Amorsolo Chroma Catalogue (PRE-ORDER)

During and beyond his lifetime, Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (1892-1972) was a much loved and acclaimed painter who influenced generations of Philippine artists. His canvases of historical events and the mundane resonated with audiences both foreign and local for they captured what was perceived to be the essence of the Philippine experience and identity—the Philippine panorama bathed in the brilliant sunlight.

This volume is published in conjunction with the exhibition, Amorsolo: Chroma, which invites audiences to revisit the plein air paintings and landscapes of Amorsolo to better understand why he received monikers such as “The Grand Old Man of Philippine Painting,” “the poet of color,” and “the painter of Philippine sunlight.” While these titles speak of Amorsolo’s palette, they also beg the question whether today’s audiences in the age of hypermedia appreciate those titles and Amorsolo’s colors in the same way.

The exhibition’s exploration of color and empathy are further expanded in this volume through the examination of the psyche in the essays of Ditas Samson on the prevailing thoughts of the Filipinos of Amorsolo’s generation and the psychological respite offered by the natural environment by Prof. Femke Beute. Complimenting these is a reprint of the 1960 analysis of Amorsolo’s work through the eyes of painter and scholar, Fernando Zóbel.