PROPERTY FROM THE DON EUGENIO “GENY” M. LOPEZ JR. COLLECTION

ABOUT THE WORK

"THE LOPEZ LEGACY COLLECTION : A MICROCOSM OF GREAT PHILIPPINE ART 19th-Century Masterpiece by Hidalgo Moonlit Seascape by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL Gonzalez would describe the artist’s grand family background thus, “Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo y Padilla was born in 1855 to the rich, propertied Padilla family of Binondo, Manila, originally from 1700s Lingayen, Pangasinan. For starters, he was painted as early as the age of four in 1859 [ or age of six in 1859 if born in 1853; historians have varied dates] with his maternal grandfather Narciso Padilla by the Tondo maestro Antonio Malantic. “Narciso Padilla was a rich lawyer and merchant with several businesses and many commercial real estate properties in Manila and its surrounding “arrabales” or districts. Narciso’s daughter, Barbara “Baritay” Padilla de Resurreccion Hidalgo, Felix’s mother, inherited many valuable properties from him, among them several big warehouses in the Divisoria entrepot in Tondo which lined the Pasig river. The affluent Padilla family had [and still has] a long history distinguished by high professional achievement, wealth, conservatism, and prudence. “The Padilla descendants recall that, with characteristic frugality, their forebears had transferred the “bahay na bato” ancestral house in Lingayen, Pangasinan beam by beam and brick by brick to Calle General Solano in posh San Miguel district, Manila in the late 1800s. Frugality notwithstanding, the transfer of whole houses “in toto” was not an unusual practice during the Spanish colonial era.” At the age of 25, Resurreccion Hidalgo would win a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid and would begin a stellar career. Its first peak would be the silver medal bestowed on his masterpiece “Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho or (The Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace)” at the Madrid Expo of 1884. He would create moving views of the lyrical coast of Normandy. An avid early adopter of the camera, he used photographs to capture his models as well as land and seascapes, the better to perfect his romantic depictions. THE LOPEZ LEGACY COLLECTION : A MICROCOSM OF GREAT PHILIPPINE ART 19th-Century Masterpiece by Hidalgo Moonlit Seascape by LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL ABOVE: Noche de Luna, oil on wood, 13.67 x 18.42 cm, signed, lower right, Collection: Eugenio Lopez Foundation from the book Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo & the generation of 1872 In this petite jewel at hand, the mood of the rising moon as it casts a magical light on the water can be felt almost as it quivers through the clouds. It is easy to see why it would cast a spell over a sophisticated collector such as Don Geny Lopez whose family’s collection began with many Hidalgos. The Lopez Museum to this day counts among its important holdings several major Resurreccion Hidalgos, including the prize-winning La Barca de Aqueronte. "