Fernando Amorsolo

(1892-1972)

Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Calle Herran in Paco, Manila
to Pedro Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto. Although born in the nation’s capital,
Amorsolo would spend most of his childhood in the small town setting
of Daet in Camarines Norte where his love for the simple rural life would become the
foundation for his artistic output for which he is most well-known.

The Early Years

Amorsolo’s earliest memories would bring him back to a quiet life in the
countryside. When he was only seven months old, his father moved the family to Daet to
work as a bookkeeper for two abaca firms. Pedro was able to earn a modest income,
enough to keep his family comfortable.

Fernando showed early signs of his artistic talent. He would go out to the coast to
draw pictures of the ships by the wharves. It was his mother who recognized the young
Amorsolo’s talent. She would send her son’s drawings to her cousin Fabian dela Rosa,
a prominent painter in Manila. At this early age, Amorsolo displayed an affinity for the
rural landscape --- a reflection of his own small world.

Tragedy struck early in Amorsolo’s life. One night, when Fernando was still very
young, his father was awakened by shouts coming from outside his window. It was the
head of the revolutionary movement fighting against the Spaniards demanding that
Amorsolo’s half brother, the eldest son Perico, join the group. Against his father’s
wishes, Perico relented and went down to join the rebels. The family never saw him
again. After the failure of the 1896 uprising, neighbors told the family that they saw
Perico, bound with a bamboo pole strapped to his back, being taken to jail. He was later
executed by the Spaniards. Shattered with grief by the death of his son, Amorsolo’s father
Pedro never recovered from the ordeal and died of a heart attack a few years later.

Amorsolo’s penchant for depicting an idealized world is viewed by his critics as the
work of someone who has never experienced pain in his life. It is apparent that the artist’s
preference was not due to a lack of exposure to the ills of society but to a conscious effort
to hang on to what is pure and good before the harsh realities of the world shattered his
peaceful life in the countryside.

His father died when Amorsolo was eleven years old. Before he passed away,
Pedro made his wife promise to give Fernando a proper art education. The widowed
Bonifacia gathered her family and returned to Manila in hopes of finding better prospects
to provide for her family. Her cousin Don Fabian dela Rosa opened his doors to the
family. It was here that Amorsolo had his first real exposure to the art world.

To make ends meet, Bonifacia did embroidery to feed her family. Fernando made
himself useful by assisting Don Fabian in his studio. It was during this time that Amorsolo
received his first art instruction from Don Fabian. The family’s limited financial means
made it difficult for the artist to receive consistent formal art instruction. He earned money
the only way he knew how. Amorsolo drew sketches and sold them for 15 centavos a
piece to help his family and to pay for his schooling. Despite the family’s financial
difficulties, in 1914, he finally earned his degree, with honors, as a member of the first
graduating class of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts.

Amorsolo lived during a turbulent time in the Philippines. He came of age during
a transition period in Philippine history. The former Spanish colony became a territory of
the United States of America. As American influence slowly crept into Filipino culture in
the bigger cities, the artist yearned for the life he knew during his early childhood days in
Daet. This clearly manifested itself in his artistic output where he clearly showed a
partiality towards the rural setting where American culture was slow to trickle down. His
paintings would embody an affinity for the traditions and lifestyle he knew during the
Spanish era. His canvases were filled with scenes of fiestas, old churches and rituals
that were the legacy of the Philippines’ former colonial masters

