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Lot Essay
Swordsman and spinner of dreams, soldier and patriot, the artist Fabian de la Rosa was perhaps one of the most fascinating and most enigmatic figures of the turn-of-the-century triumvirate, formed alongside Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo.
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.
Both a painter of religious images (for his genteel uncle Simon de Flores) as well as a proletarian with the same steely background as Andres Bonifacio (orphaned in his early teens, sole supporter of three insistent sisters), De la Rosa made his first audacious foray into Filipino art by capturing the attention of Juan Luna - not only with the gentle serenity of his landscapes but also with his lethal skills as an expert in the espada y daga, an ancient form of Spanish fencing perfected in the Philippines.
De la Rosa found himself irresistibly drawn into the circle of ilustrados (the Filipino intelligentsia) who - by design or circumstance - had converged on Manila in 1894 to set the stage for the Philippine Revolution of 1896, which was to become the first democratic movement in Asia.
He became fencing master at the Lunas' Sala de Armas. In exchange for his services, Juan Luna mentored the young blade in the European painterly arts. Under the aegis of the Luna brothers, he would meet key figures of the ensuing Philippine-American War.
The American consul in Manila became a close friend and Apolinario Mabini was his student at the Sala de Armas. Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin, a member of the tobacco monopoly whose fortune would help fund successive movements for independence, would also become an admirer and benefactor.
Coinciding with the untimely demise of the brother Luna at the start of the Philippine-American War, De la Rosa enlisted with the Philippine forces - perhaps being the only painter of note to do so - and was subsequently captured. He was released into the custody of his old friend the American consul, who no doubt paved the way to his participation in the St. Louis Exposition (World's Fair) of 1904.
At that monumental event, De la Rosa exhibited "La Siembra de Palay" (Planting Rice), which took the gold over Juan Luna's "Parisian Life", surpassing his mentor and perhaps one of the greatest Filipino painters of the time.
"Planting Rice", an idyllic scene of pure serenity, would chart the course for a veritable movement in Philippine art. Amorsolo's inspiration for his own breathtaking landscapes would stem from this painting.
In 1908 however, De la Rosa experienced a belated renaissance. At the age of 39 and at the zenith of his career, he was sent by Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin for art studies in Europe.
The painting at hand, from the collection amassed by Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin, is a view from the Lake Garden of the Villa Borghese - which had just been opened a few years before to the public and was still very much an artistic sensation. It captures a small temple dedicated to Aesculapius on an islet in the middle of one of many man-made lakes that dot the former residence of the 17th-century Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese.
On the surface, the painting is a luscious yet mysterious view of a lake, partly obscured by foliage in the foreground. Enchanting details emerge as one is hauntingly drawn deeper and deeper into an image that is not as simple as it first appears. A rowboat looms out of the water, then, a flash of white glints from behind the leaves - a piece of ancient statuary or perhaps a Roman ruin emerge.
It is through this optical exercise that the thoughtful viewer turns to his own imagination and the circumstances of the painter. From De la Rosa's own past, the themes of vanished possibilities, betrayals, personal loss, rejuvenated hopes, and healing wounds become phantoms that flicker through this image.
Dedicated to Dr. Bautista Lin and entitled "Un Recuerdo de la Villa Borghese (A Remembrance of the Villa Borghese)", it brings to mind a lavish personal record from a grateful artist to an old friend and patron.
It is also a homage to the painterly skills of his old friend Juan Luna - not only in style but in its unusual subject matter - being perhaps one of the few extant examples of an important De la Rosa work set in Europe and not in the Philippines -- cementing Fabian de la Rosa's role as the critical link between the Filipino old masters of the 19th century and the creative motherlode of the country's most notable artists of the 20th century.
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.
Both a painter of religious images (for his genteel uncle Simon de Flores) as well as a proletarian with the same steely background as Andres Bonifacio (orphaned in his early teens, sole supporter of three insistent sisters), De la Rosa made his first audacious foray into Filipino art by capturing the attention of Juan Luna - not only with the gentle serenity of his landscapes but also with his lethal skills as an expert in the espada y daga, an ancient form of Spanish fencing perfected in the Philippines.
De la Rosa found himself irresistibly drawn into the circle of ilustrados (the Filipino intelligentsia) who - by design or circumstance - had converged on Manila in 1894 to set the stage for the Philippine Revolution of 1896, which was to become the first democratic movement in Asia.
He became fencing master at the Lunas' Sala de Armas. In exchange for his services, Juan Luna mentored the young blade in the European painterly arts. Under the aegis of the Luna brothers, he would meet key figures of the ensuing Philippine-American War.
The American consul in Manila became a close friend and Apolinario Mabini was his student at the Sala de Armas. Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin, a member of the tobacco monopoly whose fortune would help fund successive movements for independence, would also become an admirer and benefactor.
Coinciding with the untimely demise of the brother Luna at the start of the Philippine-American War, De la Rosa enlisted with the Philippine forces - perhaps being the only painter of note to do so - and was subsequently captured. He was released into the custody of his old friend the American consul, who no doubt paved the way to his participation in the St. Louis Exposition (World's Fair) of 1904.
At that monumental event, De la Rosa exhibited "La Siembra de Palay" (Planting Rice), which took the gold over Juan Luna's "Parisian Life", surpassing his mentor and perhaps one of the greatest Filipino painters of the time.
"Planting Rice", an idyllic scene of pure serenity, would chart the course for a veritable movement in Philippine art. Amorsolo's inspiration for his own breathtaking landscapes would stem from this painting.
In 1908 however, De la Rosa experienced a belated renaissance. At the age of 39 and at the zenith of his career, he was sent by Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin for art studies in Europe.
The painting at hand, from the collection amassed by Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin, is a view from the Lake Garden of the Villa Borghese - which had just been opened a few years before to the public and was still very much an artistic sensation. It captures a small temple dedicated to Aesculapius on an islet in the middle of one of many man-made lakes that dot the former residence of the 17th-century Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese.
On the surface, the painting is a luscious yet mysterious view of a lake, partly obscured by foliage in the foreground. Enchanting details emerge as one is hauntingly drawn deeper and deeper into an image that is not as simple as it first appears. A rowboat looms out of the water, then, a flash of white glints from behind the leaves - a piece of ancient statuary or perhaps a Roman ruin emerge.
It is through this optical exercise that the thoughtful viewer turns to his own imagination and the circumstances of the painter. From De la Rosa's own past, the themes of vanished possibilities, betrayals, personal loss, rejuvenated hopes, and healing wounds become phantoms that flicker through this image.
Dedicated to Dr. Bautista Lin and entitled "Un Recuerdo de la Villa Borghese (A Remembrance of the Villa Borghese)", it brings to mind a lavish personal record from a grateful artist to an old friend and patron.
It is also a homage to the painterly skills of his old friend Juan Luna - not only in style but in its unusual subject matter - being perhaps one of the few extant examples of an important De la Rosa work set in Europe and not in the Philippines -- cementing Fabian de la Rosa's role as the critical link between the Filipino old masters of the 19th century and the creative motherlode of the country's most notable artists of the 20th century.