December 2017 in "Visuals"

Dateline: 30 December 2017, Pasay, PHL

"Magpaparol" by Jorge Pineda

First spotted from "pupuplatter" on Tumblr on 21 December 2017, took me some time to look for online information on the work. Best I could find is on Leon Gallery's The Kingly Treasures Auction 2015, on pages 166 and 167, as uploaded on Issuu.

Spotted: National Art Gallery, National Museum of the Philippines, 26 December 2017, Manila

"La Natividad" by an Unknown Artist of Bohol

For a country has one of the longest Christmas celebrations in the world, you'd expect the Philippines' national collection of artworks would have significant number of Christmas-themed pieces. Strangely, the National Museum doesn't have a lot on display. As far as the Christian-themed, seems there's more on the passion of the Christ than His birth.

This one, estimated early to mid 19th century, is on loan from the collection of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Spotted: Metropolitan Museum of Manila, "The Philippine Contemporary: To Scale the Past and the Possible," 16 December 2017, Manila

"Nativity" by Ramon Estella

An article, "Ramon Estella: A Purveyor of Modern Art" appears in Artes De Las Filipinas.

The second of two discreet snapshots I took at the Met (almost didn't post this because of the glare) -- 1949, from the collection of Paulino and Hetty Que.

It's December 24, and I hoped to check out National Museum for Christmas-themed pieces. It was closed, and was asked to return on Tuesday. Somehow, I "misread" their Facebook advisory: it encouraged people to visit the Museum during the holidays, that they're open Tuesdays to Sundays, and that they're opening on 26 December (other government offices have an extra non-working holiday after Christmas).

Spotted: From Google Arts and Culture Chrome app, 21 December 2017

"Love's Young Dream" by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe

One of my favorites from among the artworks that Google Arts and Culture randomize and display on my Chrome. From the collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., Love's Young Dream is easy on the eyes, and a fascinating read. Coincidentally, December 10, 1850 is the birth anniversary of artist Jennie Augusta Brownscombe.

Spotted: Somewhere while hopping from one Instagram story to the next, 18 December 2017

(Untitled) by Keith Haring

Used as cover art of A Very Special Christmas, a Christmas-themed compilation album, the first of the series released in 1987 -- more info in Wikipedia. One cut from the album, U2's "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" is featured in "Sounds".

Visit these links as well:

• AVSC's Official Website
• Keith Haring Foundation

Spotted: Metropolitan Museum of Manila, "The Philippine Contemporary: To Scale the Past and the Possible," 16 December 2017, Manila

"Fiesta" (detail) by Hernando R. Ocampo

Some information about late National Artist for Visual Arts Hernando R. Ocampo in Wikipedia

From the BSP collection, took a very, very quick, discreet snapshot of this (I was being naughty, but I'm my own Santa anyways). Decided to place this in the "Visuals" section as I was frustrated at how my usual haunts for spotting interesting visual arts were sorely lacking of local/yuletide themes.

Spotted: From Google Arts and Culture, 12 December 2017

"Lucca Madonna" by Jan Van Eyck

Featured in the Daily Digest, "The Secret History of the Color Red," the Lucca Madonna is part of the collection of the Stadel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The article notes the color red as the symbol of the blood of Christ -- Catholic cardinals wore the color in their public functions, and Middle Age monarchs wore it to demonstrate their divine mandates to rule.

Spotted: From "MuseumFacts" on Twitter, 07 December 2017

"The Blue Marble" by the Apollo 17 Mission Crew

Quoting the tweet of MuseumFacts: "#OnThisDay in 1972 Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, was launched. The crew takes the photograph known as "The Blue Marble" as they leave the Earth. #HistoryFacts"

More info about the Blue Marble and Apollo 17 in Wikipedia

Dateline: 02 December 2017, Pasay, PHL

Cover (detail) of the Abbey Bible

The personal art trivia project on my Facebook was a profile-cover duo. On this day in 2013, this was my profile photo, described as follows.

Twenty-fifth of December is when Christendom celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, and the nativity scene is the most revered of images. This nativity scene is a roundel in the opening page of one of J. Paul Getty Museums most precious, and celebrated illuminated manuscripts from the 13th-14th centuries in northern Italy, the Abbey Bible. For a manuscript narrative that begins with the creation of the world, having the nativity scene may be puzzling. But Getty curator Elizabeth Morrison explains, "medieval Christians saw in the beginning of Christ’s life on earth the promise of redemption from the original sin of Adam and Eve." Acquired in September 2011, the Abbey Bible went on view on 13 December 2011 as part of the exhibition Gothic Grandeur: Manuscript Illumination, 1200-1350.

Dateline: 02 December 2017, Pasay, PHL

"Irises" by Vincent Willem van Gogh

This day in 2013, cover photo on my Facebook, part of my personal project on sharing art trivia, described as follows.

"Irises" of post-Impressionist master Vincent Van Gogh is celebrated for being one of the most expensive artworks ever sold as well as the pride of the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection of modern art. The Museum itself is a celebrated constituent of the J. Paul Getty Trust, "a cultural and philantrophic institution dedicated to the critical thinking in the presentation, conservation, and interpretation of the world's artistic legacy."

The industrialist and art collector behind this institution was born 15 December 1892, and the Trust's indenture is dated 02 December 1953. The Museum also houses works of Van Gogh's master-contemporaries such as Georges Seurat (b. 02 December 1859), Pierre Auguste Renoir (d. 03 December 1919), and Claude Monet (d. 05 December 1926).