MANILA, Philippines - They were brothers both in blood and art.

Pablo and Fernando Amorsolo both became masters with the brush and became famous on the Philippine art scene. One continued his profession until his death in 1972 and achieved fame as the first National Artist of the Philippines. The other died an ignominious death at the end of World War II, executed by guerillas as a Japanese collaborator.

Yet, both painters live on in the works they left behind—a legacy to Philippine art.

In October, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Museum of Arts and Sciences paid tribute to this legacy in the exhibit entitled “Clergyman, Common Man: Portraits by the Brothers Amorsolo.”

Guests of honor at the opening were Maricris Zobel, National Museum director Corazon Alvina, Metropolitan Museum of Manila director Eric Zerrudo, Rachy Cuna, and Fr. Pablo Tiong, OP, UST vice rector.

Fr. Isidro Abaño, OP, UST secretary-general and museum director, delivered the welcome remarks.

This is part of the satellite exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila for the “His Art, Our Heart” Amorsolo Retrospective, which is being shown in major institutions throughout the country.

Featured in the exhibit are paintings from the UST Museum collection—portraits of the UST rectors by Amorsolo as well as images of ordinary folks and landscapes painted by both brothers.

Also on display are two Amorsolos donated by former President Diosdado Macapagal—a bayanihan scene and the presidential portrait which had been a staple of textbooks and publications that featured the former president.

The UST Gallery

The Amorsolos, of course, had already made a name for themselves when UST began its art gallery in 1940 on its new campus in Sampaloc.

In 1941, months before the war, UST rector Fr. Silvestre Sancho, OP, organized the first annual painting contest. It was after this event that the museum began to collect more works by Vicente Manansala, Fernando Amorsolo, Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Galo Ocampo.

At that time, the museum had more works by Pablo than by Fernando. Only three works by the latter were acquired by the museum—the portraits of Anne Saleeby and Virginia Grace, as well as a rural scene.

Still, it was enough for Aurelio Alvero, the museum opening’s guest of honor, to comment on the master’s style:

“His color scheme, his play of varying tones of shade, his rhythmic movements, his symbollic (sic) parallelism—all these can be appreciated in an Amorsolo composition. But then Amorsolo is also distinguished as a portrait painter. His warmth, his vibrance, his life on the skin and flesh on the canvas are but displayed on his portraits than his compositions.”

The number of Amorsolo portraits would later be increased with paintings of UST rectors Frs. Silvestre Sancho, OP, and Fr. Serapio Tamayo, OP, as well as Dominican theologian, Fr. Francisco Marin-Sola, OP. Another addition came several years later with the Macapagal presidential portrait.

Realism

Amorsolo, of course, was the name of a past era where realism was the style of art. But, as noted in the exhibit’s program, the world portrayed by the brothers had its drawbacks:

“Although there are those who claim that the luminous landscapes with happy, smiling farmers and blushing young ladies clad in traditional Filipino garb are mere dreams of a world where there is no hunger or darkness, none can deny the beauty and serenity in an Amorsolo landscape.”

But the portraits of the brothers were something else. Again from the program:

“Along with their masterful paintings of the Philippine countryside, both Pablo and Fernando Amorsolo were consummate portraitists, able to breathe life into a canvas and bring the subject’s personality to the surface. Nuanced brushstrokes that balance light and dark evoke the full spectrum of human emotion—from thoughtful sincerity in a presidential portrait to a young lady’s sweet simple cheer, from a priest’s pious gravity to a shoeshine boy’s quick, sharp look of doubt….”

Whether clergyman or common man, the mastery of the brushstrokes of the brothers are evident.

The UST Museum hopes that through this exhibit of just a few of its treasures, the viewing audience will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of what the name Amorsolo means to the Filipinos, and young student-artists will be inspired to hone their craft and perfect their technique just as the brothers Amorsolo did.

“Clergyman, Common Man: Portraits by the Brothers Amorsolo” runs until Nov. 29. Museum hours are from 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. Call 7811815 or 7409718.