RP's greatest mural painter

Title

Creator

Cruz, E. Agular

Identifier

The arts

Language

English

Source

The Republic (2) 31 March 1973

Year

1973

Subject

Francisco, Carlos V. -- Paintings

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

PAINTINGS CARLOS V. FRANCISCO mural painter Kaingin: prize-winning work of Carlos V. Francisco. A painter who lived in comparative seclusion in his native town lived to find himself hailed as a national artist. After his death at the age of 57 four years ago — on March 31, 1969, to be exact —it seemed only a matter of time for his achievement to receive well-deserved official recognition. Carlos V. Francisco, who had no higher ambition than to portray on canvas the life of simple folk in the little town of Angono, Rizal, became almost in spite of himself his coun try’s greatest mural painter. The City of Manila is the proud possessor of his grandest work, the saga of the Philippines from the pers pective of the metropolis, which grew from a barangay by the river Pasig into a Malayan kingdom before the Western tide of exploration and con quest reached these shores. It was not for nothing that the eulogies at the artist’s funeral praised him as a nationalist as well as a man of art. For his mtirals were the counter part in art of the histories of the Philippines written through Filipino eyes by historians like Teodoro A. Agoncillo. The first such mural by Francisco was painted for an exposition held on the Luneta. In retrospect it can be seen for what it was — a rehearsal, so Manila City Hall mural: history depicted in oil by Francisco. to speak, for greater works to come. An indication of the official neglect of the arts at the time is the fact that this mural was later cut up to facilitate its storage and-then left to the mercy of the elements. Nothing has been heard of it since and it is presumed to have perished. From that lost painting, however, Francisco’s career as virtually our of ficial muralist started. Commissions for public buildings as well as private residences kept the artist busy. Ma terial remuneration was still meager even by standards current at the time. But Francisco was made, and his fame rose beyond the highest expectations of the former magazine illustrator whose heart was really in easel paint ings and occasional murals depicting barrio life, specifically the barrio life in his native Angono, as it had not been depicted before. The easel paintings of Francisco tend to be overshadowed by his bigger works. Yet they show the artist’s ta lent, his personality and lyric passion better than anything else. It was one of these paintings which raised him from comparative obscuri ty to fame when, in 1948, it was awarded first prize in the first annual exhibition of the Art Association of the Philippines. Demetrio Diego and Vicente Manansala, who also had first attracted notice as illustrators, won the second and third prizes, respective ly. This prize-winning work, variously titled ‘Kaingin’ and ‘Pastoral’ among other names by reviewers, starts the regular art feature of THE RE PUBLIC. It is the same subject that an Amorsolo or a Castaneda might have painted. But whereas traditionalists would have emphasized pictorial real ism, Francisco has sacrificed it to dynamic composition and solidity of forms. It was an art learned with much groping from Cezanne, through im perfect color prints and with early guidance from Victorio C. Edades, pioneer of contemporary Philippine painting. Botong — as Francisco is af fectionately called — had never seen and was never to see Cezannes in the original, but he understood and his in telligence and dedication supplied the rest. With this foundation he went on to create on his own and to become one of our most original artists. E. AGUILAR CRUZ THE REPUBLIC 31 March 1973 Page 21

pages

21

Media