Gabriel & Espiritu Salaysay at Saysay Manusript (unedited)

Chapter 13
An Artist across Two Time Periods
At the latter part of the American period, there was jubilant expectation of a liberated
nation. Manila was becoming a magnet for migrants from the provinces looking for brighter
opportunities as offices, companies were being established in the capital. But the jubilation
was interrupted with the coming of the Japanese and the Philippines was ushered into its grim
moments. This interlude was captured in art by a Filipino national artist.

Preliminary Activity
Match the colors below with the affective concepts on the table

(Red, Blue, Green, Yellow)

Affective Concepts Color

Contentment
Fear
Anger
Peace
Revenge
Abundance

Processing
Colors evoke certain feelings or emotions. Colors are the main materials which a
painter works with. The brightness or the gloominess of these colors also heighten or diminish
the emotions they evoke. These are evident in the works of Amorsolo and such play of colors
and brightness marks Amorsolo’s peculiar artistry.

Historical Context of the Paintings

With the death of Gov. Gen. Wood, his successor Henry Stimson, had the difficult
task of reconciling the American bureaucrats and the Filipino politicians. But at this stage, the
US has entered into a different situation after the First World War. The world suffered from
the Great Depression in 1921. The Great Depression was characterized with the sluggish
economic growth brought about by the fear of difficult life ahead which leads to the lack of
desire to buy, and thus the lack of demand, and in turn the lack of motivation to produce due
to low demand. There was also fear of war in Europe and the Pacific. This would be the
opportune time to ask for independence since the Philippines would be less of a problem for
the US.

After Quezon murdered the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill to his favor, he shuttled to

Washington D.C. in order to lobby for another independence bill and he went back home,
bringing with him the Tydings-McDuffie Law, an independence bill that bore no difference
with the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act except for those who re-filed it. The 10-year transition
period was in the same bill and the economic provisions which Quezon criticized were not
changed. The economic provisions provided for quota of sugar which is the main export of

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the Philippines to the US. The quota would stifle the economic growth of the Philippines
within the 10 years of transition, such growth is needed to prepare the economy once the
Philippines is granted independence.

Osmeña did not anymore fight the bill in the Philippine Congress, unlike what
Quezon did to him, since Osmeña argued that it was already the independence law assured in
a platter and he opted not to oppose it simply to get the political position he wanted. As
expected it was Quezon who won the Presidency and Osmeña captured the Vice-presidency
in 1935 which ushered in the Philippine Commonwealth. With the guarantee of
independence, a glowing expectation of a new age was felt to be forthcoming. From 1935, the
Philippines would just have to wait for 1945 and independence would be granted as promised
under the Tydings-McDuffie Law.

But an unfortunate interlude occurred in 1941. Prior to this time, Quezon’s plan of
preparing the Philippines for self-rule also entailed the organization of an armed force that
would defend the country. The very first act of the Philippine legislature was the passage of
Commonwealth Act No. 1 on December 21, 1935, creating the Philippine Commonwealth
Army. Quezon took the services of a retired army general, Douglas McArthur, the son of Gen.
Arthur McArthur who was part of the expeditionary forces that landed in the Philippines in
1898 during the initial stages of American occupation. Douglas, spent most of his career as an
army officer in the Philippines as his father also became military governor. By 1939, Douglas
predicted that a war in the Pacific would be inevitable since Japan was flexing its muscle as it
engaged Russia in a war in 1904 to 1905 and attacked China on July 7, 1937. A new
command was then created on July 26, 1941 called the United States Armed Forces in the Far
East (USAFFE) under Douglas’s command (Agoncillo and Guerrero 1977: 402).

Thus on December 7, 1841 the war in the Pacific happened as Japan bombed Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii. Just the next day, July 8, Japanese planes dropped ordnance at Clark Air
Force Base in Pampanga coupled with a series of troop landings in other areas of the
archipelago. Since Manila was hardly defensible without any natural barriers to shield it,
McArthur planned to resettle the seat of government to Corregidor Island where the whole
province of Bataan could be used to defend it.

