ABOUT THE WORK

A Double Gold for Fernando Amorsolo with a Record Number of Noble Northmen by E. A. SANTAMARIA Upon Fernando Amorsolo’s return to the Philippines in 1920, he would almost immediately go from strength to strength, painting tirelessly. His daughter Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo would recall him saying, “I cannot remember a time when I didn’t want to draw or paint.” And draw and paint, he did In the Twenties, he would create a stream of posters and medals for the Manila Carnival, an annual American-style exposition that featured spectacles and beauty queens, as well as a seemingly endless series of calendars and magazine covers. This, too, would mark the beginning of the paintings that would give his painterly benediction to the idyllic life of the Filipino countryside and its people. The 1930s would consequentially blossom into Amorsolo’s ‘golden period.’ The decade would open with the maestro’s breakthrough participation in the Exposition Coloniale Internationale (International Colonial Exposition) of Paris, 1931. The French newspapers of the time reported that paintings ran the length of the Philippine pavilion of some 30 meters and depicted the history of the islands from 1521 to the American regime. It was a project created alongside his mentor (and uncle) Fabian de la Rosa, and cemented Amorsolo’s stature among the greats of Philippine art, like Luna and Hidalgo, who had also proved their mettle in the City of Lights. Later in the year, Amorsolo’s twin historical murals were unveiled for the Juan Arellano art-deco masterpiece, the Metropolitan Theater of Manila. Both sides of the highceilinged lobby were bookmarked by the lyrical works, “The History of Music” and “Ritual Dance.” Amid the backdrop of an era of boundless optimism of the Philippines future — the Philippine Commonwealth law was finally approved in 1934 — another kind of golden age awaited Amorsolo. It was literally, the Baguio gold rush that also began that year, sparked by an enormous leap in prices for the world’s most precious commodity. Seemingly overnight, hundreds of gold mines were registered in the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, with a total capitalization of almost a staggering $100 million. Prospectors, engineers, and investors flocked to Manila — and Baguio — and with it, newly-minted American mining millionaires and their retinues. Offices were feverishly opened in the banking district of Binondo; while the mining community gravitated to elegant enclaves in Ermita and ‘the Little Baguio’ of San Juan. These all had to be furnished with symbols of that new-found wealth and were a fresh market for Amorsolo’s story-telling talents that dovetailed serendipitously with his clients’ fascination for the noble northern tribes. Mrs. Amorsolo Lazo would reminisce that ‘Papa’ would travel to Baguio “to meet clients mostly American executives of mining firms, who would commission him to paint beautiful Baguio scenes.” Her father, she would say, “would visit only a few days on each occasion, but would take advantage of those short stays by painting on the spot and in the open air.” He would return often to capture the splendid vistas, immortalizing the magical peaks and lush valleys of a bygone era. “Ifugaos in Mines View Park” puts together Amorsolo’s twin obsessions of this period — the breathtaking Cordillera landscape which also contained the richest veins of gold as well as the enchanting culture of the Ifugao. These would be the subjects in one way or another for this joyous series; although the work at hand adds a third reference to the lure of the gold mines. The unusual number of figures indicates that the piece would have been conceived for the highest echelon of mining elite. Twelve tribespeople spill gracefully across the mountaintop. following with their gaze, a lead figure carrying several earthenware stops on her head. She is followed by two men who stride down purposefully after her. More women and their children gather under tall evergreen trees — the green so fresh that one can almost smell the scent of pine. The group seems to catch their breath from the strain of bearing tall baskets of cabbages and other vegetables. (A teen seems to be mopping his brow.) One can sense Amorsolo chancing upon this view and creating the foundation of this picturesque mis-en-scène briskly on one bright, summer morning. Thick terracottacolored impasto — indeed, one of the signatures of his golden period — outline the rich reddish earth of the north. The blue skies above and mountain streams nestled in the majestic mountains are likewise boldly outlined. It is a homage to the hard-working character of the northern tribesmen and the now-lost beauty of their surroundings.