JUAN LUNA was born in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, on

October 23, 1857, and, like Hidalgo, was the third of seven
children. Early in his life, the family moved to Manila and
lived in Trozo. The young Luna received his early
education at the Ateneo Municipal and later at the Escuela
Nautica de Manila. In 1873, he became an apprentice
officer and traveled to various Asian ports. Whenever his
ship was in port in Manila, he took painting lessons in
the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura of Fr. Agustin Saiz.
Don Lorenzo Guerero, whoe easily recognized the young
man’s natural talent, was the first tutor of the young Luna.
He persuaded Luna’s parents to send their son to Spain for
advanced painting lessons. Luna left for Barcelona in 1877
together with his elder brother Manuel, who was a violinist.
He entered the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in
Madrid, where, in a year’s time, he won the only academic
prize of his school. Not satisfied with the instruction in
school, he took private lessons under Alejo Vera, a famous
contemporary paiter in Spain. Like his teacher, Vera, too,
had high regard for his pupil. Proof of this was his taking
Luna with him to Rome to undertake certain commissions.
In Rome, Luna widened his knowledge of art, for he was
exposed to the immortal works of the Renaissance masters.
It was there that he painted his “Daphne y Cleo” for which
he received a silver palette from the Liceo Artistico de
Manila. Subsequently, he exhibited several canvases at
the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid and won
a silver medal (2nd class) for “La Muerte de
Cleopatra.” This painting was later purchased by the
Spanish government for a thousand duros.
Luna’s growing fame won for him a four-year
pensionadoship for the Ayuntamiento de Manila. Though
under obligation to paint only one canvas, he gave the
Spanish government three; namely, “The Blood
Compact,” now in Malacanang. “Don Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi,” which was burned during the war
and “Governor Ramon Blanco” (which was part of the
present collection).
It was while still in Rome that Luna worked incessantly on
the “Spoliarium.” He entered this painting in
the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid, and it
won one of the three gold medals. In the same exposition,
Hidalgo won a silver medal for his “Virgenes Cristianas
Expuestas al Populacho.” Because of the double victory of
the two Filipino painters, Filipinos in Spain gathered to
honor them. One of the Filipinos was Jose Rizal, who in
boosting the two honorees also spoke for the first time of
the conditions then prevailing in his country. Having
attained fame, Luna now received various government
commissions. These commissions produced his great
canvases, such as “The Battle of Lepanto,” “Peuple et
Rois” and “España y Filipinas.”
Luna’s canvases show a distinct contrast to those of
Hidalgo’s. In contrast to the ever-delicate paintings of
Hidalgo, Luna’s work show more drama and bravura. A
forceful dynamic man, Luna has his personality stamped
on every canvas of his. His power and joie de vivre were
notable characteristics of his works.
A Filipino art critic spoke of Luna thus: “Vigor and
realism characterize his art. In a single brush stroke, he
paints a fair of emotions that fills the beholder with drama
and tragedy of his theme…Luna was graver, more
profound in his emotions than Hidalgo. The latter was mre
pure, more serene in his feelings.”
Luna sought inspiration not from his contemporarries, the
Impressionists, but from the Romantic Delacroix,
Rembrandt and Daumier from whom he learned imparting
power and mysticism to his works. All these influences
were incorporated in a style that was Luna’s own.
In 1885, the painter moved to Paris and established his
studio at 65 Boulevard Arago, near the studio of Hidalgo.
Later he moved to 175 Boulevard Pereire. Like Hidalgo’s,
his studio became a gathering place for the Filipino
community in Paris. It was here where Rizal and other
young Filipinos organized the Indios Bravos.
The following year, 1886, he married Paz Pardo de Tavera,
with whom he had a son, Andres. The marriage ended in
tragedy. Luna in a fit of jealousy, killed his wife and
mother-in-law and wounded his brother-in-law, Felix, on
September 23, 1892. He was acquitted of the charge of
parricide and murder by the French court on February 7,
1893. Five days later, he moved with his son to Madrid,
where he finished few paintings. On April 27, 1894, he
returned to the Philippines after an absence of 17 years.
While in Manila, he finished some Philippine scenes. Early
in 1896, he again departed, this time for Japan. He returned
a few weeks after the Cry of Balintawak. On the evening
of September 16, 1896, he was arrested and confined for
complicity in the Katipunan revolt. He was among those
pardoned during the birthday of King Alfonso XIII on May
27, 1897. The following month, he left for Spain.
In 1898, the executive board of the Philippine
revolutionary government appointed him a member of the
Paris delegation which was working for the diplomatic
recognition of the Philippine Republic. When the Treaty of
Paris was signed on December 10, 1899, he was named a
member of the delegation to Washington to press for the
recognition of the Philippine government.
Upon hearing the death of his brother Antonio, Luna
hurriedly returned to Hong Kong. On December 7, 1899,
he suffered a severe heart attack and died before receiving
medical attention. He was buried in Hong Kong. His
remains were exhumed in 1920 and were kept in the house
of his son, to be later transferred to a niche at the Crypt
Chapel of San Agustin.
Luna’s fame spread far and wide; he was acclaimed both
in Europe and at home, yet there were skeptical Spaniards
who took his race against him. Rizal defended him by
saying, “Genius has no country, genius burst forth
everywhere, is like light and air – the patrimony of all;
cosmopolitan as space, as life as God.”

