Fernando C. Amorsolo

FERNANDO C. AMORSOLO
(1892-1972)

Fernando C. Amorsolo, National Artist, was born on May 30, 1892 in Paco, Manila. He spent the first 13 years of his youth in Daet, Camarines Norte.

Already a promising artist at an early age, he busied himself in the midst of rice fields and abaca plantations sketching animals, seascapes, and landscapes. He spent time copying pictures from calendars and sitting by a wharf drawing ships at sea.


During the revolutionary period, he was attracted to the guardia civil in the streets of Daet: he took them as subjects for his painting and drew them well.


While in Daet, Fernando and his brothers studied in a public school and were tutored on how to read and write in Spanish at home. Unfortunately, his father's death left the family destitute and Fernando had to stop studying after only three years of formal schooling.


Two years after his father's death, in 1895, the family returned to Manila and stayed with the painter Don Fabian dela Rosa who was his mother's first cousin. Under Don Fabian's guidance, Fernando learned to mix paints and to wield the brush as his uncle's apprentice.


Amorsolo's first triumph was the second prize he won for his painting Levendo Periodico at the Bazar Escolta organized by the Asociacion Internacional de Artistas in 1908. This was also his first recorded prize in a competition with established artists.


At 17, Amorsolo enrolled at the art school of the Liceo de Manila where, aside from being a scholar, he excelled in drawing and other subjects, and won prizes in several design contests. Later, he graduated from the U.P. School of Fine Arts in 1914.


His most notable work as a student was his painting of a young man and a young woman in a garden. That won for him the first prize in the art school exhibition in his graduation year.


Before graduating, he found a well-paying job at the Pacific Commercial Company. Shortly after his graduation, he was taken as an instructor in fine arts. At the same time, he also took a parttime job as draftsman in the Bureau of Public Works.


From among the professors under whom Amorsolo studied at the Liceo de Manila and at the University of the Philippines, Rafael Enriquez, Miguel Zaragosa, and Toribio Herrera influenced him most.


Amorsolo started to be known outside the country when he joined the Exposicion de Panama in 1914. His entries were a large portrait of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and an intriguing piece entitled La Muerte de Socrares.


Fortune smiled brightly upon him. In 1919, he caught the attention of Don Enrique Zobel, a wealthy businessman and father of the modernist painter Fernando Zobel. He was sent as a scholar to the well-known Academia de San Fernando, then under the directorship of Jose Moreno Carbonero and Cecilio Planas, two of Madrid's distinguished painters.


While abroad, he was attracted and influenced by the bright colors of the impressionists Sorolla, Zorn, Monet, and Renoir. At the same time he took up the Velasquez technique, the so-called "vision of the moment." However, his line was still classic and his colors of tonal values, an aspect learned from Fabian dela Rosa.


After a year in Spain, he returned to the Philippines and began teaching at the state university.



The whole decade of the twenties was Amorsolo's creative peak. During this period, he developed his interpretation of Philippine sunlight and landscapes which remain his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. During this time, he reached the height of his power and virtuosity. Thereafter, art lovers and collectors began seeking out his works.


His first masterpiece in 1920 was "My Wife, Salud." It was regarded as a masterpiece of portraiture by his fellow painters, most notably by his uncle Fabian dela Rosa. His El Violinista stamped him as an impressionist.


In 1922, "Rice Planting," a serious genre painting was completed. That same year, he obtained first prize at the Commercial and Industrial Fair in the Manila Carnival.


As an illustrator, Amorsolo's best work was done for Iñigo Ed. Regalado's Madaling Araw (a Tagalog novel). He also illustrated Pasion and textbooks for public school children.


At the Grand Central Gallery in New York City in 1925, Amorsolo held a one-man show which attracted many Americans who were interested in the Philippines.


A newly appointed director of the U.P. School of Fine Arts, his painting “Noonday Meal of the Rice Workers” won first prize at the New York's World Fair in 1929. A few years after, in 1931, Amorsolo also exhibited one of his anecdotal paintings, "The Conversion of the Filipinos" at the Paris Exposition.


At home, Fernando Amorsolo was awarded a grand prize when he exhibited his paintings at the Manila Carnival's Commercial and Industrial Fair in 1927.