Striking Out on his Own

Success came early to Amorsolo. His professors at the University of the
Philippines were quite impressed with the young painter. Some of them thought that
Amorsolo’s brush work surpassed their own. Apparently they were not the only ones who
had this favorable opinion of the young artist.
The artist became a professor in his early 20’s and was already establishing
himself in the art world. At the age of 25, he was already married to Salud
Jorge and had a daughter, Virginia, when he caught the eye of one of the most influential
figures in Filipino society. Amorsolo had designed the logo for Ginebra San Miguel, still
in use in its original form today, depicting St. Michael vanquishing the devil. The owner
of the beverage company, Don Enrique Zobel, a leading figure in the business
community and an ardent patron of the arts, was so impressed by his work that he offered
to send Amorsolo to the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid for further studies with
a generous stipend for himself and his young family. The artist took the standard entrance
exam at the Academia. To Amorsolo’s surprise, after evaluating his work, the school
informed him that, based on the results, they would accept him not as a student but as a
professor at the school.
Amorsolo was a painfully shy man. After his acceptance at the Academia, a
banquet was held in his honor. When he was escorted into the banquet hall, he was so
nervous that he excused himself to go to the men’s room. He hurriedly went through the
back door and went back to his hotel room. A school official later found him and prevailed
on him to return to the banquet. He steadfastly refused. It is ironic that someone as
talented and accomplished as Amorsolo was also known for his diffidence. Throughout
his career, he shied away from any public event that was thrown in his honor. His
confidence was almost purely reserved and confined to the practice of his trade. His
precise brush work certainly shows someone who was very sure of his artistic skills. So
confident was Amorsolo of his brush stroke that art conservationists have frequently been
surprised at how thinly paint was applied on his paintings. It took him significantly fewer
attempts, and consequently fewer layers of paint, to get the results that he wanted.
Amorsolo was by no means a Renaissance man. He had no other significant talent
other than illustration and painting. Unlike artists such as John Singer Sargent, who
was also an accomplished pianist, Amorsolo’s hands were permanently and solely
associated with the paint brush. As a consequence of this exclusive association, the artist
truly became the master of his craft.
Amorsolo eventually settled in and spent seven months in Madrid where he was
able to observe the works of the masters. He visited art galleries and museums to study
the works of Diego Velasquez, El Greco, Goya, Monet, Manet, Van Dyck, Sargent,
and Joaquin Sorolla. It is here where he honed his skills and perfected his
technique. Diego Velasquez was one of his major influences, learning from his superior
brush work, painterly style, and mastery of color. He would also learn from and build
upon Sorolla’s technique of utilizing the sun to draw out the most dramatic effects from
the heightened sunlit colors and dramatic contrasts between light and shade. The
perfection of this technique would set Amorsolo apart from his contemporaries.
Despite his exposure to Western influences, Amorsolo retained his Filipino
consciousness. He was drawn more towards the gentle rolling hills and verdant rice fields
of the Philippines rather than the cosmopolitan world of Europe’s proud cities. Even his
illustrations of Spanish women were drawn with slender physiques, narrower hips, and
smaller breasts more typical of Filipinas rather than full bodied Caucasian women.
 After his stint in Madrid, Amorsolo came home to the Philippines ready to apply
what he learned. His bright sunlit rural landscapes were a stark departure from the
elegantly dark European style that was practiced during the time. American servicemen,
officials, and businessmen sought out his paintings to bring home to the States as a token
of remembrance for their stay in the Philippines. Amorsolo made his mark and carved a
niche for himself in the local art scene. Demand for his chosen genre reached a high
point.
Amorsolo’s first wife passed away in 1931 leaving him with six children. He had
six more children by a common-law wife. In 1935, he married Maria del Carmen who
gave him eight more children. Fortunately, his reputation was growing as fast as his
brood and his work was more than enough to provide for his rather large family.
The War Years
Just as his career was reaching its peak the Philippines found itself in the midst of
the second World War. The artist and his family lived in the middle of the Japanese-
occupied city of Manila and were not spared from the grim realities of war. Amorsolo
rented another house near Raon Street where the women and children stayed while the
men occupied the Azcarraga residence during the daytime which was near a Japanese
garrison. Amorsolo did not let the war stop him from painting but his work took a dramatic
turn.
Difficult times during the war took its toll on the artist and his family. Amorsolo’s
customer base dissipated in the face of the tough economic situation. Acquiring painting
materials was a challenge. More importantly, Amorsolo was deprived of his frequent
sojourns to the rural areas of Marikina, Antipolo, and other locales in the outskirts of
Manila where he painted his popular landscapes. Not having access to his traditional
settings, his paintings took on a darker tone.
During the war, Amorsolo’s younger brother Pablo, an accomplished artist in his
own right, was branded a Japanese sympathizer. He was captured and executed by
Filipino guerillas in Antipolo. This personal tragedy, in addition to the devastation all
around him, weighed heavily on the artist.
Depictions of human suffering and tragedy dominated his canvases. The idyllic
world within which the introverted artist chose to confine himself was torn asunder. It was
during this time that Amorsolo’s work truly embodied the artist’s inner self. The paintings
were not made in conjunction with a client’s preferences but were reflections of the
conflicting emotions raging within. Amorsolo was deeply affected as he watched his
surroundings ravaged by war. He painted burning edifices and mothers fleeing the scene
with their children in tow. Women’s faces were filled with terror and despair as they were
engulfed by death and destruction in their surroundings. Gone were the ebullient smiles,
replaced by expressions of desolation. Rather than the noontime sun illuminating the
main subjects, flames and embers from the burning ruins became the primary light source
casting an eerie ominous glow.
Even during this dark period, Amorsolo chose to portray despair not with an
emotional outpouring of grief. It was very rare that a person in his paintings would be
depicted screaming with rage or wailing in intense displays of emotion. Tragedy was
portrayed through subtle means. In one of his more famous works, a woman is pictured
clutching her veil while kneeling in front of her dead son --- apparently a guerilla soldier
killed during a battle. The woman is looking up to the sky with a calm look of sorrow on
her face. The subtle and restrained depiction proved to be a more powerful portrayal as
the woman’s tearless eyes conveyed a more intense form of pain. It communicated to
the viewer the deep sense of loss a mother feels when her child is taken away from
her. On the flip side, men were represented not with expressions of rage but with looks
of defiance. In his piece entitled Defensa de Honor, the man protecting the woman from
being raped by a Japanese soldier had a determined but subdued expression. This was
conveyed by the fiery expression in his eyes and the slight but firm downward turn of the
corners of his mouth. Amidst the tragedy of the war, Amorsolo still inserted a hint of hope
personified by the implied resistance of his characters to the occupying Japanese
forces. His wartime paintings are considered among his finest work and were exhibited
at Malacanang Palace in 1948.
The Prime of his Career

