic style of
the Amorsolo School
and a different
direction, especially
in terms of color.
Well known for
landscapes rendered
in cool tones of white
and blue.
Dominador
Castañeda

PABLO AMORSOLO
Pablo Cueto
Amorsolo (born Pabl
o Cueto, June 26,
1898 – February 21,
1945) was a Filipino
painter. He was the
younger brother of the
Philippine National
Artist Fernando
Amorsolo.

HOWEVER…
In the 1920’s, several young
painters were starting to question
the Amorsolo school style that
became the standard for painting.
Wanting to veer away from the
aesthetic standards, they strove
to develop new idioms in
expressing themselves.

In 1928, Victorio C.
Edades (1895 –
1985), fresh from a
trip to the United
States opened a
show at the
Philippine
Columbian Club in
Ermita, Manila.
Edades would be
influenced by the
1913 Armory Show,
an exhibition of
modern art at the
United States.

Included in Edades’ exhibition was Marcel
Duchamp’s Nude Descending the Staircase, which
created quite a stir in the U.S. The Ash Can School, a
modernist group in the U.S., who chose to depict
people covered with sweat and grime, would also

CONTRADICTION
Edades’
work, The Builders,
caused quite a controversy
in 1928. Instead of the
smiling farmers and
fisherfolks of Amorsolo, it
depicted distorted, naked
working men covered in
sweat and grime. With
obvious disregard for
linear perspective, the
painting will be known as
the first ever Modernist
painting in the country.
Contrary to Amorsolo’s
ever-smiling dalagang
Pilipina, Edades showed

MURALS EXECUTION
In 1934, Edades recruited two young dropouts
of the U.P. School of Fine
Arts, Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco and Galo
B. Ocampo, to help him execute a
mural. Together, they formed the Triumvirate
of Modern Art in the country. They produced
several collaborative murals such
as Interaction. In 1938, Edades, Ocampo, and
foreign-trained Diosdado
Lorenzo established the Atelier of Modern
Art in Malate, Manila.

CARLOS “BOTONG” FRANCISCO, (1913 – 1969),
Angono-based painter,
depicted Philippine
history in his “History
of Manila” mural at the
Manila City Hall. His
trademark fluid lines
and brilliant colors
filled up the entire
pictorial space of the
mural, defying the
rules of linear
perspective set by the
local academy.

Francisco is known for his depiction of important
Philippine historical events such as the First Mass at
Limasawa
And for his depiction of local activities such
as Fiesta and Bayanihan.

GALO B. OCAMPO (1913 – 1985),
Filipinized Western
canonical iconography
with his Brown
Madonna done in
1938. The painting has
a distinctly Philippine
landscape with
a bahay kubo in the
background, an earth
colored skin Madonna
wearing a patadyong,
with anahaw leaves as
a halo, and a brown-
skinned child – a
reinterpretation of the
typical European-
Western looking
mother and child

DIOSDADO LORENZO (1906 – 1984),
In 1935, he had an
exhibition of works with
“moderate distortions” at
the Philippine Columbian
Club. His choice of
subject matter was
conservative –
landscapes, nipa huts,
and women. But Lorenzo
discarded the idealized
style of Amorsolo.

BRIDGEWAY TO MODERNISM
Lorenzo, a graduate of the U.P. School
of Fine Arts, continued to paint
traditional subjects done in the
modernist style of strong, vigorous
brushstrokes, using bright oranges and
greens. Surprisingly, some of his works
were sold. The public now was slowly
starting to accept MODERNISM.

If Amorsolo dominated Philippine
painting for the first decades of the 20th
century, in sculpture it was Guillermo
Tolentino (1890-1976). In 1973,
Tolentino was named as a National
Artist for Sculpture. Several sculptors
followed the standards set by Tolentino,
such as Anastacio Caedo and his
son Florentino.

GUILLERMO TOLENTINO (1890-1976)
Trained in the
classical style in
Rome, Tolentino’s
masterpieces include
the Oblation in the
University of the
Philippines and
the Bonifacio
Monument in
Caloocan.

TOLENTINO’S WORKS
His Oblation, the
symbol of the
country’s premiere
State University,
reflects the classical
ideals – discipline,
order, symmetry, and
restraint. It stands
naked – resolute and
proud, with arms wide
open to accept
knowledge and
change.

His Bonifacio
Monument is classical in
execution but romantic in
content. Bonifacio,
holding a bolo and a
pistol, stands quietly,
dignified, resolute, but
defiant. He is surrounded
by dynamic figures of
oppression, struggle and
revolution. Here, in
Tolentino’s work, Andres
Bonifacio remains strong
amidst the turbulent
storm of the Revolution.

ANASTACIO CAEDO
Anastacio Tanchauco Caedo (14
August 1907 – 12 May 1990). His
style of sculpture was classical realist
in the tradition of his
mentor, Guillermo Tolentino.He
produced
numerous commissioned representati
onal sculptures mainly monuments of
national heroes and successful
Filipino politicians, businessmen, and
educators.
Caedo is also notable for having
refused the honor of being awarded
a National Artist of the Philippines - in

HIS BEST KNOWN WORKS INCLUDE
MacArthur Landing site
in Palo Red Beach,
Leyte
Rizal Monument at
JRU
Benigno Aquino Monument at
the corner of Ayala Avenue and
Paseo de Roxas in Makati

NAPOLEON ABUEVA
Abueva goes against the
standards, set by his teacher,
Guillermo Tolentino. Working
with a variety of materials and
techniques, Abueva integrated
the sculptural and functional
qualities in his works. He
produced highly stylized,
simplified, and eventually
abstract works under the
influence of Moore and Brancusi.
His works sometimes contain
elements of eroticism, fun, wit,
and playfulness.

ABUEVA’S WORKS
His Kaganapan shows
a woman in the height
of her pregnancy. He
did away with the
traditional, idealized,
voluptuous muse of
classicism and
replaced it with the
beauty of a woman
bearing a child.

The Pegaraw-pegasus and
tamaraw
Nine Muses

AMERICAN INFLUENCES IN
ARCHITECTURE
1. Italianate
2. Victorian
3. Mission Revival
4. Neoclassical
5. Neogothic
6. Neo-

The Philippine Arts During American Colonization

The Philippine Arts During American Colonization

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