For his distinguished achievements in art, he was named Outstanding Alumnus of the University of the Philippines in 1940.


The Japanese Occupation was generally difficult for painters but it did not seem to affect Amorsolo. He stayed in Manila and keenly observed the destruction of the city. The ravages of war were the

subject of Amorsolo's strong paintings like: "The Rape of Manila" and "The Bombing of the Intendencia" (1942); "The Explosion" (1944); and "The Burning of Manila" (1945).


On November 6, 1948, Amorsolo held a one-man retrospective exhibition at the National Museum in Herran, sponsored by the Art Association of the Philippines. In 1950, he exhibited two of his histo-

rical paintings entitled "Faith Among the Ruins" and "Baptism of Rajah Humabon" at the Missionary Art Exhibit in Rome.


To devote himself full time to painting, Amorsolo retired from the directorship of the U.P. School of Fine Arts in 1952. He confined himself to his studio, painting from sunrise to sunset. His paintings became so popular that he could hardly meet the demand for commissioned works, especially portraits.


Amorsolo's works can be classified as color studies, genre pieces, anecdotal paintings, portraiture, and the paintings of the last war.


In recognition of his artistic prowess, awards came one after the other. These were the Gold Medal from UNESCO National Commission in 1959; the Pro-Patria Award; the honorary doctorate in Humanities from the Far Eastern University in 1961:the Diploma of Merit from the University of the Philippines in 1963; and the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1967.


At the age of 70, Amorsolo underwent a cataract operation. The operation, however, did not stop him from producing great works. An exhibit of his works was mounted at the Art Center of the Manila Hilton in 1979.


In 1971, Amorsolo underwent an ear operation. He also came to suffer from diabetes, arthritis, headache and occasional dizziness. He became weak, but he would still paint whenever he felt a little better.


Once after an interview, he was asked by the interviewer to rest. He replied calmly that if he could have his way, he would prefer to die while he was painting. That wish, unfortunately, was not granted him.


On April 14, 1972 he died of heart failure at St. Luke's Hospital at the age of 79. Four days after his death he was conferred the First Philippine National Artist award at the Cultural Center of the Philippines by President Ferdinand E. Marcos.


Amorsolo was married twice. His first wife was Salud Jorge whom he married in 1916 and by whom he had six children. Widowed fifteen years later, he married Maria del Carmen . The couple had eight children.



Tagalog / Filipino Version

Fernando C. Amorsolo
(1892-1972)

BANTOG sa pagiging pambansang pintor si Fernando Amorsolo. Kilala siya sa lumikha ng hindi na mabilang na obra-maestra sa larangan ng pagpintura.

Isinilang si Amorsolo sa Paco, Maynila noong Mayo 30, 1892. Mula pagkabata ay kinakitaan na si Fernando sa pagkahilig sa pagguhit ng kung anu-anong bagay. Nakapukaw-pansin ito sa kanyang ina na si Bonifacia Cueto Amorsolo.

Naging huwaran ni Fernando ang kanyang tiyuhin na si Fabian de la Rosa dahil sa magaling din ito sa nasa-bing larangan. Kaya naman, pinag-aral siya ng nasa-bing tiyuhin sa Liceo de Manila.

Talagang sinubaybayan siya ng kanyang Tiyo Fabian sa pagguhit kaya rito siya nakilala sa Pilipinas at maging sa ibang bansa.


Kauna-unahan si Amorsolo na nagtapos ng Sining sa Pagguhit sa Pamantasan ng Pilipinas, taong 1914. Nagtamo siya ng maraming karangalan at hindi katagalan ay pinagkalooban siya oportunidad ng pilantropong si Enrique Zobel na nakapag-aral nang libre sa Espana. Si Zobel mismo ay labis na humanga sa mga nilikha ng pintor.

Karaniwan sa kanyang mga iginuhit ay ang makasaysayang pangyayari at iba't-ibang larawan ng mga tao tulad ng isang mayuming dalagang nayon. Dahil sa kahanga-hangang pagguhit, si Amorsolo ay tinanghal na pinakamagaling na pintor noong taong 1920.

