Fernando Amarsolo Philippine Paintings

History of Fernando Amorsolo Paintings:

Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) was one of the most influential painters in Philippine history.  Amorsolo was a portrait painter and a landscape painter in the rural Philippines. He was well-known for his attention to detail and mastery in the utilization of light. 

Amorsolo's luminous landscapes are most recognized for depicting traditional Filipino customs, culture, fiestas, and professions. His pastoral works contributed to the development of Filipino national identity by presenting "an imagined feeling of nationhood in opposition to American colonial control." He was classically schooled, and his goal was to "achieve his Philippine interpretation of the Greek ideal for the human form." Amorsolo shunned Western notions of beauty in favor of Filipino values in his paintings of Filipina ladies, and he was fond of modeling his models' looks on members of his family.

He even established his own studio in Manila, painting prolifically during the 1920s and 1930s. Rice Planting (1922), which featured on posters and tourism brochures, became one of the Commonwealth of the Philippines' most popular pictures. His art was frequently displayed in the Philippines and internationally beginning in the 1930s. Before World War II, his bright, cheerful, pastoral paintings set the tone for Philippine art. Throughout his career, Amorsolo created tranquil and peaceful settings, except for afteris darker World War II-era works.

Many Filipinos would recall Fernando Amorsolo's gorgeously romanticized landscapes drenched in heaven's own light as the first paintings. His work adorns the walls of major institutions and important private collections, replicated on wall calendars, posters, and postcards, and continues to inspire a slew of aspiring copyists even now. Fernando Amorsolo is widely credited as being the first Filipino musician to effectively infiltrate mainstream awareness. Periodically, intense discussions within the creative community will erupt over whether Amorsolo's colossal legacy is a blessing or a curse, having paralyzed the aesthetic senses of Filipino artists and audiences for more than three decades.

Techniques used by Fernando Amarsolo to create unique Artworks:

Amorsolo's greatest period is considered to be the years between 1920 and 1940 when his works were polished to the fullest degree to attain that ephemeral beauty and astounding clarity. Indeed, Amorsolo is most known for his beautiful approach and innovative use of light. His subjects were typically based on a few essential prototypes, which he would then endlessly repaint with just minor differences. The dramatic potential, beautiful location, uplifting content, and nationalistic importance of these themes were all factors in their selection.

Furthermore, a major element in their constant output was the never-ending demand from local and international clients, which suffocated Amorsolo's oeuvre in terms of subject variety and adaptability. Regardless of academic critique, it is also true that Amorsolo was basically an idealist, seeking to depict the most beautiful parts of his beloved nation and immortalize these moments on canvas for succeeding generations. He painted with natural light and invented the Chiaroscuro backlighting method, which became his artistic signature and his biggest contribution to Philippine painting. In this method, figures are defined against a distinctive glow in a typical Amorsolo painting, and strong light on one section of the canvas accentuates surrounding features. Amorsolo's art was characterized by philippine sunlight; he is said to have painted only one rainy-day picture.

Amorsolo's resplendently tranquil settings are exemplified by Seascape. It portrays a fishing family hauling in their boats at the conclusion of a long day's labor, and it was painted in 1938. The entire composition is drenched in the glorious rays of the setting sun, which provide a beautiful glow over the countryside. It is unrivaled in conveying the pastoral beauty of the rural Philippines, as it is totally based on aesthetic treatment. He was also a constant sketch artist, sketching in his home, at Luneta Park, and in the countryside. From farmers to city inhabitants dealing with the Japanese occupation, he sketched the people he observed around him. In his drawings, impressionistic inclinations, which can also be observed in his paintings, were at their peak. His figures were only "suggestions" of the vision, not full figures.

After the death of Fernando Amarsolo:-

Amorsolo was named the first National Artist in Painting at the Cultural Center of the Philippines by then-President Ferdinand Marcos four days after his death. The collection of his paintings, drawings, and studies is thought to number in the thousands. Even outside the so-called "Amorsolo school," Amorsolo significantly affected modern Filipino art and artists. Many landscape paintings by Filipino painters, notably early landscape paintings by abstract painter Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, show Amorsolo's influence. What cannot be disputed is that the face of Filipino art would have been dramatically altered if Fernando Amorsolo had not existed.