In the period after the war, the artist resumed his rudely interrupted career. The
next two decades saw the blossoming of Amorsolo’s art. He went back to painting the
bright sun-drenched countryside scenes for which he was most well-known. He reached
the peak of his popularity in the late 1940’s and 1950’s garnering numerous awards and
citations along the way. Amorsolo was widely recognized as the most influential artist of
his time.

The end of the war saw the Philippines gain its independence from the United
States. As a young republic it was seeking its own national identity. Amorsolo’s work
was naturally seen as the embodiment of a Filipino culture unique from that of the new
country’s former colonial masters. His genre paintings were in such high demand that he
catalogued his works. Prospective clients would choose the painting they wanted. The
artist then painted a different version of the chosen subjects.

Amorsolo’s prodigious output was helped in no small way by the speed with which
the artist was able to finish his work. His strokes were so sure and true that he was able
to finish a painting in a significantly shorter period of time. It is believed that the oil
paintings that he produced number into the thousands. If his drawings, sketches, and
studies are added, his total output was in excess of ten thousand pieces. At one point,
he was able to finish no less than ten paintings in a typical month. Part of the motivation
for this incredible pace was the need to support his large family.

The artist was roundly criticized for his machine-like efficiency. Furthermore, a
blossoming modern art movement, who considered Amorsolo the de facto leader of the
classical realist school, saw him as a natural target. He never raised his voice nor took
up the cudgel in his own defense yet he had no shortage of defenders who took up the
fight. Among his staunchest supporters was Guillermo Tolentino, the finest sculptor the
country ever produced and Amorsolo’s best friend. When asked why he did not speak
up in his own defense, the artist responded with a shrug and said that he had already
matured as an artist. He had nothing left to prove and was comfortable painting what he
wished in the form of expression that he chose. His customers stood by his side and
demand for his paintings remained high.

The Sunset of his Life

Amorsolo worked until the last year of his life. Age was starting to catch up with
him. He was afflicted with diabetes and arthritis in addition to his heart condition. His
eyesight was also beginning to fail him and he had to undergo a cataract operation. In
his later works, his compromised vision led to wayward brush strokes of red and blue
lines where a mound of earth should be. Despite these challenges, the quality of his
output remained at high levels and the popularity of his work never waned.

What were probably the most painful tragedies struck him in his later years. In
1964, his eldest son Fernando, Jr. died from asthma and tuberculosis. The artist was so
grief-stricken that he could not bear to attend his own son’s funeral. Seven years later in
1971, his youngest child Milo died in a car accident. The pain of having to bury two of
his children was too much for Amorsolo to bear. Five days short of a year after Milo died,
Amorsolo died of heart failure on April 24, 1972.

Amorsolo’s work continues to resonate among his countrymen decades after his
death. His portrayals of an ideal and beautiful world drew the most ardent praises and
the harshest criticisms. To understand the artist one has to appreciate the man behind
Amorsolo. He was shy, innocent, and most importantly pure. These traits spilled over
onto his canvas. It was not because Amorsolo was not capable of recognizing the dark
side of society. He had his share of heartbreak and disappointment in his life but he
deliberately isolated himself from these and chose to portray the bright side of the
world. Not a shred of wickedness permeated his character and as a result his art is the
purest manifestation of beauty. The basic desire to identify with what is good is what
people inherently have in common with the artist. It is for this legacy that Amorsolo will
be most fondly remembered.