As we approach the close of our National Heritage Month, we celebrate the life of the country’s first-declared National Artist, Fernando Cueto Amorsolo who was born #OnThisDay, 130 years ago, in 1892 in Paco, Manila.

Known as the “Grand Old Man of Philippine Art” because of his masterful use of light and dark colors and depiction of the “Philippine sunlight”. His paintings of Philippine landscapes, Filipino maiden, rural folks and traditions, and portraits, made him one of the most sought-after artists during his time and even after his passing on April 24, 1972. His masterpieces, some exhibited inside the galleries and in one of the hallways of the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA), continue to enthrall and inspire viewers.

At the Museum Foundation of the Philippines (MFP) Hall, Gallery X of NMFA is his 1950 oil on canvas, “Tinikling” from the collection of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). It is one of Amorsolo’s eight artworks from the GSIS collection included in a special exhibition launched last April for his 50th death anniversary. To know more about this exhibition and the artist, click this link: https://bit.ly/3lEHduf

The theme for #NHM2022, “Pamanang Lokal: Binhi ng Kulturang Pilipino,” underscores the importance of preserving and promoting local heritage within the community. Tinkling, one of the country’s most popular folk dances, has its name and movements derived from “tikling” or the Barred Rail (Gallirallus torquatus or Hypotaenidia torquata). It is a bird that jumps over bamboo traps set by farmers and is commonly found on wetlands and agricultural lands.

Illustrated in the core of this painting are two dancers dancing the Tinikling, gracefully jumping over and between bamboo poles held by four women. On the right side of the canvas is a group of men playing music. A carabao-drawn-sled on the left side stops by as the passengers (mother and child) watch the merriment.

As we end this year’s NHM, the #NationalMuseumPH thanks you all for your continued support of our public programs. Rest assured that we remain committed to acquiring, documenting, preserving, exhibiting, and protecting our national heritage for generations to come.

Text by NMP-FAD
Photo by Bengy Toda III
© National Museum of the Philippines (2022)

This week’s #MaritimeMonday presents the research potential of microfossil inclusion in archaeological ceramics. Microfossils are the remains of microscopic organisms including bacteria, phytoplankton, and small-sized elements of macrobiota such as sponge spicules, in sizes ranging from 0.001–1.0 mm.

Microfossils such as diatoms and dinoflagellates provide a valuable source of evidence in paleo-ecological, paleo-limnological, and paleo-environmental reconstructions, as well as in forensics. Further, the inclusion and occurrence of diatom microfossils in ancient ceramics have already been documented in several studies. Despite high temperatures during pottery production, these microfossils were still found embedded in several archaeological ceramics. Their inclusions in the raw materials, as well as in fillers and/or tempers used for potteries, were observed in the matrix of these artifacts. Despite being scarce in most archaeological ceramics, dinoflagellate cysts were also found in several stone tools made from chert, flint, or sedimentary rocks.

Microfossil studies would require invasive or destructive methods such as thin section and petrographic analysis as well as dissolution of materials, hence the use of broken ceramics would be necessary. Over the years, the #NationalMuseumPH through then Underwater Archaeology Section (UAS) of the Archaeology Division, and now Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division (MUCHD) have collected thousands of ceramic sherds from several shipwreck sites all over the country. Conducting microfossil research can therefore aid in accumulating information necessary for the establishment of baseline data on microfossils in archaeological ceramics. Results from this research can further be utilized to infer the possible provenance of ceramics, their functions, and their possible manufacturing technology.

Your #NationalMuseumPH is open to the public with minimum health protocols. Visit our newly upgraded ‘300 Years of Maritime Trade in the Philippines’ exhibition on the second floor of the National Museum of Anthropology Building, or watch the virtual tour of the said gallery at https://tinyurl.com/300YearsOfMaritimeTradePH. Please monitor this website and social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for further information and booking arrangements.

#Microfossils

#ArchaeologicalCeramics

#MuseumFromHome

#StaySafeStayHome

#BeatCOVID19

Poster and text by the Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division
© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

The #NationalMuseumPh celebrates the 98^th birth anniversary of National Artist Jeremias Elizalde Navarro, born #OnThisDay in 1924.

Born in Antique, Navarro studied art at the University of the Philippines Manila as one of the ten aspirants chosen from 500 hopefuls for the Ramon Roces art scholarship. However, he transferred to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) where his childhood idol, Carlos “Botong” Francisco became his teacher. He also studied under eminent artists Victorio Edades, Diosdado Lorenzo, Alejandro Celis, Bonifacio Cristobal, and Francesco Monti. Navarro graduated from UST with a degree in Fine Arts in 1951. He took further studies in New York City, USA, after which he taught at UST for nine years and briefly at the Randwick University in Australia. As an artist, Navarro passionately experimented with different media including oil, acrylic, watercolor, metal, wood, mixed media and found objects in his abstract and figurative paintings, sculptures and assemblages. 

Today, as we celebrate his birth anniversary, we feature his sculpture entitled “Man and Woman” from the National Fine Arts Collection. Navarro completed this sculpture made of wood, metal, and concrete in the 1960s. Wood is his favored material, describing how he “loves the roundness” of it. During his interview with Cid Reyes, the artist remarked, “I see a piece of wood lying around, and right away it suggests a sculptural possibility.” The genius of Navarro and his high regard for this medium, enabled him to create masterpieces that are now part of the collection of major museums. The National Fine Arts Collection holds several works of the National Artist which are also exhibited in this gallery alongside “Man and Woman”. These artworks are the following: Idiot Box Circa ’64 (1964, wood), Desaparecidos [(1996, bronze) and (undated, wood)]. You may also view his two sets of Via Crucis studies at the Museum Foundation of the Philippines Hall (Gallery X). 

Navarro passed away on June 10, 1999, and was posthumously proclaimed National Artist for Visual Arts on December 1, 1999 for his significant contributions to our rich artistic heritage.

Man and Woman is part of a body of artworks by the National Artist which was acquired through his daughter with the late painter and sculptor, Virginia Ty-Navarro, Pearl, and is among the most recent additions to the National Museum’s permanent exhibition “Lilok, Hulma, at Tipon: Modern Sculptures in the Philippines”. It may be viewed at the National Museum of Fine Arts’ Philippine Modern Sculpture Hall (Gallery XXIX) during its extended visiting hours from 9 am to 6 pm, Tuesdays to Sundays.

#MuseumFromHome
#JerryNavarro
#JElizaldeNavarro
#PhilippineArt
#AbstractArt
#ModernArt
#PhilippineModernArt

Text and photo by NMP FAD