Planting rice by Fernando Armolso

"Planting Rice" is a painting by Fernando Armolso. The painter Fernando Amorsolo was a presiding figure in the visual arts of the Philippines during the years before the Second World War and into the post-war period. His body of work is characterized by scenes of the Filipino countryside, richly composed and harmoniously colored, with bright sunlight and populated by beautiful, happy people: it is an art of beauty, fulfillment, peace and prosperity, which perhaps explains its undying popularity in the Philippines to this day. 

The painting reveals the knowledge of the artist as he etched the canvas with the presence of his passion. This shows Armolso's love for the Filipinos. If you look closely at the painting carefully you will notice the Filipino's unity or their bayanihan. Bayanihan is the spirit of civic unity and cooperation among the Filipinos. Bayanihan is derived from the word Bayan, which means community or country. Bayanihan means literally "being one with the community". Bayanihan culture is derived from the meaning: "being helpful in the community, being one of the people who are working together to achieve one goal.

Looking at this painting, I see glimpses of the hard work that the people used to do. From planting rice to milling them. Nowadays it is a a lot more easier to farm rice because of modern machines, that's why it makes me grateful to be born on a timeline that has the convenience of technology which unfortunately our ancestors did not have. 

Amorsolo’s forte was the backlighting technique and the Filipino tradition themes. In this painting, the backlighting technique manifested wherein figures are outlined against a characteristic glow, and intense light on one part of the canvas highlights nearby details. Sunlight is a prevailing element in Amorsolo’s works. Brush strokes were smooth which emphasizes the feel intended by the artist.

It was an ideal picture of provincial life like most of his paintings. The particular genre that was used is realism. He painted the details as to how it might look like in real life. However, faces of the farmers were not detailed because their Buri hats covered them. Supposedly the sun was on its peak in that picture.

Fernando Cuerto Amorsolo is the very first painter to be given the recognition as the country’s national artist. His work titled “Rice Planting” which was made in 1922 was one of his most famous works. This was when the Philippines was under the American colonial rule and it is impressive that Amorsolo consistently painted pictures reflecting the true Filipino soul despite the colonization.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Amorsolo#:~:text=Fernando%20Amorsolo%20y%20Cueto%20(May,in%20the%20use%20of%20light.

https://biography.yourdictionary.com/fernando-amorsolo

https://vovworld.vn/en-US/cultural-rendezvous/bayanihan-housemoving-tradition-of-the-philippines-559494.vov

https://httppinoyartshub.wordpress.com/2017/12/31/planting-rice-by-fernando-amorsolo/