Juan Luna: The Painter Who Painted His Own Destiny

Do you know who painted the famous Spoliarium? Yes,

that’s right, it’s Juan Luna, a name we often hear when we
were in elementary and high school. But do you know his
other accomplishments and downfalls?
Below are 10 interesting and controversial facts about our
National artist, Juan Luna.
1. Juan Novicio Luna was born on October 23, 1857 in
Badoc, Ilocos, Philippines. (socyberty.com)
2. He was the third among the seven children of Don
Joaquin Luna de San Pedro y Posadas and Doña Laureana
Novicio y Ancheta. (wikipedia.org)

3. Juan married Paz (Chiching) Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho

with whom he had two children, Andres Luna San Pedro,
and Maria de la Paz. Both died at early ages. (trivia-
history.blogspot.com)

4. He excelled in painting and drawing, and was influenced

by his brother, Manuel Luna, who, according to Filipino
patriot Jose Rizal, was a better painter than Juan himself.
(wikipedia.org)

5. He went to Ateneo Munipal and got a Bachelor of Arts

degree. He also went to Escuela Nautica de Manila (now
Philippine Merchant Marine Academy) and became a
sailor. (trivia-history.blogspot.com)

6. Because of his exceptional talent in painting, Luna

became a friend of the King of Spain who was an art
enthusiast himself. (socyberty.com)
7. In 1884, Luna's huge painting, “Spolarium”, won the
first Gold Medal at the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas
Artes in Spain. Coincidentally, another Filipino, Felix
Resurreccion Hidalgo won the second prize in the same
event for his painting, “Antigone”. (trivia-
history.blogspot.com)

8. In 1881, his La Muerte de Cleopatra (The Death of

Cleopatra) won him a silver medal and came in second
place. (geringerart.com)

9. Luna was fond of painting his wife. However, the jealous

Luna frequently accused his wife Paz of having an affair
with a Surgeon Monsieur Dussaq. Finally in a fit of
jealousy, he killed his wife and mother-in-law and
wounded his brother-in-law, Felix, on September 23, 1892.
(wikipedia.org)

10. His remains were buried in Hong Kong and in 1920

were exhumed and kept in Andres Luna's house, to be later
transferred to a niche at the Crypt of the San Agustin
Church in the Philippines. (wikipedia.org)
Juan Luna is considered as the finest painter this country
has ever produced. He was very educated and was able to
go to other countries to pursue his studies. But despite all
his success in his career, by his jealousy and accusations,
he killed his own wife with the same hands that painted his
masterpieces.

The contributor Laurence Michael B. David, 19 years old,

is from Mandaluyong City. He finished his secondary
studies at Rizal Technological University and is currently
taking up BS Information and Communications. He loves
listening to music, playing basketball, and hanging out with
his friends. He dreams to be a successful IT engineer and
be able to support his family in the future.
article.

Fernando Amorsolo
Facts/Biography
The Philippine artist Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) was
a portraitist and painter of rural land scapes. He is best
known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light.
Fernando Amorsolo was born May 30, 1892, in the Paco
district of Manila. At 13 he was apprenticed to the noted
Philippine artist Fabian de la Rosa, his mother's first
cousin. In 1909 Amorsolo enrolled at the Liceo de Manila
and then attended the fine-arts school at the University of
the Philippines, graduating in 1914. After working three
years as a commercial artist and part-time instructor at the
university, he studied at the Escuela de San Fernando in
Madrid. For seven months he sketched at the museums and
on the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of
light and color. 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.

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.

During the 1920s and 1930s Amorsolo's output of

paintings was prodigious. In 1939 his oil Afternoon Meal
of the Workers won first prize at the New York World's
Fair. During World War II Amorsolo continued to paint.
The Philippine collector Don Alfonso Ongpin
commissioned him to execute a portrait in absentia of Gen.
Douglas MacArthur, which he did at great personal risk.
He also painted Japanese occupation soldiers and self-
portraits. His wartime paintings were exhibited at the
Malacanang presidential palace in 1948. After the war
Amorsolo served as director of the college of fine arts of
the University of the Philippines, retiring in 1950. Married
twice, he had 13 children, five of whom became painters.

Amorsolo was noted for his portraits. He made oils of all

the Philippine presidents, including the revolutionary
leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and other noted Philippine
figures. He also painted many wartime scenes, including
Bataan, Corner of Hell, and One Casualty.

Amorsolo, who died in 1972, is said to have painted more

than 10,000 pieces. He continued to paint even in his late
70s, despite arthritis in his hands. Even his late works
feature the classic Amorsolo tropical sunlight. He said he
hated "sad and gloomy" paintings, and he executed only
one painting in which rain appears.