Gallery XI (Drawings of Fernando C. Amorsolo)

Gallery XI – Drawings of  Fernando C. Amorsolo, at the second floor of the National Museum of Fine Arts, features over 100 black-and-white pencil and ink sketches and oil studies of Fernando Cueto Amorsolo, the first National Artist of the Philippines.

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Gallery entrance

An incessant sketch artist, Amorsolo often drew sketches at his home, at Luneta Park and in the countryside. He drew the people he saw around him, from farmers to city-dwellers coping with the Japanese Occupation.  As seen in his paintings, Amorsolo’s impressionistic tendencies were at their height in his sketches. His figures were not completely finished but were mere “suggestions” of the image.

These sketches and oil studies were done before Amorsolo did the final and actual artwork. These include rural landscapes and seascapes, portraits, indigenous people and genre and everyday scenes that depict life in the countryside.

Details of Portraits (graphite of pen and ink on paper, undated)

The gallery also displays Painted Window of Christ the King, a stained glass masterpiece, done on a Gothic-style window frame, by painter Cesar Amorsolo (1903-1998), Amorsolo’s nephew and his assistant for 30 years.

Landscapes and Seascapes (graphite on paper, undated)

This triptych was commissioned for a private chapel in Manila after World War II, remaining there until its transfer and subsequent donation to the National Museum of the Philippines.

Nudes – Indigenous People and Historical Scene (graphite on paper, undated)

It features Christ the King, a classical Christian representation based on several passages of Scripture, seated in the central panel, flanked by the archangels Rafael and Gabriel, bowing low, on the glass side panels.

Painted Window of Christ the King (Cesar Amorsolo)

Gallery XI – Drawings of Fernando C. Amorsolo: Society for the Preservation of Philippine Culture (SPPC) Hall, 2/F, National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA), Padre Burgos Avenue, Ermita, Manila 1000, Metro Manila. Tel: (632) 8527-1215 and (632) 8298-1100.  Email: inquiry@nationalmuseum.gov.ph.  Website: nationalmuseum.gov.ph.  Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 9 AM – 4PM. Admission is free.  Coordinates: 14°35′13″N 120°58′52″E.