- Pablo Amorsolo
Pablo Cueto Amorsolo (
June 26 ,1898 – 1945) is one of the known artist painters in thePhilippines . He is the younger brother of the Philippine's national artist in painting,Fernando Amorsolo . [http://www.geringerart.com/bios/pablocamorsolo.html ”Pablo Cueto Amorsolo,” GeringerArt.com (undated)] , retrieved on March 18, 2008] [http://www.globalpinoy.com/ch/ch_nationalartists_sub.php?name=Fernando%20C.%20Amorsolo%20(1892-1972)&category=Visual%20Arts An article about Fernando C. Amorsolo that mentions Pablo Amorsolo, Cultural Heritage, GlobalPinoy.com, 2006] , retrieved on: April 6, 2008] Guillermo, Alice G. “Pablo Amorsolo” (as instructor at the University of the Philippines), Encyclopedia of Philippine Art. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 1994.] [http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/bibman/52788.shtml Amorsolo, Fernando, Pablo Amorsolo, Fabian de la Rosa and I. L. Miranda, Paintings of Twelve Philippine Women, Christian, Mohammedan and Pagan..., Manila: Philippine Education Company, Inc., 1929. Foreword by A. V. H. Hartendorp, Unpaginated, first edition.] ]Biography
Pablo Amorsolo was born in
Daet, Camarines Norte to husband and wife Pedro Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto. When he was still eight years old, his family moved toManila .During
World War II , he became a follower of the Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere, and served as a colonel of theKempetai of theJapanese Empire . When the American soldiers succeed in returning to the shores of the Philippines, Amorsolo was captured by Filipino troops.He was sentenced and executed by firing squad in the hands of
guerillas . He died in this manner at theAntipolo, Rizal .Education
He became an apprentice-painter under the guidance of his uncle,
Fabian de la Rosa , an expert painter. After elementary schooling, Amorsolo studied at the Lyceum of Manila. He later graduated from the School of Fine Arts of theUniversity of the Philippines in 1924.Two years after enrolling as a student at the University of the Philippines, he was appointed as an assistant-teacher for painting. He taught painting until the arrival of the Second World War.
Career
Amorsolo was an enthusiast of both classical and modern-day forms of art. During the 1930s, he drew and painted may editorial illustrations for Philippine magazines such as the "Graphic", "Tribune", "La Vanguardia", "Herald", and "Manila Times". He became one of the causes for the rise of the so-called genre art in the Philippines, because he weaved, through his artistic brush strokes, a wide variety of images that show native and social scenes and scenarios. He was also a known master of portrait paintings who had the ability to give life to any individual subject. He painted people from different levels of society and also from varied age brackets, where he was able to present his ability to understand the characteristics and personalities of his human subjects. He also created works that portray themes related to
Philippine history . Examples of these are the large images of "Magellan and the Natives" and "The Discovery of the Philippines". The latter was painted in 1944.Unfortunately, most of Amorsolo's paintings were destroyed by a fire which occurred in 1945.
Works
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