Fernando Amorsolo was a renowned Filipino painter known as the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art". He pioneered the use of light and luminous backlighting in his paintings of rural Philippine scenes. Cesar Legaspi was a Filipino painter who helped establish modern art in the Philippines through his Cubist-inspired works tackling social issues. Napoleon Abueva was a renowned sculptor known as the "Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture". Through his varied works in different materials, he portrayed realistic and symbolic figures addressing motherhood, labor, and national themes.

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FERNANDO AMORSOLO
CESAR LEGAZPI
NAPOLEON ABUEVA
GUILLERMO TOLENTINO
12 FILIPINO ARTIST
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B U L A C A N S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y 1
Lira Lei Ann I. Bondoc
Discussant

2. Fernando amorsolo
All About Him
Name: Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto
Born: May 30, 1892 at Paco, Manila
Died: April 24, 1972 at Quezon City
Wife: Salud Tolentino Jorge (1916-1931)
Maria Del Carmen (1935-?)
13 Children
“Philippines First National Artist
Recognized as “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art”

3. Fernando amorsolo
In 1909, he graduated with honors from the Art School of the Liceo
De Manila, then enrolled in the UP Diliman College of Fine Arts at the
tender age of seventeen where he was mentored by his uncle and
prominent Philippine painter, Fabian de la Rosa.
In 1916, he graduated with honors and was granted a sponsorship by
Spanish businessman Enrique Zóbel de Ayala to study at the Real
Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain.

4. Fernando amorsolo
Returning to Manila, he produced myriad paintings from the 1920s to
1930s.
For seven months he sketched at the museums and on the streets of
Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color.
He taught at his alma mater (UPDCFA) and served as Director of the
school’s art department between 1938 to 1952.
That winter he went to New York and discovered the works of the
postwar impressionists and cubists, who became the major influence on
his works. On his return to Manila, he set up his own studio.

5. Fernando amorsolo
During this period, Amorsolo
developed the use of light—
actually, backlight—which is his
greatest contribution to
Philippine painting.
Characteristically, an Amorsolo
painting contains a glow against
which the figures are outlined,
and at one point of the canvas
there is generally a burst of light
that highlights the smallest
detail.
House on a Lake, 1926

6. Fernando amorsolo
After arriving in the Philippines,
Amorsolo set out to the
Philippine countryside, a favorite
of his. His work, Crossing the
River (1924) depicts a river in the
province of Tarlac. It was
commissioned by tobacco
company La Tabacalera.
Crossing the River, 1924

7. Fernando amorsolo
Representative of one of Amorsolo’s
favorite themes: maidens in the water.
Paintings allowed Amorsolo to display
all his talents and techniques amid the
rising influence of abstract art at that
time. Here, Amorsolo displays his
masterstroke and most difficult
technique: the effervescent sunlight as it
reflected on the movement of the clear
water. Such paintings were Amorsolo’s
answer to the “threat” of abstract art.
The Bathers, 1953

8. Fernando amorsolo
Another powerful
postwar creation
is The Filipino
Family (1952). The
painting as rich in
metaphor, and
describes it as one of
the most epic works
of Amorsolo.
The Filipino Family, 1952

9. Fernando amorsolo
Amorsolo sometimes catered to
Western clients, who were the ones
who appreciated art at the time. In
some cases, he painted
commissioned portraits of
American or European people. His
1941 Portrait of a Boy is one such
example.
Portrait of a Boy, 1941

10. Fernando amorsolo
His most
expensive piece
to ever sell on
auction is Under
the Mango
Tree (1952),
which sold for
P46,720,000 in
2018.
Under the Mango Tree, 1952

11. Fernando amorsolo
He received multiple accolades including a UNESCO Gold Medal of
Recognition, a Rizal-Pro Patria Award from the Far Eastern University,
and a Gawad CCP para sa Sining Award from the Cultural Center of the
Philippines.
Throughout his life, Amorsolo’s sketches and studies are estimated to
number over 10,000 pieces. In 1972, five days after his death, he was
posthumously honored with the Philippines’ first National Artist Award
for Painting. He left behind a trail of legacies around the world in the
form of priceless paintings that depicted virtue showed his sense of
optimism.

