What thoughts come to mind when you see an Amorsolo painting?

Fernando Amorsolo is one of the greatest painters in the history of the Philippines. His beautiful paintings of rural Philippine landscapes and portraits often portray Filipino customs and fiestas. To honor him, there will be a seven-museum exhibition, catalog and educational programs from September 2008 to January 2009 called “His Art, Our Heart.”

Participating museums are the Ayala Museum, National Museum, Metropolitan Museum, Lopez Vargas, GSIS and Yuchengco Museums.

Let us refresh our memories as we read what the following personalities have to say, and what goes through their minds when viewing the paintings of a great Filipino artist.

JEANNIE E. JAVELOSA, curator & board of trustee member, Yuchengco Museum; director, EON Stakeholder Relations Firm: I see the splendor, majesty, subtlety and mystery of light. Amorsolo always painted the tropical sunlight behind his subjects, with the reflection of light making his figures luminous in space. I see the ideal of what he hoped for in the Filipino, celebrating values of hard work, bayanihan or collaborative effort, femininity in his women, and the love for the environment in his pristine landscapes. These are values we Filipinos can constantly aspire for. 

CAROL GUERRERO, art collector: Every time I see an Amorsolo I think of my country the Philippines and how beautiful it still is. 

EVELYN FORBES, executive director, “His Art, Our Heart” exhibit: A lot of nostalgia for a period that has quickly passed us by and needs to be remembered and treasured. He was a much richer version of the genre of Norman Rockwell since he painted during a wonderful period in our history when we were developing and defining ourselves as a nation and a people. He reminds us of what is truly Filipino since he painted who we were, what we did, where we it did it, and especially how we enjoyed it all! His art, our heart!

AMALIE V. AZANZA, Cribs Foundation, Inc.: Images of Amorsolo’s pastoral period evoke in me nostalgic and melancholy — thoughts of days past, when life was simpler, when truly Filipino traditions were honored and practiced, when the air was unpolluted, rivers teemed with fish and the countryside was lush with bamboo groves and verdant rice fields. All these may no longer be experienced by our descendants’ generation.

DORIS MAGSAYSAY HO, advisory board member, “His Art, Our Heart” exhibit:We have so little physical evidence of our heritage — our historical districts and buildings are disappearing; our cities are eating up our beautiful countryside. To me, Amorsolo’s paintings are “our cave of remembrance,” where traditions, images of who we are and what we value and our past are forever recorded to help us remember.

ANTONIO SAMSON, author: Amorsolo always stands for that idyllic view of our country — a peaceful countryside, women washing by the clear stream, maybe historical scenes we seem to be familiar with even if only seen once, maybe on a calendar. He paints a landscape of the imagination full of fire trees, rice fields and churches. He evokes a simpler time, a village we come back to again and again, even if only as an idealization of our country. His colors suggest the unique play of sun and shade, not like the chiaroscuro of the Europeans, but the sun-dappled greenery of the countryside: full of yellow, gold and emerald. To me, Amorsolo does not belong to the past. He lives on in our dreams.

PURISSIMA “PETTY” BENITEZ–JOHANNOT, consultant, Ayala Museum: The idyllic and the ideal. On the surface are images of his luxuriant country scenes, beautiful portraits, and well-proportioned nudes. Below the surface lie his ideals: the enduring Filipina beauty, the red, white and blue of nationhood, and the unfailing promise of golden harvests. This is classic Amorsolo concealed and revealed.

OLLIE CAMPOS, president, Cribs Foundation, Inc.: Beautiful Filipino sceneries and beautiful Filipina women. The play of light and shadow. A true Filipino artist.