I Left My Heart in Marinduque(not in San Francisco): The Paintings of Fernando Amorsolo

Saturday, June 19, 2021

The Paintings of Fernando Amorsolo

Photo Credit: Wikipedia: Detail from Fernando Amorsolo's 1945- Defence of a Filipina Woman's Honour, which is representative of Amorsolo's World War II-era paintings. Here, a Filipino man defends a woman, who is either his wife or daughter, from being raped by an unseen Japanese soldier. Note the Japanese military cap at the man's foot

Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) was one of the most important artists in the history of painting in the Philippines. Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light.

Four days after his death, Amorsolo was honored as the first National Artist in Painting at the Cultural Center of the Philippines by then-President Ferdinand Marcos. The volume of paintings, sketches and studies of Amorsolo is believed to have reached more than 10,000 pieces. Amorsolo was an important influence on contemporary Filipino art and artists, even beyond the so-called "Amorsolo school." Amorsolo's influence can be seen in many landscape paintings by Filipino artists, including early landscape paintings by abstract painter Federico Aguilar Alcuaz.

In 2003, Amorsolo's children founded the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving Fernando Amorsolo's legacy, promoting his style and vision, and preserving a national heritage through the conservation and promotion of his works.

During the post-war period, Insular Life commissioned Amorsolo to create a series of paintings of historical events for their offices (and which were subsequently used in Insular Life calendars from '50s to '80s).

In Wellesley, Massachusetts, two original 1950s paintings by Amorsolo, The Cockfight and Resting Under the Trees, were bought by a New Jersey collector for $36,000 and $31,500, respectively. During a 2002 episode of Antiques Roadshow, a Sotheby's antiques appraiser estimated that an attendee's signed 1945 rural landscape painting by Amorsolo could fetch between $30,000 and $50,000 at auction.At a 1996 Christie's auction, Amorsolo's The Marketplace went for $174,000. In April 2002, Portrait of Fernanda De Jesus was bought for US$377,947.

On November 30, 2009, the Family Gathering Fruit sold for US$77,257 at Christie's. In December 2009, Fruit Gatherer was auctioned off in Maryland, in record-breaking manner, topping 19th- and 20th-century European and American paintings. In May 2010, the highest priced Amorsolo painting was auctioned off at Christie's for about US$440,000.