Modern artists emerged, such as Victorio Edades together with Carlos "Botong" Francisco and Galo Hernandes who were considered as the "'Triumvirates" that pioneered modern arts in the country.

Women Working in a Rice Field

He was also the most 'Filipino' of the triumvirate and fiercely believed that art was a way of being Filipino, "an instrument of defiance and strength of character." As Juan Luna had become the toast of Paris and Madrid in the 1880s, De la Rosa would complete the circle by being the third Fiilipino in just three decades to return in triumph to these artistic capitals by capturing the adulation of these cities' most coveted and exclusive salons in the post-impressionist Twenties.

During this period of unexpected freedom, De la Rosa started to pursue and develop his own style of a brighter and more naturalistic painting - a mixture of strongly drawn romanticized figures, firmly planted in a fictional pastoral countryside. This and his triumphs abroad influenced the Philippines' greatest painters of the 20th century, from Fernando Amorsolo to Anita Magsaysay-Ho. 

De la Rosa spearheaded the student body in petitioning the government to hold the quadrennial contest for the pensionado-ship to the Madrid Art Academy in June of 1896.The petition was approved by the authorities but the outbreak of the Revolution impede its implementation for the next two years. In April 1898, the Second Revolution was on the brink of exploding so the contest was considered an exercise in futility. Despite of this, de la Rosa won the scholarship just when the Spanish regime was nearing collapse. 

Palay is Tagalog for grain, which is symbolic of the Philippines’ most staple crop. Maiden bears significance to Amorsolo’s preference for beauty. Throughout his pieces showing women, Amorsolo does not conform to a Western standard of beauty; rather, he portrayed them to have: 

[A] rounded face, not of the oval type often presented to us in newspapers and magazine illustrations. 

The eyes should be exceptionally lively, not the dreamy, sleepy type that characterizes the Mongolian. 

The nose should be of the blunt form but firm and strongly marked. … So the ideal Filipina beauty should not necessarily be white complexioned, nor of the dark brown color of the typical Malayan, but of the clear skin or fresh colored type which we often witness when we met a blushing girl.

FC Amorsolo

Amorsolo's bright and colorful pastoral representations are unmistakable for being suffused with a golden glow, reflecting the sweet disposition, charm, and wholesome beauty of the dalagang bukid, or Philippine provincial lass - widely recognized to be the maestros most iconic subject matter. Surrounded by verdant foliage dappled with sunlight, she is the picture of a longed-for, bygone era - the epitome of everything that is good about the motherland.

The banga or clay jar that the young lady carries, a vessel for carrying water, is seen as a symbol of fragility and innocence, and is a reference to the song made famous by National Artist Atang de la Rama in the 1919 sarswela Dalagang Bukid:

"May isang dalagang nagsalok ng tubig
Kinis ng ganda nya'y hubog sa nilatik..."

Meticulously crafted in less than a week, the Philippine flag raised in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898 was the work of Marcela Agoncillo, her five-year-old daughter Lorenza, and Delfina Herbosa Natividad (whose uncle was none other than Dr. Jose Rizal). At the time, Agoncillo and her family had already fled to Hong Kong to escape the Spaniards’ clutches. It was in their home at Morrison Hill Road where the three pairs of hands, aided with a sewing machine, completed the flag over the course of five days. 

Based on Agoncillo’s own description, the flag was “made from fine silk with a white triangle at the left containing a sunburst with eight rays at the center, a five-pointed star at each angle of the triangle, an upper stripe of dark blue and a lower stripe of red.” [A number of online sources attribute this to a Philippine Herald article published in October 1929.] 

Considering how important this symbol is to our history, it’s fascinating how much we still can’t say with certainty about it: what it was actually made of, its present whereabouts, and even the true shade of blue it sported. 

 “Sungkaan” 

“The gallery and the consignor both maintain that the piece for auction is an authentic work of Jorge Pineda,” Ponce de León said in his disclaimer. “As to whether this piece is the award-winning piece, we believe that the reputation of the piece is a strong argument, but most of all the quality of the workmanship of the painting, and the exquisite nature of this piece, speaks volumes for itself.”

    “Oblation”