WORKS OF JUAN LUNA AND FERNANDO

MODULE6: AMORSOLO

“Art history is less explosive than the rest of history so it sinks faster into the pulverized
regions of time.”
- Robert Smithson

OBJECTIVES. What will you learn from this module?

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Analyze the Spoliarium painting by Juan Luna

2. Create a painting or an art depicting the Philippine History or the current situation
in our country
3. Appreciate the relevance of historical paintings in the understanding of Philippine
History

INTRODUCTION.

You may have already took arts subjects throughout your academic experience.
This module simply meant to elicit the skills and knowledge that you learned in your past
arts subjects. Let’s break ourselves from reading texts instead, let us read and interpret
paintings from the past. It might interest you to know how famous paintings were arrived
at. Or after having been exposed to a number of paintings in the module, hopefully, you
may be so inspired that you too, would like to start painting on your own or join a
painting contest.

ANALYSIS.

Take a look at this painting, what do you observe?

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On your own analyzation, what does the painting tries to

convey?

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Alright! Go to the next page to see if your interpretation is the same as what the painter
tries to convey through the painting.

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LESSON6: WORKS OF JUAN LUNA AND FERNANDO AMORSOLO

ABSTRACTION

HISTORICAL PAINTINGS

These are the visual representations of concrete happenings on the life of people
in a specific period? The idea about certain events and people is communicated or
expressed aesthetically through art with form, technique, and style. Essentially, these
paintings are instrumentals to the visualization of the reality which stands with texts,
photos, caricatures and films.

The famous Filipino painter, Juan Luna addresses two things from his artwork,
the glorification of genius and the grandeur of his artistic skills.

“Spoliarium” by Juan Novicio Luna, a

4x7m masterpiece created in 1884. He worked
on canvas and spent eight months completing
the painting. On the same year, he submitted
this painting to the Exposicion Nacional de
Bellas Artes in Madrid and won the first gold
medal. It is one of the prize possessions of the
Philippine National Museum today.

A Spoliarium is a Latin word referring to the basement of the Roman Colosseum

where the fallen and dying gladiators who fight to the death for the entertainment of
their Roman oppressors are dumped and devoid of their worldly possessions.

“Embodied the essence of our social, moral and political life:humanity in the severe
ordeal, humanity unredeemed, reason, and idealism in open struggle with prejudice,
fanaticism, and injustice.”

The people on the stairway though Can clear define where the lights
they are above all other characters, shine from above. Telling who is in
but they’re not really given any solid the center stage.
form as if they’re not important. As if
they’re just a mere background.

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The main actor of the painting as he The gladiator on the center can be
is being dragged by another depicted as well as the Filipino
gladiator into the darkness, the heroes who fought bravely.
warrior being drag can be
represented as Filipinos.

Under the Spanish rule, not only those who fought suffered but also their families
and their loved ones. Some people who lost someone during the Spanish rule tell the
tales they saw, and some are weeps but are forgotten in the darkness of history.

The “Spoliarium” by Juan Luna is a

detailed image of the Filipinos history, it’s a
microscopic view of the past and the
forgotten memory of the Filipinos, it lets us see
the memory of those who live in the era where
the Filipinos are under the tyranny of an
overlord.

The Parisian Life, also known as Interior

d'un Cafi (also spelled Interior d'Un Café,
literally meaning "Inside a Café"), is an 1892 oil
on canvas impressionist painting by Filipino
painter and revolutionary activist Juan Luna.
In 1953, the artwork was given the name of
The Maid.

According to Zerrudo, the painting which is an oil on canvas impressionist was

owned by different people and was named with different titles before landing in the
hands of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) in 2002.

In 2002, with the ownership of GSIS, it was decided to use The Parisian Life as the
official name which was also originally inscribed, signed and dated by Luna himself at
the back of the painting where he wrote, LUNA PARIS 1982. The painting can be
interpreted in three ways, by literal and popular interpretation where the lady sitting in
the sofa was identified as a flirt and prostitute.

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The woman in the painting has a
“geographical likeness” to the mirror-image of the
archipelago of the Philippines.

The three gentlemen in the left corner

were identified as the three Filipino heroes, Dr.
Jose Rizal, Juan Luna, and Ariston Baptista,
discussing the state of the country being under
stress. The coat and hat at the couch
symbolizes Western lifestyle particularly
identifying the people of Spain.

While the levels of beers in the table

were also interpreted on how the Spaniards
take advantage of the country.

Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) delights

people of his impressionistic technique depicting
idyllic country scene, beautiful maidens, and
colorfully dressed peasants planting or
harvesting rice.

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Antipolo fiesta (1947 -this oil painting on
canvas depicts a rural scene where a group of
people are shown celebrating a fiesta in
Antipolo.

Antipolo Fiesta The main focus is on a pair of dancers in the field surrounded by
revelers both young and old. Abundant food is presented in basketfuls of assorted fruits
on the benches and on the ground, as well as the traditional roasted pig or lechon being
prepared by two men. Nearby is a house with huge windows from where dwellers watch
the revelers. At the background is a huge church, a symbolic town structure. A vast
number of townsmen complete the essence of a fiesta.

Palay maiden known as (Dalagang bukid) this

painting portrays a provincial filipina beauty on dalagang
bukid during a rice harvest and dressed in and
endeloped by the colors of the Philippine flag.

Palay Maiden, 1920 Oil on canvas Palay is Tagalog for grain, which is symbolic of
the Philippines’ most staple crop. Maiden bears significance to Amorsolo’s preference for
beauty. Throughout his pieces showing women, Amorsolo does not conform to a Western
standard of beauty; rather, he portrayed them to have: [A] rounded face, not of the
oval type often presented to us in newspapers and magazine illustrations. The eyes
should be exceptionally lively, not the dreamy, sleepy type that characterizes the
Mongolian. The nose should be of the blunt form but firm and strongly marked. … So the
ideal Filipina beauty should not necessarily be white complexioned, nor of the dark
brown color of the typical Malayan, but of the clear skin or fresh colored type which we
often witness when we met a blushing girl.

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APPLICATION
I. Essay. What is the relevance of the historical paintings in the understanding of
the Philippine History?

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II. Create a painting or an artwork depicting Philippine History or the current

situation of our country.

MODULE 6 | Works of Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo 39