PROPERTY FROM THE BENITO J. LEGARDA JR. COLLECTION

ABOUT THE WORK

Fabian Dela Rosa was one of the active master artists who pushed for the incorporation of the School of Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines where he became its second director, next to Don Rafael Enriquez. He taught decorative painting in the university and made highly remarkable portraits. In the same year the School was established, 1908, De la Rosa traveled as a private scholar to Europe. Even if he already developed his distinct style at 39, he was still ever-passionate in looking for novel ways of rendering old subjects. From around 1908-1910, he studied the works of the old masters in European museums which he could see firsthand. He also learned about French portrait painter Marcel-André Baschet’s techniques at the Academie Julian. This second phase in De la Rosa’s artistic career was described by art critic Aurelio Alvero as a “transition from emphasis on design to importance of atmosphere, clearly manifesting the influence of the French modern school.” Learning from academic art, De la Rosa stressed the importance of life drawings as the foundation to mastery of portraiture and human forms. Evident in these particular nude pieces is the master artist’s adeptness in figure drawing. The technical precision in rendering the subject’s body shows his artistic genius and the foreign academic art techniques that impacted his craft. De la Rosa’s realist-romanticist perspective in rendering the human form is showcased. He unleashes his technical draftsmanship and signature dark tones which marked his works during this period. One is also reminded of French realist painter Gustave Courbet whose gift of imagination and unconventional works at that time influenced De la Rosa.