Fernando Amorsolo /Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Calle Herran in Paco, Manila to Pedro Amorsolo and Bonifacia Cueto. Although born in the nation͛s capital, Amorsolo would spend most of his childhood in the small town setting of Daet in Camarines Norte where his love for the simple rural life would become the foundation for his artistic output for which he is most well-known. The Early Years Amorsolo͛s earliest memories would bring him back to a quiet life in the countryside. When he was only seven months old, his father moved the family to Daet to work as a bookkeeper for two abaca firms. Pedro was able to earn a modest income, enough to keep his family comfortable. Fernando showed early signs of his artistic talent. He would go out to the coast to draw pictures of the ships by the wharves. It was his mother who recognized the young Amorsolo͛s talent. She would send her son͛s drawings to her cousin Fabian dela Rosa, a prominent painter in Manila. At this early age, Amorsolo displayed an affinity for the rural landscape --- a reflection of his own small world. Tragedy struck early in Amorsolo͛s life. One night, when Fernando was still very young, his father was awakened by shouts coming from outside his window. It was the head of the revolutionary movement fighting against the Spaniards demanding that Amorsolo͛s half brother, the eldest son Perico, join the group. Against his father͛s wishes, Perico relented and went down to join the rebels. The family never saw him again. After the failure of the 1896 uprising, neighbors told the family that they saw Perico, bound with a bamboo pole strapped to his back, being taken to jail. He was later executed by the Spaniards. Shattered with grief by the death of his son, Amorsolo͛s father Pedro never recovered from the ordeal and died of a heart attack a few years later. Amorsolo͛s penchant for depicting an idealized world is viewed by his critics as the work of someone who has never experienced pain in his life. It is apparent that the artist͛s preference was not due to a lack of exposure to the ills of society but to a conscious effort to hang on to what is pure and good before the harsh realities of the world shattered his peaceful life in the countryside. His father died when Amorsolo was eleven years old. Before he passed away, Pedro made his wife promise to give Fernando a proper art education. The widowed Bonifacia gathered her family and returned to Manila in hopes of finding better prospects to provide for her family. Her cousin Don Fabian dela Rosa opened his doors to the family. It was here that Amorsolo had his first real exposure to the art world. To make ends meet, Bonifacia did embroidery to feed her family. Fernando made himself useful by assisting Don Fabian in his studio. It was during this time that Amorsolo received his first art instruction from Don Fabian. The family͛s limited financial means made it difficult for the artist to receive consistent formal art instruction. He earned money the only way he knew how. Amorsolo drew sketches and sold them for 15 centavos a piece to help his family and to pay for his schooling. Despite the family͛s financial difficulties, in 1914, he finally earned his degree, with honors, as a member of the first graduating class of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. Amorsolo lived during a turbulent time in the Philippines. He came of age during a transition period in Philippine history. The former Spanish colony became a territory of the United States of America. As American influence slowly crept into Filipino culture in the bigger cities, the artist yearned for the life he knew during his early childhood days in Daet. This clearly manifested itself in his artistic output where he clearly showed a partiality towards the rural setting where American culture was slow to trickle down. His paintings would embody an affinity for the traditions and lifestyle he knew during the Spanish era. His canvases were filled with scenes of fiestas, old churches and rituals that were the legacy of the Philippines͛ former colonial masters. Striking Out on his Own Success came early to Amorsolo. His professors at the University of the Philippines were quite impressed with the young painter. Some of them thought that Amorsolo͛s brush work surpassed their own. Apparently they were not the only ones who had this favorable opinion of the young artist. The artist became a professor in his early 20͛s and was already establishing himself in the art world. At the age of 25, he was already married to Salud Jorge and had a daughter, Virginia, when he caught the eye of one of the most influential figures in Filipino society. Amorsolo had designed the logo for Ginebra San Miguel, still in use in its original form today, depicting St. Michael vanquishing the devil. The owner of the beverage company, Don Enrique Zobel, a leading figure in the business community and an ardent patron of the arts, was so impressed by his work that he offered to send Amorsolo to the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid for further studies with a generous stipend for himself and his young family. The artist took the standard entrance exam at the Academia. To Amorsolo͛s surprise, after evaluating his work, the school informed him that, based on the results, they would accept him not as a student but as a professor at the school. Amorsolo was a painfully shy man. After his acceptance at the Academia, a banquet was held in his honor. When he was escorted into the banquet hall, he was so nervous that he excused himself to go to the men͛s room. He hurriedly went through the back door and went back to his hotel room. A school official later found him and prevailed on him to return to the banquet. He steadfastly refused. It is ironic that someone as talented and accomplished as Amorsolo was also known for his diffidence. Throughout his career, he shied away from any public event that was thrown in his honor. His confidence was almost purely reserved and confined to the practice of his trade. His precise brush work certainly shows someone who was very sure of his artistic skills. So confident was Amorsolo of his brush stroke that art conservationists have frequently been surprised at how thinly paint was applied on his paintings. It took him significantly fewer attempts, and consequently fewer layers of paint, to get the results that he wanted. Amorsolo was by no means a Renaissance man. He had no other significant talent other than illustration and painting. Unlike artists such as John Singer Sargent, who was also an accomplished pianist, Amorsolo͛s hands were permanently and solely associated with the paint brush. As a consequence of this exclusive association, the artist truly became the master of his craft. Amorsolo eventually settled in and spent seven months in Madrid where he was able to observe the works of the masters. He visited art galleries and museums to study the works of Diego Velasquez, El Greco, Goya, Monet, Manet, Van Dyck, Sargent, and Joaquin Sorolla. It is here where he honed his skills and perfected his technique. Diego Velasquez was one of his major influences, learning from his superior brush work, painterly style, and mastery of color. He would also learn from and build upon Sorolla͛s technique of utilizing the sun to draw out the most dramatic effects from the heightened sunlit colors and dramatic contrasts between light and shade. The perfection of this technique would set Amorsolo apart from his contemporaries. Despite his exposure to Western influences, Amorsolo retained his Filipino consciousness. He was drawn more towards the gentle rolling hills and verdant rice fields of the Philippines rather than the cosmopolitan world of Europe͛s proud cities. Even his illustrations of Spanish women were drawn with slender physiques, narrower hips, and smaller breasts more typical of Filipinas rather than full bodied Caucasian women. After his stint in Madrid, Amorsolo came home to the Philippines ready to apply what he learned. His bright sunlit rural landscapes were a stark departure from the elegantly dark European style that was practiced during the time. American servicemen, officials, and businessmen sought out his paintings to bring home to the States as a token of remembrance for their stay in the Philippines. Amorsolo made his mark and carved a niche for himself in the local art scene. Demand for his chosen genre reached a high point. Amorsolo͛s first wife passed away in 1931 leaving him with six children. He had six more children by a common-law wife. In 1935, he married Maria del Carmen who gave him eight more children. Fortunately, his reputation was growing as fast as his brood and his work was more than enough to provide for his rather large family. The War Years Just as his career was reaching its peak the Philippines found itself in the midst of the second World War. The artist and his family lived in the middle of the Japanese-occupied city of Manila and were not spared from the grim realities of war. Amorsolo rented another house near Raon Street where the women and children stayed while the men occupied the Azcarraga residence during the daytime which was near a Japanese garrison. Amorsolo did not let the war stop him from painting but his work took a dramatic turn. Difficult times during the war took its toll on the artist and his family.