On December 24, 1941, Quezon and Osmeña took refuge in Corregidor as Manila
was declared an “Open City” days later. The Japanese entered the capital undeterred as the
battle shifted to Bataan to capture Corregidor and finally subduing the Philippine government.
But the Japanese offensive was overwhelming against the Philippine and American forces
whose supplies and reinforcements were being diverted to other fronts. On February 18, 1942,
Quezon and Osmeña were evacuated via submarine to the US to continue the Philippine
Government in exile. On March 11, 1942, by order President Franklin Roosevelt, McArthur
left Corregidor on his new assignment to defend Australia against the Japanese, uttering his
famous words “I shall return” before his departure. He left the under-supplied, war-fatigued
forces under the command of Gen. Jonathan Wainwright who was compelled to surrender
Bataan on April 9, 1942 and came the fall of Corregidor on May 10, 1942. With the
opposition against the Japanese now demolished, pockets of resistance against the occupiers
were assumed by the guerillas both from the soldiers who escaped Japanese capture and the
civilian militias (Agoncillo and Guerrero 1977: 456).

The Japanese played into the desire of the Filipinos for independence, promising
them that they would give the Filipinos independence quickly. With no massive resistance
against the Japanese, their agenda now was the formation of a government. On January 23,
1942, commander of the Japanese Imperial Forces, Gen. Masaharu Homma issued an order
creating the Executive Commission and appointing Jorge Vargas chairman. Under the
chairman were different secretaries with their Japanese advisers. The task of the Executive

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Commission was for Vargas not to head the government but for the Japanese advisers to
actually run the government at the pretense of the Filipinos governing the occupied territories.
This, however, does not create any image of independence, thus on January 21, 1943 Premier
Hideki Tozyu spoke in Japanese parliament the following words:

“Japan will gladly grant the Philippines its independence so long as it cooperates and
recognizes Japan’s program of establishing a Greater East Asia Co-prosperity
Sphere” (Agoncillo and Guerrero 1977: 456).

Though the Filipinos believed it was an empty promise, they rejoiced otherwise and
Vargas pledged support on the promise on January 30, 1943. On June 18, 1943, the
KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas) was ordered to organize the
Preparatory Commission for Philippine Independence which prepared the draft constitution.
On September 25, 1943 the National Assembly elected Jose P. Laurel President and on
October 14, 1943, the Declaration of Independence was read. But this is not at all a true
independence since it simply made the Philippines a puppet government (Agoncillo and
Guerrero 1977: 457).

In October 1944, the long awaited return of McArthur happened as he, and the US
forces returned in Leyte and re-established the Philippine Commonwealth under Osmeña as
President since Quezon died on August 1, 1944 in the US without seeing the return of the
Philippine Government come true. On February 3, 1945 the US forces entered Manila and
thus began the siege of the city. If in 1941, the Japanese entered Manila without opposition,
this time the liberation of the city came without severe and massive destruction. Manila was
one of the four most devastated cities during the war. On July 4, 1945, McArthur announced
the liberation of the entire Philippines from the enemy and the final surrender of the Japanese
on September 2, 1945 on board USS Missouri after Japan was forced on its knees by two
atomic bombs that the US dropped on Hiroshima on August 6 and on Nagasaki on August 9.
The devastation of Manila was so huge that only accounts or pictures could depict. These are
the images produced in Fernando Amorsolo’s paintings.

About the Painter

Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 to a family of creative individuals.
His uncle, Fabian dela Rosa his mother’s cousin was a painter and Pablo, his brother was
engaged in the same profession. Fernando was son to Pedro Amosolo and Bonifacia Cueto.
As young as seven months old, the family relocated from Calle Herran, Paco Manila to Daet,
Camarines Norte where his father found a new job as a bookkeeper for two abaca firms. But
this was turbulent times for the colony. The Year 1892 was the time when the Katipunan was
founded. Four years later, 1896, the revolution erupted and Perico the older brother of
Fernando was caught in the call of the revolution when a group of revolutionaries in battle
passed by their house and enjoined him to come. Perico jumped out of the house at the
pleading of his father not to join, and that was the last time they saw of his brother. The father
took the loss of his son seriously that he died when Fernando was only 11 years old. The task
of taking care of the family was passed on to Pablo who was also a painter. They decided to
relocate back to Manila to look for better opportunities. The young Fernando at the age of 13
became an apprentice to his uncle, Fabian, who was also teaching at the University of the
Philippines (Martinez 2009).

