Art in the Philippines

Art of the Philippines

Artistic paintings were introduced to the Filipinos in the 16th century when the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. During this time, the Spaniards used paintings as religious propaganda to spread Catholicism throughout the Philippines. These paintings, appearing mostly on church walls, featured religious figures appearing in Catholic teachings. Due to the Church's supervision of Filipino art and Spanish occupation of the Philippines, the purpose of most paintings from the 16th-19th century were to aid the Catholic Church.^[1]

In the early 19th century, wealthier, educated Filipinos introduced more secular Filipino art, causing art in the Philippines to deviate from religious motifs. The use of watercolor paintings increased and the subject matter of paintings began to include landscapes, Filipino inhabitants, Philippine fashion, and government officials. Portrait paintings featured the painters themselves, Filipino jewelry, and native furniture. The subject of landscape paintings featured artists' names painted ornately as well as day-to-day scenes of average Filipinos partaking in their daily tasks. These paintings were done on canvas, wood, and a variety of metals. 

Past Filipino artists

Past notable Filipino artists include Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo, Augusto Arbizo, Félix Hidalgo, and David Cortés Medalla. Present-day Filipino artists featuring Filipino culture include Elito Circa, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Fred DeAsis, Daniel Coquilla, Ang Kiukok, Lito Mayo, Mauro Malang Santos, Santiago Bosé, Francisco ViriRey Paz Contreras, and Nunelucio Alvarado.^[12] The Arts or Paintings by Zóbel, Amorsolo and many more could be seen in most of the art museums in the Philippines. Zobel's paintings can be seen in the Ayala museum.

Museums

Place	Museum	Description	Address
Manila	Bahay Tsinoy	A typical Chinese house in the Philippines	Kaisa Heritage Center, 32 Anda corner Cabildo Streets, Intramuros, Manila
	Casa Manila	A typical Spanish colonial house in the Philippines	General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila
	San Agustín Museum	A church museum with wide collections of catholic religious items	San Agustín Monastery, General Luna Street Corner Real, Intramuros, Manila
	National Museum of the Philippines	The national museum which showcases Philippine Arts	P. Burgos Avenue, Manila
	Malacañang Museum	A museum inside the Presidential Palace complex	Malacañang Palace Complex, J.P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila
	Metropolitan Museum of Manila	A museum of contemporary arts	Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila
	Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design	A museum of contemporary Filipino arts	College of Saint Benilde, 950 P. Ocampo Street, Malate, Manila
	The Museum	A museum of contemporary Filipino arts	De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila
	UST Museum	The oldest existing museum in the Philippines. UST Museum has permanent display on natural history specimens, coins, medals, memorabilia, ethnographic materials and oriental arts objects.	University of Santo Tomás Main Building, España Boulevard, Sampaloc, Manila
	Museo Pambata	A museum for children	Roxas Boulevard corner South Drive, Ermita, Manila
Pasay	CCP Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino and Asian Traditional Musical Instruments	A museum of performing arts.	Tanghalang Pambansa CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay
	GSIS Museo ng Sining	A museum of Filipino Arts	Macapagal Avenue, Financial Center, Pasay
Makati	Ayala Museum	A museum of Filipino Arts	Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati
	Yuchengco Museum	A museum of Filipino and Filipino-Chinese Arts	RCBC Plaza, Ayala corner Senator Gil Puyal Avenue, Makati
Pasig	López Memorial Museum	A museum of Filipino Contemporary Arts	Benpres Building, Exchange Road corner Meralco Avenue, Pasig
Quezón City	Ateneo Art Gallery	A museum of Filipino Contemporary Arts	Special Collections Building, Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezón City
	Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center	The only museum in the Philippines with wide range of Philippine Arts from 1880 to 1960	Roxas Avenue, University of the Philippines, Dilimán, Quezón City
Taguig	Mind Museum	A science museum	J.Y. Campos Park, 3rd Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Cebu	Paulina Constancia Museum of Naive Art [MoNA]	A museum of Naive Art, Poetry, & Sustainability	110 Gorordo Ave., Cebu City
Aurora	Baler Museum	A museum of Naive Art and culture	Baler, Aurora
Nueva Ecija	Provincial Capitol Museum	A museum of Novo Esijano's Arts and Culture	Palayan City
	Fred's Arts Gallery	A museum of Novo Esijano's Artist	Cabanatuan City
Benguet	BenCab Museum	A museum of BenCab Arts	Baqiuo City