The Abe Wing of the National Museum

Last Tuesday night, the few pieces of artistic neurons present inside my cranial cavity were happy to have witnessed one historical event in the “Philippine art scene”.  I was present during the formal turnover ceremony of artworks of Emilio Aguilar Cruz to the Philippines’ National Museum for Fine Arts.  The event was coined as the biggest donation in the history for an art collection by an artist to the country’s national museum.

And from the poignant speeches I heard during the ceremony, this generous and selfless act was decided upon so that future generations of the Philippines would be able to see and appreciate contemporary yet refined works of Filipino visual art. This is aside from the fact that these valuable pieces would definitely be protected, preserved and maintained by the state.

EAC Gallery (Abe Wing)
photo grabbed from National Museum FB page

Aside from the formal turnover of donation of EAC art pieces, the program also includes the formal inauguration of the Emilio Aguilar Cruz Hall. Also known as the Abe Wing inside the National Museum, this hall exhibits the donated paintings, sketches and water colors done by EAC.

Activating the art connoisseur in me, from among all the art pieces hanged inside the Abe Wing, the two works of art that charmed and bewitched me were:

portrait of a lady, 1989 (oil on canvass)

This painting is a true representation of a Filipina beauty.  Though the only color used was the varying colors of brown, the monochromatic shades – from lighting, to the clothing and to the color of the woman’s skin – were all so fascinatingly beautiful and captivating.

Paris, 1980 (watercolor on paper)

This watercolor is small but very engaging.  The colors are so alive you would wonder whether such piece was recently been done when in fact it is already 35 years old. Onlooker would be able to appreciate it more if seen from a considerable distance (which for me is a typical EAC style).

Like any other great works of art found in the museums around the globe, EAC’s art pieces would someday, in some foreseeable future, shall become valuable tools for the next generation to better understand its past.  Kudos to the family of Emilio Aguilar Cruz for such a generous donation!

Koloring buk ko kaya tanggapin kung i-doneyt ko sa nashonal myusiyum? 

Morning In Binondo by Sym Mendoza

After having been at awe by the magnificence of the paintings featured in The Dimasalang Artists Collection Exhibit at the National Museum of the Philippines, it would obscenely be unfair if I would only have one post about it.  Here’s my initial post about this event: Fixated with Café Scene

first time to see a lettuce-green-colored gallery. i love it!

catch it while its there…

It has exactly been a week already, yet I could not expunge in my thought the need to write about a 1970 oil painting done by Sofronio “Sym” Mendoza entitled Morning in Binondo.  I don’t know why but this painting seem to have quietly caught my attention during the night of the exhibit’s formal launch.

beautiful!

I would like to believe that it is the alluring streaks of color as well as the glowing pigments that has attracted me most about this 44 year-old painting.  Also, I guess it is the easy-going yet serene approach in the depiction of a specific space in Manila that has caught my interest.  This vibrant yet soothing tableau truly exemplifies an excellent portrayal of Philippine life and scene.

 

The Dimasalang Artists Collection Exhibition will run until July 27, 2015 at the Museum of Fine Arts of the National Museum of the Philippines.

Super nays!

Fixated with the Café Scene

cafe scene: my fave eac painting

Without clicking a single brain cell, my automatic response was the “Café Scene”.  This was when I was asked which among the Emilio Aguilar Cruz (EAC) paintings featured in the newly launched Dimasalang Artists Collection was my favorite.  The Dimasalang exhibit is a newly launched exhibition of gorgeous paintings by 6 artists at the National Museum of the Philippines.

photo grabbed from national museum of the phiilippines fb page

In fact, before this painting made it inside the museum of all museums of the Philippines, a lot of people actually owns a mini-copy of it tucked inside their wallet.  This is because a couple of years ago this painting was chosen by Mastercard to be one of their credit cards’ cool designs.  Here’s a link when I wrote about this: A Painting In My Wallet.

pautang!

To even prove my point that I indeed is a fan of this painting, the cover of my 2011 journal which I brought on my second trip to Australia was the photo of this magnificent painting.

my 2011 journal.  this notebook kept me sane during a long train ride from sydney to gold coast.

Maybe the reason why I love this painting is because it captured the feeling of people who loves to celebrate food with friends and family.  I guess, it can basically represent my being a social person.

Sosyal kasi ako. Kaya layk ko ‘yan. (saying this in pa-sosyal tone)

My National Museum

Silly as it may seem, this blog can be a testimony that I truly adore going to museums.  This is especially true during my out-of-the-country journeys and adventures.  My trips abroad would usually have at least a day spent at a museum.  Me and my friends would usually call it “the cultural day” segment of the adventure.  This is the time when I would further immerse myself to the abundant culture, beautiful art and rich history of those far away cities.

What is so strange and striking is that I actually have not gone to the very national museum whom I consider my own.  The very museum that features my nation’s culture, my nation’s art and my nation’s history.  The very museum that does not need an airline ticket to visit but just a 10-minute taxi ride from my place of stay.

super like!

the old session hall of the senate of the philippines is now the national museum…

proud of my museum!

Thankfully, this strange and striking irony has been resolved.  This is because I have been to the National Museum of the Philippines Thursday night to attend an art exhibit.  The one of three domains of the museum that I particularly have been to that night was the main and the grandest domain, the National Art Gallery.  The other two components (The Philippine Planetarium and The Museum of the Filipino People) of The National Museum are housed in an equally splendid buildings.

Being inside the building of the National Art Gallery already evokes some exquisite emotion.  I was like being transported through a time capsule to the grand and auspicious era of the Philippines.  The feeling was like being inside a gorgeous art piece, breathing with it and being part of it.

i love this shot!
the hallway leading to the dimasalang exhibit. that man is f. sionil jose the national artist for literature.

Before and after the program formalities of the beautiful art exhibit I attended (housed in one of the glorious galleries of the building), I and my colleagues got the chance to view the other galleries of the museum.  Museum directors graciously opened all galleries in all floors of the whole museum that night for all event attendees of the art exhibit to see and appreciate!  The night time ambiance with impressive lighting mood inside the museum galleries further add up to the already massive emotions I was already feeling.

Aside from the penetratingly dramatic Spoliarium painting by Juan Luna and the massive yet gentle looking Diwata sculpture by Guillermo Tolentino, I will not be posting any photo of the art pieces on display.  It is because I want you to go there and experience the same emotion I had.

a super huge oil on canvass painting! spoliarium by juan luna

diwata by guillermo tolentino

I never knew how rich, magnificent and stunning the Filipino-made art pieces were until last night.  Those precious works of art were so beautifully intense it felt like those were interpolating divine messages directly towards me.

The visit to my National Museum was an outstanding buffet that fed my soul to the brim.  It was no doubt an invigorating assault to my senses!

 

The National Art Gallery of the National Museum of the Philippines is open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.  Its free admission on Sundays.

Grabe, parang wala ako sa Maynila!