12. Fernando Amorsolo Artworks
 Renowned for his trademark luminosity and ability to
render the iconic provincial Filipina.
Portrait of Sonia Lim, 1958 Offering, 1957 Portrait of a Lady in Maria
Clara Dress, 1955

13. Fernando amorsolo
 Renowned for his trademark luminosity and ability to
render the iconic provincial Filipina.
Portrait of a Lady in a Terno,
1948
Dalagang Bukid, 1937 Old Lady, 1937

14. Fernando amorsolo
 Renowned for his trademark luminosity and ability to
render the iconic provincial Filipina.
Lavanderas, 1961
Beaty Bathing by the River,
1943
By the stream, 1957

15. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• farmers ankle-deep in rice fields
Planting Rice, 1964 Trabajo en el campo (Working in the Field) 1965

16. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• farmers ankle-deep in rice fields
Planting Rice, 1949 Planting Rice, 1952

17. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• farmers ankle-deep in rice fields
Joy in the Field, 1954 Harvest, 1930

18. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• women in colorful baro’t sayas sorting through
mangoes
Under the Mango Tree, 1951 Under the Mango Tree, 1960

19. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• women in colorful baro’t sayas sorting through
mangoes
Market Scene, 1947
Vendors, 1936

20. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• vibrant society portraits.”
Bulacan, 1950
Noon Meal, 1951

21. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• vibrant society portraits.”
Seascape, 1935 Travelers, 1950

22. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• vibrant society portraits.”
Nighttime Street Scene with Figure, Manila,
1927
Bombing of the Intendencia, 1942

23. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• vibrant society portraits.”
Town Fiesta, 1947 Burning of Manila, 1942

24. Fernando amorsolo
 Amorsolo’s paintings usually feature scenes in glowing
rural landscapes.
• vibrant society portraits.”
Luksong Tinik, 1959 Tinikling, 1960

25. Cesar Legaspi
All About Him
• Name: Cesar Torrente Legaspi
• Born: April 2, 1917
• Died: April 7, 1994
• Wife: Betty Bitalina
• 5 Children
• National Artist for Visual Arts (1990)
• He took up painting for one term at the University of the Philippines,
School of Fine Arts before he decided to take commercial art courses
instead. he received medals for perspective and illustration projects.
• He earned his Certificate of Proficiency in 1936, after which he
continued his education in art under Pablo Amorsolo

26. Cesar Legaspi
• He went to Madrid in 1953 and pursued Art Studies under a
scholarship at the Cultura Hispanic until 1954.
• He also went to Paris to study at the Academie Ranson for one
month under Henri Goetz.
• Back in the Philippines, he had his first one-man show at the Luz
Gallery in 1963.
• While this led to an active phase with his major pieces, he also
worked as a magazine illustrator and artistic director at an
advertising agency.
• He finally left the agency in 1968 to focus on his painting.

27. Cesar Legaspi
• Cesar Legaspi was a 20th-century Filipino painter best
known for his Cubist-inspired works.
Still Life, 1984 Miners, 1979 Lavanderas 1946

28. Cesar Legaspi
• Consistently tackling issues of social injustice and the plight
of the working classes, Legaspi rendered his paintings
using undulating, geometric stylizations of forms.
Workers, 1953 Woman and Children, 1971

29. Cesar Legaspi
• A pioneer “Neo-Realist” of the country, Cesar Legaspi is remembered
for his singular achievement of refining cubism in the Philippine
context.
• Legaspi belonged to the so-called “Thirteen Moderns” and later, the
“Neo-realists”.
• His distinctive style and daring themes contributed significantly to
the advent and eventual acceptance of modern art in the Philippines.
• Legaspi made use of the geometric fragmentation technique,
weaving social comment and juxtaposing the mythical and modern
into his overlapping, interacting forms with disturbing power and
intensity.

30. Cesar Legaspi artworks
Gadgets, 1949 The Diggers, 1951 Idols in the Third Eye, 1957
Among His works are: Gadgets I, Gadgets II, Diggers, Idols of the Third
Eye, Facade, Ovary, Flora and Fauna, Triptych, Flight, Bayanihan, Struggle,Avenging
Figure, Turning Point, Peace, The Survivor, The Ritual.

31. Cesar Legaspi More artworks
Guerillas, 1940-19499 Three Nudes, 1979 Untitled, 1982

32. Cesar Legaspi More artworks
Water Lilies, 1983 Tres Marias, 1975

33. Cesar Legaspi More artworks
Abstract, 1970 Nude, 1992

34. Cesar Legaspi More artworks
Plexus , 1993 Nude, 1978

35. Cesar Legaspi More artworks
Plexus , 1978 Vendor, 1976

36. Cesar Legaspi More artworks
Ritual, 1951 The Wall, 1986

37. Napoleon Abueva
All About Him
• Name: Napoleon Isabelo Veloso Abueva
• Born: January 26, 1930
• February 16, 2018
• Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture
• Youngest Awardee of Philippine National Artist for Sculpture at age
of 46 by President Ferdinand Marcos at 1976
• Finishing his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the University of
the Philippines (UP) in 1953 and after studies abroad (Harvard
University), Abueva helped shape the local sculpture scene in the
Philippines.

