What is Philippine

about Philippine Art?

Ms. Amie Milano

Manila Wyeth School or the so-called Magic Realists
Fernando Amorsolo’s Paintings
Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s Paintings
Hernando Ocampo’s Paintings
 Art (Sining)
The expression of anything
beautiful, appealing, and has
more than ordinary
significance according to
aesthetic principles.
(Ekspresyon ng anumang
maganda, kaakit-akit at may
kahalagahang higit sa
karaniwan alinsunod sa
prinsipyong estetiko.)
Society (Lipunan)

A large group of people with a

common set of values, ideas,
and sensibilities.
(Malaking pangkat ng mga tao
na may karaniwang set ng pag-
uugali, ideya at saloobin.)
 Harana, 1957
Carlos “Botong Francisco
The awareness of
showcasing art in a
formal venue in the
country, the purpose of
art exhibits, and the
vision of giving art its
proper liberty of
expression, only came
 ornament & jewelry

anitos pottery

tattoos

textiles
Pre-Colonial Art is functional:
1. For practicing and evoking their religion or method
of worship;
2. For making known their designated or newly
acquired social status;
3. For telling stories or legends;
4. For showing off their recent achievements.
Spanish proto art
galleries were the
churches erected
during the spread
of  Catholicism
in the country.  
Stone churches
were built, and
the education of
engraving,
painting, and
sculpture from
the friars
followed suit. 
Art could only exist
through religious works,
objects, or relics of worship
due to the Real Orden and
the Comision de
Permanente de Censura,
which required that all
artistic productions passed
through strict friar
supervision.
If one were to find another venue
that would be similar to an art
gallery during the Spanish times in
Metro Manila, it would be found in
workshops. Some were found in the
Parian, the so-called first mall and
employment agency in the
Philippines, where every kind of
craftsman was available. Together
with the sale of silk, furniture,
porcelain, etc., anyone could
commission a painting or a
monument from certain artisans, a
scenario which resurfaced in
today’s Art Walk at the Shoemart
 In spite of the
economic
disruption
between the
Spanish rule and
the beginning of
the American
regime, art
activity soon
National Museum, the Philippine Vistas Gallery, and
the first university gallery in the Philippines (the Art
Gallery in the UST Museum) were established.
Philippine art scene under the American period was
largely conservative.
The art patrons became the
American officials, teachers,
merchants, and tourists who
sought paintings which depicted
landscapes, genre, still-lifes,
and portraiture.
The production of monuments
were also encouraged.
walking galleries
Fernando Amorsolo was gaining ground and soon earned international and
local fame, outshining all the other artists. To add to the artists’ dilemma,
with Amorsolo dominating the limelight, there were not enough art galleries
yet except for the Philippine Vistas, a small art gallery in Intramuros; the
National Museum, and the Art Gallery in the UST Museum-the latter two of
which did not exhibit works of unknown artists. Art activity was hence
dictated by Amorsolo and a few other established artists. For the unknown
artists, the opportunity for exposure to the public then became an essential
factor for their quest to gain popularity. That there were also other talents
worthy of praise and patronage, was an existent fact.
 It was instituted to promote the interests of artists, to
exhibit their works, and to serve as an education center.
 This association even offered incentives that challenged
the upliftment of artistic standards.
 There were annual competitions, exhibitions,
scholarships, and even free art lessons for hobbyists and
art enthusiasts
 In 1995, AAP held an exhibit, which was marked by a
walkout of the conservatives. This group formed
themselves into the Academy of Filipino Artists (AFA),
and eventually held sidewalk exhibitions and annual
outdoor shows at the Luneta Park. Many of these artists
since then have put up galleries along Manila’s tourist
belt.
 One of the prominent remembered venues for
struggling Young Modern Artists was the Philippine
Art Gallery (PAG). It functioned not only as an art
gallery but also as a venue for artists, leading literary
men, and intellectuals who frequented the place to
exchange ideas about the art scene, art-making, art
trends, etc.
FACT, HIGH SOCIETY WAS
ADDED TO A LIST OF
TRADERS, BUSINESSMEN
AND INDUSTRIALISTS. WHAT
FOLLOWED FROM THIS WAS
THE PUBLIC’S RISING
AWARENESS AND
CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE
TALENT AND PROFICIENCY
OF THE FILIPINO ARTIST.
THUS, ART PATRONAGE AND
ITS PROMOTION INCREASED
ALTOGETHER.
 FOR ART COMPETITIONS.
ANOTHER WAS THE
CREATION OF A COMMISSION
ON CULTURE, AND THE ALAY
AT PAMANA CEREMONY
WHICH FORMALLY
LAUNCHED THE CULTURAL
PROJECT OF THEN FIRST
LADY IMELDA MARCOS.
MALACAÑANG PARK ITSELF
BECAME A VENUE FOR ONE-
MAN SHOWS. EVEN THE AAP
ALSO CAME UP WITH NEW
PROJECTS FOR ART
AWARENESS AND
APPRECIATION.
In the year 1960 alone, the Luz Gallery, the Ateneo Art Gallery, and the Lopez Museum
were inaugurated. About nine more galleries and one museum opened by the time the
decade ended including: Lawrence D’ Art Gallery; Avans Art Galler; Gallery 7;
Gallery Indigo; Solidaridad Galleries; Print (also known as the Joy-Dayritt Gallery)
and the galleries inside the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Arturo Luz, owner of the Luz Gallery, had three
objectives when he opened his gallery:
1. To properly show paintings that deserved to be
shown;
2. To seek genuine talent and give it the needed
approval and recognition that it needs; and
3. To mold taste and exercise a certain degree of
critical judgment.
 When Mrs. Marcos stepped into the
Malacañang Palace in 1966, she launched
her own program that was focused on the
wider acceptance of the artist and his role
in the nation’s cultural and social
development. She sponsored art shows in
the palace, graced art openings, bought
artworks, and in turn influenced many of
her friends to do the same. Art acquisition
through her example drove the social
elite to ardent, frenzied-buying in the
Mrs. Marcos’ decision to actually 1970s. Hence, the patronage of art was in
push her program into providing no time associated with prestige, status
a home for the arts. The decade’s symbols, and making a suitable
innovative artists who practice investment. (1)
conceptual, environmental,
kinetic, and other new forms of
expression eventually found a
refuge in the Cultural Center of
the Philippines that became the
weather vane of the winds of
Art awareness among the public was intensified
with the government’s issuance of Proclamation No.
1001 (pertaining to the National Artist Award).
Amid the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, the art
scene managed to flourish and was even helped by
certain events that grew out from this environment.
With the big number of artists already professionally
honing their art full time, the numerous artist-groups
vying for recognition and patronage, the large
audience clamoring for artworks as investments, and
of course the curious viewing public who did not
want to be left out of the developing art scene.

