A Dazzling Dalaga from Amorsolo’s Golden Period A Painter At The Height of His Powers
Fernando Amorsolo was the most popular Filipino painter when the late 1920s flexed its advent. The 1920s was a decade most associated with and permeated with nostalgia. As the Philippines advanced from the early years of the 20th century when the Americans solidified their colonial rule on the archipelago, so did the brisk modernization and Americanization brought by the new imperial masters.
Amorsolo swiftly rose to fame with his art. His muse, the dalagang Filipina, became the quintessential image of the budding nation. An artist who rode "on the crest of national nostalgia for the Filipino pastoral lifestyle," as noted by Roces, Amorsolo embodied not only the spirit of the times; he elevated painting, injecting it into the collective consciousness, thus underscoring the Filipinismo of the period through his charming images of the indigenous amid the influx of American influences.
Writes National Artist for Literature Resil B. Mojares in his article "The Formation of Filipino Nationality Under U.S. Colonial Rule," "With the fever for things Philippine, Amorsolo's art was everywhere—advertising posters, calendars, magazines, textbooks, postage stamps, even product labels. Few artists contributed as much to the country's stock of "national" images."
Roces also remarks that Amorsolo "gave the nation a sense of confidence in its culture, pride in its beauty, joy in its simple day-today living, and graciousness in the face of reality."
In this 1928 work, titled Water Carrier, from his "Golden Period of the 1920s to the 1940s," Amorsolo gloriously bathes the entire composition in the warm exuberance of the Philippine sunlight. At the height of his fame and creative powers, Amorsolo uses the Philippine tropical sunlight as a metaphor for the pastoral roots of Philippine society, in which nature and agricultural undertakings take center stage as the wellspring of indigenous knowledge and heritage.
The vivid outburst of the sun's illuminating rays exalts the dalaga's endearing face, displaying Amorsolo's affinity for the native woman as the defining muse of his art, which is in line with the Filipinismo of his period that casts light on the enduring images of Juan de la Cruz and the Dalagang Filipina, both donned in their traditional garments and engaging in their indigenous undertakings as the personification of the Philippines. In the words of the "Father of Kundiman Art Song," Francisco Santiago, "a sense of love and admiration for what is primitive and autochthonous."
When Amorsolo painted this work, Amorsolo had been teaching painting for a decade in his alma mater, the UP School of Fine Arts. Coinciding with this was his work on a series of covers depicting various images of the dalagang Filipina for the widely-circulated Philippine Education Magazine (the paintings were produced by Amorsolo together with his brother Pablo, his uncle Fabian de la Rosa, and Irineo Miranda). Water Carrier follows the line of Amorsolo's pursuit of elevating the native heritage during this crucial period for the formation of a national identity.
Water Carrier was also a testament to Amorsolo being the brightest star on the Philippine art, and perhaps, cultural scene, by the late 1920s. In 1928, the year the work at hand was painted, Amorsolo participated in a landmark cultural exhibition at the Ayuntamiento in Intramuros. His works hang prominently together with paintings by the revered old masters of Philippine art: Luna, Hidalgo, and Fabian de la Rosa. The June 1928 issue of The Philippine Magazine even praised Amorsolo's lighting techniques and palette as "more original than either Luna's or Hidalgo's." In the issue dated September 1929, Amorsolo's "Martin de Goiti Meeting with Rajah Soliman" (ca. 1922-23 and from the collection of Don Enrique Zobel, Amorsolo's patron) was featured as that month's cover. "In those days [pertaining to the early 1920s], Mr. Amorsolo was not so well-known and prosperous as he is today," remarks the magazine.
The 1928 issue of The Philippine Republic christened Amorsolo, the country's most famous painter, featuring him alongside sculptor Guillermo Tolentino as "The Philippines' Most Famous Artists."
From a modern critic's perspective, Roces succinctly explains how Amorsolo singlehandedly dominated the country's "peacetime" cultural scene.
"Amorsolo's dominance of the local art scene had become almost total. He was something of a celebrity. He appeared in full-page advertisements…Poems were written in his honor. [He] was ubiquitous judge of [the Manila] Carnival beauty queen contests. His previous employment with the press had, of course, given him many friends there. When he first received public notice by winning a carnival poster design in 1913, the Daily Bulletin had referred to him as "Omorsolo," while the Manila Times identified him as "Amarsolo," but by 1928, his name was a national byword." (Adrian Maranan)
Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo confirming the authenticity of this lot
Provenance: Private collection, USA