38. Napoleon Abueva
• when Abueva was a schoolboy, that he first noticed the
sculptural quality of clay and began to mold it into the shape
of carabao, or water buffalo common in the Philippines.
Carabao Carving, 1972 Carabao 1971
Carabao, 1965 Carabaos, 1981

39. Napoleon Abueva
• These first experiments with clay
soon turned into a fully fledged
dedication to the visual arts as
Abueva began to collect various
scholarships throughout the
Philippines and abroad. At a pivotal
point of his development as an artist,
he was granted a scholarship at
Harvard University.

40. Napoleon Abueva
• Adept in both academic representational style and modern
abstract, Abueva has utilized almost all kinds of materials from
hard wood (molave, acacia, langka (jackfruit) wood, ipil,
kamagong, palm wood and bamboo to adobe, metal, stainless
steel, cement, marble, bronze, iron, alabaster, coral and brass.
• Abueva received much recognition as early as his college years,
during which he was mentored by Guillermo Tolentino, the first
National Artist for Sculpture and creator of the UP Oblation.

41. Napoleon Abueva
• Abueva’s own style is at the same time
incredibly varied and instantly recognizable –
many of his sculptures that now sit in public
places in the Philippines and abroad convey a
sense of realism with their intimately physical
presence, lifelike forms and evocative gestures.

42. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Transfiguration , 1979 at Eternal
Gardens Memorial Park
Fredesvinda, 1981 at Fort
Canning Singapore

43. Napoleon Abueva
• Abueva gets his inspiration from a range of
sources, including popular mythology, history
and day-to-day life. It is this aspect of his work
that betrays an ongoing affinity with the work
and style of his mentor, Guillermo Tolentino,
whose oeuvre was monumental in its reverence
for the classical school and
ancient Greek sculpture.

44. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Childbirth, 2001
Childbirth (2001), another
realistic piece made from
bronze, is an honest and
simple representation of
labour, to the point where
its straightforward
frankness becomes almost
uncomfortable to the
viewer as the woman in
the sculpture holds her
newborn in her right hand,
the left still holding on to
the umbilical cord.

45. Napoleon Abueva
The theme of motherhood, or the
archetype of the mother, is present
throughout his oeuvre, and serves as a
good point of comparison for his varied
techniques. One of these, a bronze
statuette, represents a mother kneeling,
and raising her child high up above her
head in a gesture of exaltation,
emboldened still further by the natural
shine of the material – the scene is
resplendent and conveys the pride of
motherhood and relationship between
mother and child in all their glory.
Family Group

46. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Mother and Child (1953) Mother and Child (1960)
On the other hand,
one of Abueva’s
most widely known
sculptures sharing
this theme,
titled Mother and
Child (1960s), is a
confident example of
Abueva’s whimsical
departures from
Realism..

47. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Abueva’s sculptures, in addition to
representing his unique vision, frequently
seem to serve a specific function.
Somewhat humbly, he insists that
“sculpture is actually manual labor,” and
infuses much of his work with a practical
purpose.

48. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Nine Muses of the Arts
The surprising Nine Muses of
the Arts, located at the UP
Diliman campus, is a tribute to
the arts, from the traditional
media of painting and music to
new media: cinema and
computer art. The function of
his public works lies in the way
they inspire respect for
previous generations and
remind the viewers of the past,
of heroism, of the moments
that made history, while
keeping a watchful eye over
the present.

49. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Kaganapan , 1953 Kiss of Judas , 1955

50. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Nine Muses at the UP Faculty Center Sunburst, 1994 at The
Peninsula Manila Hotel

51. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
The Bataan Memorial Cross by
Napoleon Abueva and Lorenzo Del
Castillo
The Crucifix with Double Corpora depicting
both a suffering and a risen Christ

52. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
A mural depicting the Death March at
the colonnade
The Altar of Parish of the Holy Sacrifice

53. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Tribute to Higher Education in UP
Diliman
Sandugo Monument (Blood Compact) in
Tagbilaran City, Bohol

54. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Balangiga Monument depicting the
Balangiga Heroism
Neptune and Aphrodite at MWSS Lamesa
Eco Park

55. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Death masks of Benigno Aquino Jr.
Fernando Poe Jr.
The Flag Weavers

56. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
The Pegaraw (Pegasus and Tamaraw) Pieta, at FEU

57. Napoleon Abueva Major Works
Rizal and Josephine UP Seal

58. Guillermo Tolentino
All About Him
• Name: Guillermo Estrella Tolentino
• Born: July 24, 1890
• Died: July 12, 1976
• National Artist of the Philippines for Sculpture in 1973
• Filipino Sculpture in Classical Style
• Father of Philippine Arts
• He sculpted the University of the Philippines' most recognizable
emblem, the UP Oblation, as well as the Bonifacio Monument in
Caloocan City.

