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Showing posts with the label Vicente Manansala

The Philippine Village Life by Vicente Silva Manansala

Pamilya (Family) With the completion of their new headquarters in Manila in 1961, PhilAm Life (a life insurance company) commissioned Vicente Silva Manansala to do a series of paintings for their cafeteria. (Lucky employees!) Before long these seven large-scale paintings about Philippine village life were moved to the front lobby which was deemed a more appropriate setting for the canvases. They remained there until the building was sold in 2012. Mindful of the cultural significance of the paintings and the need for its preservation and conservation, the management of PhilAm Life decided to loan these treasures to the National Museum in 2014. “Pamilya reflects Filipino values of family solidarity and solemnity showing a common scenario of praying before sharing a meal with one’s family.” National Museum of the Philippines Pagkain (Food) One of the Thirteen Moderns and Neo Realists, Vicente Silva Manansala had the good fortune to study art in Canada, the United States, France and Switz

Masterpieces from the National Museum of the Philippines

"If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him." John F. Kennedy Spoliarium by Juan Luna The Spoliarium  is an oil on canvas painting by Juan Luna. It won the coveted first gold medal at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1884. The Assassination of Governor Bustamente by F. Hidalgo Felix Resurección Hidalgo studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando de Madrid as a pensionado of the Ayuntamiento de Manila. He won the ninth silver medal in 1884 for his work, Las Virgines Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho at the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid at which event, Juan Luna won the gold medal for his Spoliarium.  The Assassination of Governor General Fernando Bustamante y Rueda  is a controversial painting for its depiction of the Dominican friars as active participants in the murder of the Governor. In fact, Fr. Fidel Villaroel, Ph.D., a Span