ABOUT THE WORK

Martino Abellana studied at the U.P. School of Fine Arts where he obtained a certificate in painting in 1938. He served as head of the Fine Arts Department of U.P. Cebu, which he taught freehand drawing and architectural drafting at the Cebu Institute of Technology. In September 1981, he was represented in the Cebuano Art Show at the Hyatt Regency Gallery. Abellana depicts the quiet drama of the countryside and the simple pursuits of its people, represented by the presence of a cow, as the subject of this work. The rustic atmosphere and the subtle luminosity of the details such as the bright streak of sunlight striking the hanging laundry are effectively rendered in the softer, more tentative medium of watercolor. Abellana is the so-called Father of Cebuano Artists, almost all younger Cebuano painters having taken their basic art training under him