Naging direktor siya ng School of Fine Arts ng Pamantasan ng Pilipinas hanggang sa pagreretiro noong 1957. Sa kanyang pagpu-punyagi, tinanghal siyang na pambansang pintor.

Yoyoy Villame

Yoyoy Villame (November 18, 1932 - May 18, 2007) born Roman Tesorio Villame, was a Filipino singer, composer, lyricist, and comedian. Villame was a native of Calape, Bohol and was the father of singer Hannah Villame. He died of cardiac arrest at the Las Piñas Medical Center in Metro Manila on May 18, 2007.

Early Life:

Before getting his break in the music industry, Villame was at one point a jeepney driver and at another, an army draftee who fought in the government’s anti-insurgency campaign in Central Luzon. He went back to Bohol to become a bus driver, and there he formed a rondalla combo with his fellow bus drivers as band mates. The owner of the bus company took notice of Villame’s efforts, setting up a music studio named Kinamay Records just for him. Villame's first recording was in 1972 and entitled Magellan. It was the beginning of a long list of albums and recordings of his politically inspired songs in Sugboanon, Tagalog and English.

Notable Works:

Among his notable works include Butse Kik, a song written from made-up Chinese-sounding words which Villame allegedly came up with by writing down the names of Chinese stores while waiting for a mechanic to fix his broken-down jeepney in Manila's Chinatown. He also wrote Philippine Geography, which lists 77 major islands, provinces, cities, municipalities, and towns in the Philippines from north to south. His long list of hits and his entertaining style of music has earned him the title of "King of Philippine Novelty Songs".

Villame began making movies in the early 1970s, and was noted for his role in the 1974 suspense thriller Biktima. In 2004, Yoyoy played a Visayan troubadour in the critically acclaimed movie, Babae sa Breakwater (Woman of the Breakwater).

Jose Clemente Zulueta

JOSE CLEMENTE ZULUETA
(1876 - 1904)

On November 23, 1876, Jose Clemente Zulueta, a distinguished Filipino bibliographer, was born in Paco, Manila. His parents were not known because his mother died five days after his birth and his father, when he was still a child. He was adopted by a kindhearted couple, Agustin de la Rosa and Juliana Estrada, who gave him parental care and education.

He took a course in History in the old College of San Antonio de Padua and eventually transferred to the Ateneo Municipal, where he obtained his Bachiller en Artes. He organized a study group among his friends, and every night he expounded on philosophy, arithmetic and algebra, ethics, rhetoric and poetry.

He studied law at the University of Sto. Tomas and frequented the entresuelo meetings of young students in Intramuros before the revolution of 1896. Cecilio Apostol, Fernando ma. Guerrero, Rafael Palma, Jose Abreu and others also converged in his room and talked of literary and patriotic activities.


In the university, he achieved literary celebrity as a weaver of exquisite Spanish verses. His poem “Afectos a la Virgen,” which Don Epifanio de los Santos highly commended for its poetical grace, was awarded 3rd prize in 1985 with a “lirio de plata” (silver lily) by the Academia Bibliografico Mariana, of Lerida Spain. It was published in Revista Catolica de Filipinas, VII, no. 5 March 1, 1986.

The Revolution of 1896 to him was a laboratory for his historical theories. He wanted to observe the event from the viewpoint of both camps. He presented himself to Governor-general Camilio de Polavieja to ask permission to cross the lines of battles and witness for himself the struggle of close range. The governor general issued a pass which enabled him to move between the camps freely.

He was with a caravan that trekked to the north when the Revolutionary Government was being moved to safer ground. He had lost his resolve at impartiality and now sided with the Filipino cause.

He established the newspaper La Libertad, on June 20, 1898, the first number of which was dedicated to Colonel Pacheco. After its initial publication, it was stopped by the Revolutionary government and the printing press was seized. He joined the staff of La Independencia, founded by General Antonio Luna. In his writings, he used M. Kaun as penname.

He resumed his studies in 1899 after the American army occupied Manila. He took the 1902 bar examination together with Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, and Juan Sumulong. Afterwards he and don Modesto Reyes established in Manila a newspaper, La Union, suppressed by General Elwell S. Otis because it was considered anti American.


