ILOILO CITY—Paintings by Filipino masters from the Lopez Museum and Library are on view at the Museum of Arts and Cultural Heritage of the University of the Philippines (UP) Visayas here, in time for the celebration of National Arts Month this February. 

The show, “The Patrimony of All: Ang Panublion sang Tanan,” features 16 rare masterpieces by Juan Luna, Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, Fernando Amorsolo and Juan Arellano. 

Art curator Patrick D. Flores describes the exhibition as a survey of works that offers a fascinating exploration of the evolution of Philippine art from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. It depicts what the artists “saw and felt around them” and “conversed with what was being imagined elsewhere in the world,” he said.

Four sections

The exhibition hall is laid out in four thematic and conceptual areas. Each carries a subtitle to guide viewers through the narrative of the works, showing the artists’ background, their medium and style, and how all these elements relate to the social and political milieu, providing viewers a deeper appreciation of how the masters shaped the history of art in the country.

In “Dream and Daily Life” are masterpieces by Juan Luna: La Moza y El Lego (c. 1890), Fantasia (1890), and Street Flower Vendors (c. 1855)—images of Parisian women selling flowers on the day of the funeral of Victor Hugo, the French author of Les Misérables.

A standout work in the collection is Ensueños de Amor (Dreams of Love, undated), Luna’s portrait of his wife, Paz Pardo de Tavera, reclining on a bed. The work, imbued with personal significance and thought to have been painted during their honeymoon in Venice, evokes intimacy, contemplation, and emotional resonance between the artist and his muse.

The piece is intriguing considering the years of tension between Luna and his wife, which ended with the artist fatally shooting her and her mother. After his acquittal by a French court, Luna left for Spain with his son and moved around for a while before departing for the Philippines in 1894.

“Myth and History” shows a collection of studies by Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, including a 138-year-old painting, La Barca de Aqueronte (Boat to Hades, 1887), and works in the 1900s: El Asesinato de Gobernador Bustamante y su Hilo (The Assassination of Gov. Bustamante, c. 1900), Per Pacem et Libertatem (c. 1903), and La Derrida de Limahong (c. 1903).

“Kin in Place” features the works of Fernando Amorsolo, recognized as the “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art” and the first to become a National Artist. The collection takes the viewer to the 1930s–1950s period of Philippine art, with his idealized depiction of everyday rural life in the works Native Fruits (1937), Musical Duo (1937), Mag-Lolo (1943), Atardecer (1944), and Woman with Mangoes (1951). 

The paintings demonstrate Amorsolo’s academic and impressionist influences, and highlight his signature style of capturing the unique Philippine tropical sunlight, which would later inspire many Filipino artists.

Juan Arellano’s works in “In Light of Country” reflect influences of impressionism and Fauvism, with landscapes where human figures are intricately woven into the drama of nature, as noted by the late critic Alice Guillermo. His pieces, like The Philippine Scenes I and II (c. 1920) and Christ Down from the Cross (1960), showcase this style.

Arellano was arguably practicing modernism as early as 1913, well before Victorio Edades’ defining exhibition in 1928 that marked a pivotal moment for modern art in the Philippines.

As an architect and designer who played a key role in shaping Philippine architecture in the early 20th century, Arellano was instrumental in transitioning the architectural style from neoclassicism to art deco and orientalism. His designs include iconic structures such as the Manila Central Post Office, which was unfortunately gutted by fire in 2023; the Metropolitan Theater; and significant heritage buildings in Iloilo City, like the Jaro Municipal Hall and the UP Visayas Main Building, which is now the Museum of Arts and Cultural Heritage.

‘Genius knows no country’

Adding a historical and cultural significance to the exhibition is the title which evokes the historic moment when Jose Rizal, alongside his fellow revolutionaries, honored Juan Luna and Félix Resurrección Hidalgo with a toast for winning the gold and silver medals at the 1884 National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid.

Rizal proclaimed: “Luna and Hidalgo are the pride of Spain as well as the Philippines—though born in the Philippines, they might have been born in Spain, for genius has no country; genius bursts forth everywhere; genius is like light and air, the patrimony of all: cosmopolitan as space, as life, and God.”

This statement reflects the national hero’s belief in the universal nature of genius, transcending borders and belonging to all, highlighting the power of art to represent both individual and collective identities.

Showcasing works by iconic artists thus underscores the intersection of local traditions with global artistic movements like academic realism and impressionism.

The exhibition does not merely portray the artists’ immediate surroundings; their works are presented with broader dialogues about colonialism, identity, and the vision of a future that merged local sentiment with international influences, reflecting the unique perspective of Filipinos and their aspirations for internationalization. 

This is manifested today in the Filipino diaspora.

Collaboration

“The Patrimony of All: Ang Panublion sang Tanan” was organized through an agreement among the Lopez Group Foundation, UP Visayas, and the Iloilo City government. It was conceived by former senator Franklin Drilon in 2019, with major funding support from Sen. Loren Legarda.

Since it opened last Nov. 24, the show has drawn more than a thousand viewers. It will run until April, but a second cycle is on the program that will stretch it toward December.

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