Fernando’s career as a painter started in 1908 when his painting Leyendo el Periodico
won second place at the Bazaar Escolta a contest organized by the Asociacion International
de Artistas. His formal schooling in painting came when he enrolled at Liceo de Manila in
1909 and later at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts where he graduated in
1914. He was employed as a draftsman in the Bureau of Public Works and later as a

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commercial artist and part-time instructor at UP. He designed the logo of Ginebra San Miguel
(still being used today) which caught the admiration of the industrial tycoon Enrique Zobel de
Ayala who gave him the opportunity to go to Spain and study at Academia de San Fernando
de Madrid. He came back to the Philippines and established himself as a painter during the
American period. While Manila was becoming the attraction of Filipinos for commerce,
education and social opportunities, Fernando was still romantic of pastoral life as his
experience in Daet that he still frequented the suburbs of Marikina and Antipolo for
inspiration. When the Japanese arrived, Fernando did not stop painting but this time with a
different theme, having lived with the atrocities of the Japanese and witnessed the destruction
of Manila during the liberation period. Fernando survived the war and lived through the times
of independence until April 24, 1972 five months before Pres. Ferdinand Marcos imposed
Martial Law.

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Paintings13.1

Mango Vendors

Pinterest
(Image: https://www.pinterest.ph/elizf/fernando-amorsolo-paintings/?lp=true)

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Gabriel & Espiritu Salaysay at Saysay Manusript (unedited)

Making of the Filipino Flag

Pinterest
(Image: https://www.pinterest.ph/elizf/fernando-amorsolo-paintings/?lp=true)

Young Girl

William A. Karges Presents: Fernando Amorsolo

(Image: http://fernandoamorsolopaintings.com/Fernando_Amorsolo_Biography_Page.htm)

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Gabriel & Espiritu Salaysay at Saysay Manusript (unedited)

Tinikling

Pinay.com
(Image: http://pinay.com/sark-and-the-succulent-wild-women/tinikling/)

Rice Harvesting

Pinoy Mountaineer
(Image: http://www.pinoymountaineer.com/2015/10/special-feature-the-mountains-of-fernando.html)

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Planting Rice

Flickr
(Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/28098727@N00/16224124339)

******

Paintings 13.2

The Burning of Intendencia

Manilenya and Lopez Museum

(Image: https://manilenya222.wordpress.com/tag/fernando-amorsolo/)
(Image: https://lopez-museum.com/2014/02/03/69th-anniversary-of-the-battle-of-manila/)

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Gabriel & Espiritu Salaysay at Saysay Manusript (unedited)

The War Years

Fernando Amorsolo Art Foundation

(Image: http://www.fernandocamorsolo.com/bio3.html)

San Sebastian Church through Quiapo Ruins

Art of WWII, U.P.Vargas Museum

(Image: https://lakansining.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/university-of-the-philippines-quezon-
city-the-art-of-world-war-ii-the-u-p-vargas-museum-collection/)

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Gabriel & Espiritu Salaysay at Saysay Manusript (unedited)

The Rape of Manila

Indio:Bravo
(Image: http://indiohistorian.tumblr.com/post/112298464956/the-rape-of-manila-is-just-one-
of-the-least)

In Defense of Honor

National Gallery of Singapore

(Image: http://manilaartscene.com/filipino-collection-national-gallery-singapore-1922/)

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Gabriel & Espiritu Salaysay at Saysay Manusript (unedited)

Reinforcement Activity

 Contrasting the condition of the Philippines during the late American and the
Japanese periods as depicted in Amorsolo’s paintings

Analyze the sets of paintings by completing the following matrix

Categories Paintings 13.1 Paintings 13.2

Subject or theme

Description of major
element/s

Description of minor
element/s

Use of predominant
color

Intensity of color

Perception of
movement
Summary (What is the
painting trying to
convey?)

In summary how would you then differentiate the sets of paintings drawn by
Amorsolo during the American and Japanese Periods.

Relevance
After the death of Amorsolo on April 24, 1972, he was recognized as a National
Artist. Despite the artistry shown by his artworks, the paintings are relevant on this point:

 They depict the contrasting condition of content, pastoral life at a time when
urbanization was in the upswing during the American period and the grim, atrocious
life during the Japanese period.

Challenge
Pick out one of the paintings of Amorsolo. How would you see yourself in the
painting? How would you associate your community in the painting? Is there anything in your
life or in the condition of your community that you want to continue as you see yourself or
your community in the painting? Is there anything that you want to change in your life or in
the condition of your community as you see it in the painting? What is it and how?

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Gabriel & Espiritu Salaysay at Saysay Manusript (unedited)

References

Agoncillo, Teodoro A. and Guerrero, Milagros C. (1977) History of the Filipino People.
Quezon City: R.P. Garcia Publishing Co.

Martinez, Edwin (2009) “Biography,” Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation

(http://www.fernandocamorsolo.com/biography.html)

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