59. Guillermo Tolentino
The Bonifacio Monument
The monument is now a
major landmark of
Caloocan City. One of the
metro's light rail transit
(LRT) stations is located
near the landmark, and is
accordingly called
"Monumento."

60. Guillermo Tolentino
UP Oblation
The UP Oblation was commissioned
in 1935 by then University President
Rafael Palma. It was originally
located at the UP Manila campus in
Ermita, but was moved to the
Diliman campus in celebration of
the university's 40th anniversary.

61. Guillermo Tolentino
Tolentino was also the artist
who designed the medals for
the Ramon Magsaysay Awards,
as well as the seal of the
Republic of the Philippines.

62. Guillermo Tolentino
In 1919, Tolentino went to the United States to pursue further
studies, as he had received a scholarship grant from Bernard
Baruch of New York University's Beaux School of Arts. He
graduated from New York University with honors in 1921.
That same year, Tolentino traveled to Europe to visit the worked
renowned museums and art galleries in London and Paris. He
then went to study in Regge Istituto di Belle Arti in 1922. It was in
Rome that Tolentino had his first solo-artist exhibition. He also
won second prize in an art competition for his composition Apat
na Mangangabayong Apokalipsis (Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse).

63. Guillermo Tolentino
He returned to the Philippines in 1924, and became a professor at
the University of the Philippines' School of Fine Arts in 1926. Later,
he would be appointed as the school's secretary.
In 1932, Tolentino married Paz Raymundo. They had a family of
seven children.
From 1953 to 1955 Tolentino also served as the School of Arts'
director. He retired in 1955 as professor emeritus.

64. Guillermo Tolentino Major Artworks
The Bonifacio Monument UP Oblation

65. Guillermo Tolentino Major Artworks
Medal for Ramon Magsaysay Awards Republic of the Philippines Seal

66. Guillermo Tolentino Major Artworks
Venus, 1951 Filipinas on Bondage

67. Guillermo Tolentino Major Artworks
Bust of Monsignor Gregorio Aglipay A small bust of Jose Rizal

68. Guillermo Tolentino Major Artworks
UP Los Banos Alumni Plaza, 1967

69. Guillermo Tolentino Major Artworks
The News Boy
The Lady (Teodora Valenzuela Tiglao)

70. Guillermo Tolentino Major Artworks
Guillermo Tolentino’s Works at Pasay City Museum

71. References:
• http://www.artnet.com/artists/fernando-amorsolo/2
• https://biography.yourdictionary.com/fernando-amorsolo
• https://www.esquiremag.ph/the-good-life/pursuits/national-artist-fernando-amorsolo-life-and-works-a1957-
20190624-lfrm
• https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/cesar-legaspi-
2/#:~:text=Among%20his%20works%20are%20Gadgets,%2C%20The%20Survivor%2C%20The%20Ritual.
• http://www.artnet.com/artists/cesar-legaspi/4
• http://www.famousfilipino.com/national-artists/napoleon-abueva/
• http://www.artnet.com/artists/napoleon-abueva/2
• https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/napoleon-abueva-the-artist-who-created-modern-filipino-
sculpture/
• https://www.askart.com/artist/Napoleon_Abueva/11231937/Napoleon_Abueva.aspx
• http://noypicollections.blogspot.com/2011/07/sculptures-of-napoleon-abueva.html
• http://noypicollections.blogspot.com/2011/07/sculptures-of-napoleon-abueva.html
• https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/guillermo-tolentino/
• https://www.askart.com/artist/Guillermo_Estrella_Tolentino/11235037/Guillermo_Estrella_Tolentino.aspx
• https://www.slideshare.net/lumaosing/guillermo-estrella-tolentino-15418460
• http://noypicollections.blogspot.com/2011/07/life-and-works-of-guillermo-tolentino.html

72. . . . Thank you . . .
B U L A C A N S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y 1
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