17th to early 20th century National Fine Arts Collection “Woman Reading Newspaper” (1939) by Zosimo Flores Dimaano

How do you spend your Sunday? This week’s #ArtStrollSunday series which focuses on the 17th to early 20th century art from the National Fine Arts Collection (NFAC) features “Woman Reading Newspaper” (1939), an oil painting by Zosimo Flores Dimaano.

This painting shows a middle-aged woman reading the newspaper in her living room, a Sunday habit that seems to be an uncommon sight these days with the rise of digital newspapers and other reading materials accessible online. This painting is a rare genre (everyday scenes) painting of the artist in the NFAC who was known for his still life and landscape paintings. “Woman Reading Newspaper” was registered as a government property on November 10, 1998, and has been in the custody of the #NationalMuseumPH for 23 years. 

The artist Zosimo Flores Dimaano (1895-1942), born in Pagsanjan, Laguna, graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Fine Arts in 1919. He worked as a designer at Pacific Commercial in 1920 with Fernando Amorsolo, and in the photoengraving section of the Bureau of Printing from 1921 to 1922. He completed this artwork in 1939 when he was around 44 years old. He held his first solo exhibition at UP in 1939, in the same year this painting was finished.

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Text by NMP-FAD

Photo by Bengy Toda

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)