lesson 1

• Philippine art

  • Reflects a society with diverse cultural influences and traditions
• Malayan people

  • Had early contact with traders who introduced Chinese and Indian influences
  • Islamic traditions were first introduced to the Malays of the southern Philippine Islands in the 14th century
• Most modern aspects of Philippine cultural life:

  • Evolved under the foreign rule of Spain
  • Evolved under the foreign rule of the United States
• Spanish rule

  • Imposed a foreign culture based in Catholicism
  • Lowland peoples were acculturated through religious conversion
  • Muslims and some upland tribal groups maintained cultural independence
  • An educated elite began to establish a modern Filipino literary tradition
• American influence

  • Made the Philippines one of the most Westernized nations in Southeast Asia
  • Profoundly influenced Filipino artists, even after independence in 1946
• Filipino artists

  • Draw on Western forms
  • Imbue their works with distinctly Philippine themes
  • Express the cultural richness of the archipelago in all its diversity
  • Have helped to shape a sense of national identity
• Indigenous folk motifs

  • Many Filipino artists incorporate _________ into modern forms
• 16th

  • The Spanish ruled the Philippines in the __ century
• 20th

  • The American influence started in the __ century
• Pre-Colonization Period


  • Local communities are being established
  • Art starts to go beyond mere craft, i.e. stone weapons or jewelry starts to have decorative elements, meaning and context
• Shells were fashioned into:

  • Tools
  • Ornaments
• Oldest known ornaments made from cone shells found in the grave of an adult male in Duyong Cave in Palawan

• Early 1960's

  • When was the oldest known ornaments made from cone shells found in the grave of an adult male in Duyong Cave in Palawan
• Shell ornaments found:

  • Shell disc with a hole in the center next to his right ear
  • Disk with a hole by the edge on his chest
• 4854 B.C.

  • Shell ornaments dated
• Angono Petroglyphs


  • Oldest known work of art in the Philippines located in the province of Rizal
• Pre-colonial traditional art


  • Have religious symbols
  • Depict everyday activity such as fishing, farming, etc.
  • Have a specific decorative art pattern to the community
  • Have the influence of local religion (animistic) or Islamic based
  • Exchange of art aesthetics and art processes with the Chinese and other Asian countries who are frequent traders with our indigenous groups
• Spanish Colonization Period

  • Introduced formal Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
  • Inspired by the Byzantine, Gothic, Baroque and Rococo art styles
  • Most art works are Religious (Catholic) based
• Formation of the elite Filipinos class, the Ilustrado:

  1. Rich locals studied abroad
  2. More "academic" and "western" approach has been learned
• Filipino Classicism

  • Borrows the Neo-Classicism, Romanticism and even a hint of Impressionism
• Two Filipino Art Styles develop during the Spanish Period:

  • Miniaturismo
  • Letras y Figuras
• Miniaturismo

  • art styles that pays attention to details and textures of the costume
• Letras y Figuras

  • art style that fuses letters with figures in every day activity amidst a common background
  • Usually used in painting a patron's full name
• American Colonization Period

  • Brought in Education and Value Formation with both following the "American way of life" (Alice Guillermo, Sining Biswal, 1994, p. 4).
• Gained popularity and incorporated fine arts during American period:

  • Art Illustration
  • Advertising
  • Commercial Design
• During the American Colonization Period, what painting themes were still largely favored?

  • Genre paintings
  • Landscapes
  • Still life
• Portraits

  • are reserved for high ranking officials with a more academic approach to make the subiect more formal
• Philippine modern art is in 1946-1970
• Philippine Contemporary Art Period


  • The study of determining what this period is, is still being determined since the word has been loosely used even during the American Colonial Period
• Art Association of the Philippines (AAP)

  • It has a strong leaning with the Modernist than the Conservatives (the traditional art also termed as the Amorsolo School)
• Personal computers and new technology

  • This started a new direction for the arts thus, setting the name, momentarily, the Philippine Contemporary Period