PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED FAMILY

Literature: Araneta, Antonio S., ed. 1030 R. Hidalgo: Volume II, Legacy in Art. Manila: Mara, Inc., 1986. Full-color illustration and painting description on page 96.

ABOUT THE WORK

Of Pastures and Sunsets Amorsolo Reminisces on His Childhood The works of Fernando Amorsolo revel in the pastoral and the provincial. Spending a few years of his childhood in Daet, Camarines Sur, Amorsolo continued to be enamored with the countryside even when he moved to the capital, visiting the adjacent provinces of Laguna and Bulacan to continue painting his genre works. By the mid-20th century, Amorsolo had already reached the height of fame and then more when in 1959, the UNESCO National Commission granted the already famous painter a gold medal of recognition, adding another accolade to his long list of awards. Amorsolo had resigned from his post as the dean of the UP School of Fine Arts in 1952 to focus on his painting full-time – and focus he did. Throughout his career, he had become the face of Philippine art with his pastoral countrysides, bathers in the creeks, and the dalagang Pilipina becoming the standard that his colleagues and the newer artists either conform or break. His 1959 Carabaos at Sunset showcases Amorsolo’s skill that UNESCO acknowledged and awarded in the same year. “The rural scenes that Papa painted were based from the actual day-to-day chores of the simple and poor people that he observed as a young lad until his growing years,” writes his daughter Sylvia Amorsolo Lazo in Amorsolo: Love and Passion. Indeed, it is quite easy to imagine the young Amorsolo as he sees a frolicking pack of carabaos in the field, his eyes picking out the blues of the skies and the browns of the carabao’s skin. In this piece, Amorsolo depicts the golden-pink hues of the sunset skies as they burst forth from behind giant fluffy clouds. Unlike today's rural situation, the carabaos have for themselves a huge plot of land to prance around and rest. and Amorsolo's depiction of this bucolic scene ramps up the nostalgia for the good old days. As he washes the scene with a warm orange light, quite unlike the vibrancy of his midday sun, one feels compelled to take a rest on the soft green grass and experience for themselves the slow life the province has to offer. (Hannah Valiente)