Provenance: : Mr. Ramon Jordana Y Morera, Forestry Engineer and Inspector General of Forestry in the Philippines, spent many years in the Philippines publishing among others "Bosquejo Geografico Historico Natural del Archipelago Filipino."

ABOUT THE WORK

COMPANION PIECES FROM THE FAMOUS EXPOSITION OF 1887 TIPOS DEL PAIS BY FÉLIX MARTINEZ Y LORENZO by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL In 1887, Spain’s Overseas Minister Victor Balaguer undertook the Exposicion General de las Yslas Filipinas to ‘maintain ties of knowledge and communication with the nation’s overseas provinces.’ The exposition’s Catalogo Oficial stated that it aimed “to tighten the bond between the Spaniard and his Filipino brother who, younger and weaker, should defer to Spain, the affectionate mother who will bring him civilization and culture”. So wrote the scholar Ramon N. Villegas in the volume “Filipinos in the Gilded Age” published by León Gallery. He added, “The project was not only a cultural or commercial matter, it was intended to project internationally the greatness of Spain, following England which was perceived as the world’s leading power after the Exhibition of 1851, where Joseph Paxton constructed the original Crystal Palace in Hyde Park Gardens. “Other European countries followed England’s lead. In proud structures on wide grounds, imperial powers made ostentatious displays of their colonial treasure troves — precious stones, minerals and metals, exotic flora and fauna with high commercial value, uniquely crafted artifacts made by the “barbarians” themselves dressed in diverse costumes, performing heathen rituals. There were pseudo-scientific presentations of the natives. “Spain had been gradually losing its possessions and with them its economic independence, with foreign capital increasingly gaining control. Spain’s empire, by then had been reduced to Cuba and the Philippines and minor islands like Puerto Rico, the Marianas and the Carolinas. This prompted Balaguer to propose this project as the perfect opportunity to show that Spain was as capable as England to organize a major exhibition on its remaining major colony. “The Philippine Exposition was held at the capital’s Parque or Campo Grande de Retiro. The central building was a Spanish version of the Crystal Palace, designed by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco, influenced by Gothic structures and the market at Les Halles de Paris. “Madrid’s Palacio Cristal served as a giant greenhouse where plants and flowers from the Philippines were grown. When it opened in 1887, a newspaper published this description: “... The Crystal Palace is a cathedral of glass, of classic proportions, on a grassy hill. Its walls are immense and transparent windows supported by Ionic iron columns…and topped by an immense dome, whose height reached 22.60 meters, (around it) the aisles… shelter the grass and towering palms characteristic of the tropical flora of the Philippines. Its majestic cover, of classic taste and Greek style, falls on a terrace surrounded by elegant balusters, and looks at the lake, which extends at its feet like a mirror…” At this exposition, it is known that the artist Félix Martinez y Lorenzo (1859-c.1916) would present a series of ‘Tipos del Pais’ watercolors following the grand tradition begun by Damian Domingo and Justiniano Asuncion. The works would eventually wind up in the care of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, which has sixteen such works signed in 1886 and two in 1887. The museum also has information that Martinez had sent six other watercolors to Spain in 1883. We can thus surmise that these two works are companion pieces to the works sent to Spain for the milestone exposition. The first is of a pious “Maestra de Escuela”, a schoolmarm wearing a long Spanish lace veil, clasping a prayerbook and a rosary in one hand and an oversized fan in the other. A fine kerchief is tucked into the waist of her overskirt which is worn over fine blue silk. The second is "Banquero de la Barra de Napindan", a boatman of Napindan. Naked to the waist, carrying both an oar and a pole to steer his skiff through the channels of old Taguig, he wears a pointed salakot. Interestingly enough, for Martinez, it would be a particularly favorite landscape to paint : He would later depict them in lithographs for the the ‘elegant publication’ La Ilustracion Filipina, founded by the Zaragoza brothers; as well as in various works portraying similar charming scenes. One was only recently auctioned by this house of the rivulets in the area Félix Martinez was a student of the Manila Academia under Lorenzo Guerrero and there is a record of him traveling to Madrid in 1880 for further studies but not as a scholar of the Ayuntamiento. The following year, he would exhibit a portrait of the then-Governor General of the Philippines, Fernando Primo de Rivera in that capital city’s exposition and it would attract favorable notice from art critics. By 1882, he had returned to Manila and won the first of his various accolades, including a silver medal for a painting of Sta. Teresa de Avila, submitted in time for her 300th death anniversary. He would first attain fame as one of the most prolific painters of the monumental ‘grand edition’ of Manuel Blanco’s Flora de Flipinas. Of the 389 plates, he produced 50 of them. (Lorenzo Guerrero, his mentor, accounted for 40.) It was an elite assembly of talent that included the prize-winning pair of Academia pensionados, Félix Resurrección Hidalgo and Miguel Zaragoza.