FERNANDO C.
AMORCOLO
1892-1972
Year of Conferment: 1972
Born: Fernando Amorsolo y
Cueta
May 30, 1892
Manila, Captaincy General of
the Philippines, Spanish Empire
Died: April 24, 1972 (aged 79)
Quezon City, Philippines
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
At the age of 13,
Amorsolo became an
apprentice to De la Rosa,
who would eventually
become the advocate and
guide to Amorsolo's
painting career.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Amorsolo's first success as
a young painter came in 1908,
when his painting Leyendo el
periódico took second place at
the Bazar Escolta, a contest
organized by the Asociacion
Internacional de Artistas.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Between 1909 and 1914, he
enrolled at the Art School of
the Liceo de Manila.
He entered the University of
the Philippines' School of
Fine Arts, where De la Rosa
worked at the time.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Amorsolo's most notable work
as a student at the Liceo was his
painting of a young man and a
young woman in a garden, which
won him the first prize in the art
school exhibition during his
graduation year.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Amorsolo graduated
with medals from the
University of the
Philippines in 1914
CAREER
• Amorsolo worked as a
draftsman for the Bureau of
Public Works, as a chief artist
at the Pacific Commercial
Company, and as a part-time
instructor at the University of
the Philippines (where he
would work for 38 years).
CAREER
Amorsolo was given a grant to
study at the Academia de San
Fernando in Madrid, Spain by
Filipino businessman Enrique
Zóbel de Ayala. During his seven
months in Spain, Amorsolo
sketched at museums and along the
streets of Madrid, experimenting
with the use of light and color.
CAREER
Beginning in the 1930s,
Amorsolo's work was exhibited
widely both in the Philippines
and abroad. His bright,
optimistic, pastoral images set
the tone for Philippine painting
before World War II.
CAREER
During the 1950s until his death in
1972, Amorsolo averaged to finishing 10
paintings a month. However, during his
later years, diabetes, cataracts, arthritis,
headaches, dizziness and the death of two
sons affected the execution of his works.
Amorsolo underwent a cataract operation
when he was 70 years old, a surgery that
did not impede him from drawing and
painting.
STYLES AND TECHNIQUES
illuminated landscapes
an imagined sense of nationhood in counterpoint to
American colonial rule
He was educated in the classical tradition and aimed "to
achieve his Philippine version of the Greek ideal for the
human form.
Amorsolo used natural light in his paintings and developed
the backlighting technique Chiaroscuro, which became his
artistic trademark and his greatest contribution to Philippine
painting
DEATH AND LEGACY
Amorsolo died of heart failure at the age of 79 on April 24,
1972.
Four days after his death, Amorsolo was honored as the first
National Artist in Painting at the Cultural Center of the
Philippines by then-President Ferdinand Marcos
The volume of paintings, sketches and studies of Amorsolo is
believed to have reached more than 10,000 pieces.
In 2003, Amorsolo's children founded the Fernando C.
Amorsolo Art Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving
Fernando Amorsolo's legacy.
MAJOR WORKS
Babaeng nagbabasa
Afternoon Meal of the Workers (Noonday Meal of the Rice Workers) (1939)
Assassination of Governor Bustamante
Bataan
The Bombing of the Intendencia (1942)
The Building of Intramuros
Burning of the Idol
The Burning of Manila (1946)
El Ciego (1928)
The Conversion of the Filipinos (1931)
Corner of Hell
Dalagang Bukid (1936)
Defense of a Filipina Woman's Honor (1945)
La destruccion de Manila por los salvajes japoneses (The Destruction of Manila by the
Savage Japanese)
FAMOUS WORKS
RICE PLANTING
DEFENCE OF A FILIPINA WOMAN'S HONO
R
PLANTING RICE (1946)
SUNDAY MORNING GOING TO TOWN (195
8)
RICE PLANTING
DEFENCE OF A FILIPINA WOMAN'S HONOR
SUNDAY MORNING GOING TO TOWN
Leyendo el periódico (FIRST WORK)
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
1908 – 2nd Prize, Bazar Escolta tea and taki (Asocacion
Internacional de Artistas), for Levendo Periodico
1922 – 1st Prize, Commercial and Industrial Fair in the
Manila Carnival
1929 – 1st Prize, New York's World Fair, for Afternoon
Meal of Rice Workers (also known as Noonday Meal of
the Rice Workers)
1940 – Outstanding University of the Philippines
Alumnus Award
1959 – Gold Medal, UNESCO National Commission
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
1961 – Rizal Pro Patria Award
1961 – Honorary Doctorate in the Humanities, from the Far
Eastern University
1963 – Diploma of Merit from the University of the
Philippines
1963 – Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the
City of Manila
1963 – Republic Cultural Heritage Award
1972 – Gawad CCP para sa Sining, from the Cultural Center
of the Philippines
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
In 1972, Fernando Amorsolo became the first
Filipino to be distinguished as the Philippine's
National Artist in Painting. He was named as
the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art" during
the inauguration of the Manila Hilton's art
center, where his paintings were exhibited on
January 23, 1969.
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NG!
