F L I X R E S U R R E C C I N HIDALGO

Filipino Artist Born Flix Resurreccin

Hidalgo y Padilla

February 21, 1855

Binondo, Manila,

Spanish East Indies

Died March 13, 1913

(aged 58)

Barcelona,, Spain

Nationality Filipino

Known for Painting, drawing

Notable work(s)

1884 Las virgenes Cristianas

expuestas al populach

1887 La barca de Aqueronte

in museums:

Metropolitan Museum of Manila

Lopez Museum

Movement Impressionism

Felix Resurreccion Hidalgos place in Philippine Art was secured in the last

quarter of the nineteenth century through

his large Neoclassical canvases which

harvested Gold and Silver Medals in

prestigious International Exhibitions. At a

time when merely to have ones painting accepted and hung in the highly competitive

International Exhibits was a mark of

having arrived as a painter, Hidalgos entries stood out among thousands of

paintings (representing in these Exhibits

the best Europe and America had to offer)

to win distinction: a Gold Medal for his

major work, La Barca de Aqueronte and

Silver Medals for two others (Jovenes

Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho and

Adios del Sol). It is therefore through these

two historical paintings in the grand manner (a seascape with figure, Adios del Sol is a departure from the traditional

manner) that Hidalgos reputation as a painter is assured in both Philippine Art

history and the popular mind.

Submitted by: Evalle, Krizia Mae O.

Pineda, Patricia Mae Z.

Umpad, Lynette Joselle C.

Yasis, Loralie Mae S.

HUMANITIES 1

Sat 12pm 3pm

Early Life & Education

Felix R. Hidalgo was the third of seven children of Eduardo Resurreccion

Hidalgo, landed proprietor and lawyer, and Maria Barbara Padilla, entrepreneur. He

studied in the University of Santo Tomas where his artistry was encouraged by Fr.

Sabater. He studied law, which he never finished, received a bacheller en filosifia in

March 1871. He was simultaneously enrolled at the Escuela de Dibujo y Pintura

under, Spanish painter, Agustin Saez. In 1876, he previewed his "La Barca" (The

Native Boat), "Vendadora de Lanzones" (Lanzones Vendor) and other paintings at the

Teatro Circo de Bilibid before they were sent to the Philadelphia Universal Exposition

of that year. In 1878, he painted the poignant and well-crafted "Los Mendigos" (The

Beggars).

He was sent to Spain in 1879 as a pensionado and studied in the School of Fine

Arts in Madrid. He attended the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando de

Madrid, whose courses he described in a letter to lose Rizal as obsolete and boring.

During this period he exhibited "La Siesta" (Nap in the Afternoon), 1881, a piece which

was favorably reviewed in La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana in that year.

Upon termination of his studies, instead of returning to the Philippines, he went

to Paris and put up a gallery at 43 Blvd. Arago. Hidalgo was then on his own. For a

while he suffered and starved in the best artistic tradition. Later, however his family

came upon some measure of prosperity and was able to maintain him. An uncle, P.

Jose Sabido Padilla, helped him when the business of his mother suffered reverses. His

studio became one of the centers of Filipino activities. There, Filipino exiles and

revolutionaries found a sanctuary.

In 1879, he went to Rome, still as a pensionado, where he finished a portrait,

"Senador Romano" (Roman Senator), and others. In 1883, he toured Spain rejoining

his patron and close friend, Francisco de Yriarte in Galicia. There, he pitched a tent to

study nature more closely. He then moved to Paris for further studies with the partial

support of de Yriarte.

Artistic Career In 1877, Resurreccin Hidalgo was awarded second place in the contest for best

cover design for the de luxe edition of Fr Manuel Blanco's "Flora de Filipinas" (Plants

of the Philippines). In 1879 he left for Spain as a pensionado in fine arts of the

Ayuntamiento of Manila.

His Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho (The Christian virgins

Exposed to the Populace), was awarded the ninth silver medal at the 1884 Exposicin

General de Bellas ArtesE in Madrid.This showed a group of boorish looking males

mocking semi-naked female Christians, one of whom is seated in the foreground, with

head bowed in misery. In the same exposition, Luna's Spoliarium was awarded a gold

medal.

In the Exposicin General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid in 1887, Hidalgo

presented La barca de Aqueronte (The Boat of Charon) 1887, and Laguna estigia ("The Styx"), 1887, for which he received a gold medal. La barca was again

shown at the Exposition Universelle in Paris and was awarded a silver medal by an

international jury. In 1891 it was accorded a diploma of honor at the Exposicin

General de Bellas Artes of Barcelona. This painting also received a gold medal in the

International Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid during the commemoration of the

400th anniversary of the discovery of America.

He exhibited Adios al sol ("Farewell to, the Sun"), 1891 at the Exposicin

Internacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in that year and El crepusculo ("The Dawn"),

1893, at the Universal exposition in Chicago, also in that year. He showed both

paintings again at the Exposicin Artistica de Bilbao in August 1894. In the

Exposicin Regional de Filipinas in Manila in January 1895, Hidalgo was represented

by his paintings done in the grand romantic manner. In April of the same year he

exhibited Oedipus y Antigone("Oedipus and Antigone"), El violinista ("The

Violinist"), Cabeza napolitana("Head of a Neapolitan"), Cabeza del viejo ("Head of an

Old Man"), Un religioso ("A Religious"), and others at the Salon at Champs-lyses,

Paris.

Hidalgo produced over a thousand works which include oil paintings, water-

color, pastels and charcoal drawings. His subjects range from the mythological and

historical to landscapes, seascapes, portraits and figures of the genre. He received

awards in Paris in 1889, in Chicago in 1892 and in the Panama-Pacific Exposition in

1915. Hidalgo received a gold medal for his overall participation at the Universal

Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. His El violinista was individually accorded a

gold medal. Eventually, he became a great prize winner and his paintings were

exhibited at the French Academy and marked H.C. (Hors Concours). However, he kept

to himself and continued in his romantic studies despite the artistic revolution going

on in his time. Thus while some of his later paintings showed some impressionist

influence, he was never in the center of the movement and the impressionist school

pass him by.

Notable Works

Las Virgenes Cristianas

Expuestas al Populace (The

Christian Virgins Exposed to

the Populace), 1884

Oil on canvas

La barca de Aqueronte (The

Boat of Charon/Charoons Boat), 1887

Oil on canvas

Other Artworks

Portrait of Rizal,

1883

La Laguna Estigia (The

River Styx/ The Styx),

1887

A Lady in the

Moonlight

Study of

Governor

Bustamante

Seascape with

Boat

References

Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. Lopez Museum & Library. Retrieved from:

http://lopez-museum.com/collections/felix-resurreccion-hidalgo/

Felix hidalgo. Geringer Art Ltd. Retrieved from:

http://www.geringerart.com/bios/hidalgo.html

Flix Resurreccin Hidalgo. Wikipedia Retrieved from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flix_Resurreccin_Hidalgo

Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. WikiFilipino Para sa Filipino. Retrieved

from: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Felix_Resurreccion_Hidalgo

Portrait of Rizal Painted in Oil by Hidalgo in 1883 Retrieved from:

http://tagaloglang.com/The-Philippines/Filipino-Art/portrait-of-rizal-painted-in-

oil-by-hidalgo-in-1883.html