First of all, I am really saddened by the news of Pinmapple closing down. I'm not much of a traveller, I have only been to a handful of provinces in the Philippines and a couple of museums, but whenever I plan my itinerary, Pinmapple is always in my mind. So I am surely going to miss this community.
Last Saturday, we originally planned on going to Museo Pambata in Roxas Blvd. I checked their Facebook page a few weeks ago, then went to their website to check what activities my daughter could do. They have an interactive online museum tour and my little learner loved viewing it. But she's not contented. She wants to see all the display in person. So we went. Only to find out it was still closed. I'm not that much of a selective reader, but when I do, the trip I plan gets ruined.
Oh well, it's a good thing Roxas boulevard is surrounded with several museums. We have visited the National Museum of Anthropology which is also within the vicinity. Right in front of it is the National Museum of Fine Arts. My daughter wanted to see the Spoliarium in person and see if the books did describe it as it is. Juan Luna did not disappoint. It was so much better than the pictures in the book, or even on the printouts I made when we studied Luna's life. My daughter said "It's like I can see the blood actually dripping from the dead gladiator."
The entrance of the National Museum of Fine Arts is along Padre Burgos Ave, Ermita Manila. As soon as you enter the premises, all you need to do is to present a valid ID at the registration. If you're coming in as a group, you all just need 1 representative to present the ID. Then you need to leave your big bags, water bottles, umbrellas, and anything that might cause harm to the display, into the baggage counter.
The main attraction of the museum is the Spoliarium which will greet you as soon as you enter the main hall at the first floor. We arrived there at 11AM and there was a bit of crowd already. You had to fight wait for our turn to view the painting in all its magnificence. We took our time to look at every aspect of the painting. It's a different experience because we only ever looked at it on a small page of our book. You can clearly see how Luna took the effort of making it look as real as he possibly can. The shading and the shadows depict the emotions that one would feel if they are indeed in that scene.
There are so many museum goers in there that are there just for the photos. There were many instances where we had to passive-aggressively watch them while they take their photos just so they would rush it and so we can view the artworks and appreciate the brushstrokes and artistry that the artist put into it. I strongly believe that Art Appreciation should be included in the learning curriculum.
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We went further in the museum and the first gallery we visited has Luna's and Hidalgo's paintings. It showcased their study paintings, showing their process and how they tried several different styles, poses, lighting, etc. For an artist, going to this gallery would show them that even the greatest painters in history also go through several processes before they arrive at the great paintings they create. To my daughter, as she saw the various art study that the artists did, it gave her more understanding of how an artwork is indeed done.
National Museum of Fine Arts houses a lot of artworks from various national artists like Abueva, Guillermo Tolentino, Manansala, and so much more. There were also other artworks from other artists that struck me most like Emilio Aguilar's Standing Nude. He used gouache in this artwork which is what my daughter and I are currently fascinated with. The museum also showcased a lot of Aguilar's watercolor artworks. I also loved Cesar Legaspi's Mother and Child. My husband and I were discussing how the different shapes were drawn and how somewhat magically, it forms shapes and the contour of a mother and a child. He rarely joins our art appreciation class but I love his inputs and observations on the topic.
I can say that the artist that had me looking at his artwork the most was Jose Joya. His painting the Ethereal Aura had me sort of entranced, I did not realize I have been staring at it for such a long time, my daughter had to remind me that we have more galleries to view. I loved it as a whole and how the longer I stare at it, the more images I tend to see.
There were other galleries in the museum that housed several works from "Unknown Artists". We noticed those are the artworks that were from different churches. We assumed that those were artworks commissioned by the church which is why the artists never signed their names on it.
We also saw the mural painting by Botong Francisco titled Filipino Struggles Through History where he showed the different stages of the Philippine History. We started from the very beginning. Since we read the Philippine History in Stories and the Story of Our Country, my daughter and I had a fun conversation about the several aspects of the painting as we looked at each part of it. We have just finished discussing how Lapu Lapu defended Mactan against Magellan's troops and the Treaty of Paris (we also just finished reading the life of Apolinario Mabini). That being said, I lost her when we got to the part of the Commonwealth onwards. It's fine for me. I finally saw where my Hekasi book's cover back in gradeschool came from.
We did not realize that we have been walking all around the museum gallery after gallery for almost 3 hours. My daughter said she was tired and hungry and would want to eat but would want to come back later after we eat our extremely late lunch. (Just like what we did in the Metropolitan Museum) but I told her the mall where we'll eat at is much farther so we can't just walk back to the museum. She was willing to stay a bit more, said her hunger was still bearable and would want to finish viewing all of the artworks.
The last gallery we visited was the sculpture gallery. There were lots of interesting sculptures in there. I am not that big a fan of sculpture and I have yet to understand and appreciate the modern sculpting but the ones on display at the National Museum of Fine arts were interesting as well as beautifully crafted. We had a little game in there where we guess what title could the artist possibly give to the sculpture. We would look at it on all angles, examine the shapes and curves, analyze what message it wants to convey. There were times we guessed the same, there were times we have different opinions, sometimes we guess it right, sometimes not. And I'm glad my daughter now understands that art is just like that, it conveys a different message to each audience based on what season in life the viewer is at.
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When it was time to head for lunch, we had one last look at the Spoliarium. It was so beautiful, we failed to notice Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo's painting which was right in front of it. The painting was titled El Asasinato del Gobernador Bustamante or The Assasination of Governor Bustamante. That was quite a story behind this painting which was apparently also called The Church Against the State.
Overall, this trip to the National Museum of Fine Arts was tiring, entertaining, informative, and above all, so much fun. The little learner really had so much fun and powered through from beginning to the end. Our next Museum visit will be The National Museum of Natural History if the Museo Pambata is still closed.
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I myself am very fond of visiting such places. By visiting here, our knowledge increases a lot by seeing different types of paintings and learning their history.
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Same with Aya, I also visited the museum for the reason that I wanted to see the Spolarium. Cause why not? It's been a topic since elementary!
Yes, this is still included in the curriculum but in college, though.
It's great wandering through artworks and discovering the history that lies behind it, that's why I love museums, too. If I have a chance, I also like going to museums even if I'm alone sometimes.
will definitely check this out next time!
I really like art, but I don't understand just enjoying it. really enchanting all kinds of works in that place.
I love the sculptures in the museum
They’re really amazing!
Your daughter was very happy as she visited the place. I think she won a lottery ticket.
Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2210.
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