He joined the faculty of Liceo de Manila to teach subjects on Philippine and World History. He was librarian at the Centro Artistico and Club International which sent members on fellowship grants to the United States. The first to receive such grant was the city engineer, Santiago Artiaga.

When the Philippine Commission decided to participate in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, he was chosen to collect the art and literary materials for exhibition.

When he was still with the Exposition Board, Act 688 was passed by the Philippine Commission on March 17, 1903 authorizing the appointment of collecting librarian for the Insular Government:

Civil Governor Taft named him the collecting librarian. He left on April 29, 1903, for Marseilles, proceed to Barcelona and Madrid, where he presented his credentials to the American Minister in that capital. He worked in the Biblioteca Nacional and in the Museo Biblioteca de Ultramar, which had its origin from the materials exhibited during the Exposicion General de Filipinas. He discovered a rich collection of papers and documents among which gave importance to Gov. Valdez y tamon’s work on Plazas, Fuerzas Castillos y, Presidios in Philippines in 1839.

He found in Biblioteca de la Real Academia de la Historia the unpublished work of Fr. Francisco Ignacio Alcina’s Relacion. At the King’s College, he saw the Vocabulario Tagalo, dated, 1585, in manuscript compiled by Fr. Domingo de los Santos, printed in Tayabas town in 1703. Zulueta came back to Manila on July 30, 1904. As required by law, he wrote a report entitled Fuentes Historicos de Filipinas in June 1904. He was one of the early Filipino historians who advocated the interpretation of t he Philippines from the Filipino point – of – view.


He died in Manila on September 10, 1904, at the young age of 28.


The Philippine government purchased the Zulueta collection for P17,000 from his widow Doña Paz Natividad and kept it the National Library. This priceless collection vanished in smoke during the liberation of Manila in February 1945.

Efren "Bata" Reyes

Efren Reyes (born August 26, 1954) is a Filipino professional pool player from Angeles City and a 2-time world champion. Reyes is considered to be one of the all-time greats in the games of nine ball and one-pocket. He is often known by his nickname "Bata", and is also referred to as "The Magician".

Background:

Reyes was born in Pampanga in 1954 and moved to Manila with his family, at the age of 5. In Manila, he worked as a billiards attendant at his uncle's billiards hall, where he started learning the various cue sports. At a young age, he played for money, and in the sixties and seventies, played carambola billiards (also known as three cushion billiards). After winning very often, promoters around have discovered him. This gave him the opportunity to compete in big time tournaments.

Reyes began winning a number of tournaments in the US, Europe and in parts of Asia. Thus, he started to gain attention and recognition worldwide. In fact at the start of his career he would use "aliases" to hide his true identity just so as to be allowed to compete. By the mid-1990s, he became one of the elite players of the Philippines along Jose Parica and Francisco Bustamante.

Notable Successes in Pool:

The fame of Efren Reyes began he won the US Open Nine Ball Championship in 1994 by defeating Nick Varner in the finals. For 8 years, he was the first and only non-American ever to win the event until Ralf Souquet won it in 2002 and Alex Pagulayan in 2005 who is also a Filipino.

A couple of years later, Efren Reyes and Earl Strickland were chosen to face each other in an event called the Color of Money, named after The Color of Money movie. The event was a 3-day race-to-120 challenge match of 9-ball. It was held in Hong Kong and has a winner-take-all prize of $100K. Reyes won the match 120-117 and the big prize. This was the largest single-winning purse in a pool event until it was equaled by an offer at the Texas Hold'em Billiards Championship, an event won by Marlon Manalo in 2005.

Although Earl Strickland was the first to win the WPA World 9-ball Championship, Reyes, in 1999, became the first to win it broadcast on television. Note - this tournament was not recognised at the time by the WPA, but Reyes was later retrospectively acknowledged as the winner of one of two world championships held in 1999. Nick Varner won the other than-"official" world title, but this was a much smaller scale event than the one Reyes won. The two tournaments were merged for the following year, with both men listed as the champion for 1999. At the time, the Matchroom Sport-organised event in Cardiff, Wales, was called the World Professional Pool Championship (despite the entry of many non-professional players).