There were on record 34 art galleries and four art

museums inaugurated in the 1970s (1970-1979).
Among these were the Hidalgo Art Gallery, Red
Gallery, Palette Gallery, Sining Kamalig, Galerie
Bleue, Diliman Gallery, Miladay Art Center, Village
Gallery, Impressions Gallery, Rear Room Gallery,
Metro Gallery, Galleria Duemila 2000, Print
Collections Gallery, and the Kawilihan Art Gallery.
The museums were the Ayala Museum,
Sometime between 1976-1977, visual artworks
were considered to function as subversive
material against the government.
On the other hand, the Museum of
Philippine Art (MOPA) as mentioned
earlier, was one of the major contributions
of the Marcos government to the cultural
scene. Built around the donations of artists
and collectors, chiefly by the Purita Kalaw
Ledesma Art Foundation, the collection
was housed in the former Elks Club
building. Inaugurated in 1977, the
museum’s founding director was Arturo
Luz and its function was to act as the
national venue for Philippine Modern Art.

1980 saw an economic recession, and in

the immediate years (1980-1983) that
followed, there were only seven galleries
that opened. Familiar names were Hiraya
Gallery, Greenhills Art Center, Lliongoren
Gallery, Gallery Genesis, and the Artists
By the time the mid-80s came, the Philippine economy
posted a negative GNP growth resulting to a significantly
reduced art market.

But in spite of the plunging economy, there were still

worthy shows as recounted by art writers, in which art
became increasingly political in character. It was in 1983
that a massive, open, and protest movement would ensue
due to the Ninoy Aquino assassination. From this time
on, the decade would be filled with a series of
demonstrations and indignation rallies.

But in terms of activity for the artists themselves, there

was a great number of them who engaged in socio-
political themes. Many forms of art spilled out of the
galleries and into the confetti-showered streets as large
portable murals or symbolic paper mache effigies. As for
art galleries and their exhibits, much performance art
expressed a political content. Accompanying the exhibits
were film showings, lectures, and art symposia.
The number of art galleries that were established in the eighties were much fewer compared to the
seventies. The uncertain times before the February revolution caused most proprietors or institutions to
hesitate in establishing an art gallery-more so if it were a gallery that mainly sold artworks. After 1986, the
country carried a colossal economic problem. The Cory administration was faced with an inheritance of a
$28-billion foreign debt burden. Along with the decision of the government to close the MOPA, fewer than
ten galleries and one museum were born. La Galerie of Alliance Francaise, Madrigal Center, West Gallery,
In the early 1990s and under the Ramos
administration (1992), when the turtle-paced
economy had improved and many economic
reforms were seen to be taken seriously, many art
galleries opened. The Ramos government had also
showed early efforts to help the art scene.

 First, there was the Republic Act No. 7356 that

was signed into law in 1992 to create the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
(NCCA), particularly the National Committee
on Independent Commercial Galleries.
 Secondly, there was also the granting of a
permanent home to the National Museum.
 Other continuous forms of support came in the
form of Presidential Proclamation No. 798 that
declared October as the Museums and
Galleries Month, and the creation of the
Committee of Art Galleries (CAG) during the
mid-90s, specified under the sub-commission
on Cultural Heritage. Through this, a number
Today, more major city shopping malls have given the initiative to invite art galleries to open within their
infrastructure. It started in early 1992 that the idea and opening of an Art Walk, a lane of art galleries clustered in
a shopping mall, first germinated from the successful exhibit of Juvenal Sanso in the SM Megamall. With many
paintings sold mostly to art collectors, as well as to “chance-passerby customers,” SM’s vice-president for
engineering and development Mr. Sy-who himself was an avid art collector, decided that it was possible for art to
be brought closer to the people. And with a successive show by another artist that attracted a receptive audience,
the establishment of a gallery row was put into action. New museums that also entered into the art scene and
 How does art change society?

Art? An insight into human condition? Are Is there a poem that ever stopped a tank? Or a
novel that has stopped shots from being fired?
these the complex existential questions about
our lives here on earth?

Or the ones that enrich and celebrate

our nature as human beings?
References:

Benesa, Leo. “What is Philippine about Philippine Art”. NCCA

Yusi, Lyn. “The Development of Art Galleries in the Philippines”.

NCCA