In 2001, Reyes won the International Billiard Tournament. The event was in Tokyo, Japan, has over 700 players and total purse of ¥100M ($850K). Reyes dominated the event by besting Niels Feijen in the finals 15-7 and earned the ¥20M[1]($170K) first prize. For 4 years, this was biggest first prize in a pool tournament.

Then in 2003, he became the first Asian to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame.

Near the end of 2004, Reyes bested Marlon Manalo to become the first-ever WPA World Eight Ball Champion. This was his second world title.

In December 2005 Reyes won the IPT King of the Hill 8-Ball Shootout. Reyes won a record-breaking $200K for first place by beating fellow Hall of Fame member Mike "the Mouth" Sigel two sets to none (8-0 and 8-5).

In 2006, Reyes and Francisco Bustamante represented their country as Team Philippines in the inaugural World Cup of Pool. They defeated Team USA, formed by Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris, to capture the title

That same year, Reyes won the IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship over Rodney Morris 8-6. He earned $500K which was the largest prize money tournament in the history of pocket billiards. Unfortunately, he hasn't claim much of this as of 2007 due financial problems of the IPT.

One of the World's Most Profitable Players:

As a player in professional pool, Reyes has been known to have won a number of money-rich tournaments worldwide. This makes him one of the most profitable players around. To prove it, he topped AZ Billiards Money List 5 times; 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2006 he set a record by earning $646K in a single year.

Film and Ambassador:

In 2003, Mr. Reyes was featured in the Filipino movie Pakners with the late actor Fernando Poe, Jr..

Reyes was appointed Philippine Sports Ambassador of the 2005 South East Asian Games alongside some of the Philippines' greatest athletes (Allan Caidic, Rafael Nepomuceno) to promote the event throughout the country.

Nicknames and Aliases:

"Bata" - Reyes is often called by his nickname "Bata" (Tagalog for ""youth" or "kid"), given to him by friends at his regular pool hall to distinguish him from an older Efren.

"The Magician" - Reyes, along with the other "Filipino invasion" players revolutionized the way pool is played by their introduction to the sport of pinpoint precision kicking (going into a rail with the cue ball and then hitting an object ball). Reyes' ability to "kick safe" and to kick balls into intended pockets is legendary. This ability, coupled with his superb skill at other aspects of the game, led U.S. professionals to give him the appellation "The Magician." Before Reyes and his compatriots came over to the U.S., no one there had seen anything like their kicking skill set.

The so-called Filipino Invasion players consist of a group of fine Filipino players all of whom came to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s and quickly took the professional pool world by storm. The first of these innovators was Jose "Amang" Parica, followed (not necessarily in chronological order) by Mr. Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante and, to a lesser extent, Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat and Leonardo "Dodong" Andam. There are many other fine professional players who have followed in their footsteps, including Ramil Gallego, Santos Sambajon Jr., Antonio Lining, Marlon "Marvelous" Manalo and Alex Pagulayan, current 2005 US Open Champion and 2004 World Pool Championship winner, but only the first three original "invaders" are consistently considered among the small elite who dominate the very top of pool's professional rankings.

"Cesar Morales" - "[The] first time I came over to the states, I used an alias of Cesar Morales. Pool players in the US already knew Efren Reyes as a great shooter from the Philippines, but they [hadn't]...seen...[me]...in person." — Efren Reyes.

Trivia:

* Aside from being a notable player in the game of nine-ball, Reyes possesses a masterful skill in straight pool (14.1), a game completely obscure the Philippines. In 1995, Efren Reyes dominated the Maine 14.1 Event besting very well-known names such as Jim Rempe and Earl Strickland. His highest run in that tournament was 123.

* In 2000, Reyes competed in the US Open 14.1 Championship. Although he didn't win and had to settle for third, he conquered notable players such as Oliver Ortmann, Thomas Engert and Mike Sigel. He even made an impressive run of 141 which was more than the one he made five years before.

* Efren Reyes, along with Francisco Bustamante, is featured in a video game called World Championship Pool 2004.

* He is the first movie and the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in "Pakners" in 2003.