Felix

Ressurreccion

Hidalgo

Felix Ressurreccion Hidalgo (1855-1913)

Born in Binondo Manila 21 Feb, I855 died in Sarrea, Spain 13 Mar 1913.

Painter. He 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 banca (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).

In 1877, Resurreccion 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. 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.

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.

His Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho (The Christian virgins Exposed to the Populace), was

awarded the ninth silver medal at the 1884 Exposicion General de Bells Artes in Madrid. This showed a Group

of boorish looking males mocking semi-naked female slaves, 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 Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid in 1887, Resurreccion 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 de Paris and was awarded a silver medal by an

international jury. In 1891 it was accorded a diploma de honor at the Exposicion 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. It was finally bought for 7500

peseta by the Spanish government and ordered hung in the principal saloon of the Museo-Biblioteca de

Ultramar, passing afterwards to the Museo de Pinturas de Madrid after the archipelago became a territory of

the United States.

He exhibited Adios al sol (Farewell to, the Sun), 1891. at the Exposicion internacional de Bellas Artes in

Madrid in that year and El crepusculo (The Dawn), 1893, at the Universal exposition Chicago, also in that

year. He showed both again at the Exposicion Artistica de Bilbao in August 1894. In the Exposicion Regional

de Filipinas in Manila in January 1895, Resurreccion Hidalco w-s represented by his paintings done in the

grand romantic manner. In April of the same year he exhibited Oedipus y Antigone (Oedi pus 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 Elysees, Paris.

Among the canvases he executed for the Spanish colonial government in return for his study grant are:

Governor Luis Perez Dasmarinas and his Dominican Advisor, Guerreros filipinos velando la tumba de su jefe

(Filipino Warriors Guarding the Tomb of their Chief), 1890, and The Defeat of Limahong, 1892. The second

showed a tribal setting, and the first and third were historical paintings of large dimensions destroyed during

WWII. His Greek Philosopher at Work, 1889, La en ferma (The Invalid), 1900, and Per Pacem et Libertatem

(Through Peace and Liberty), 1904, all life-size pieces, used to hang in the National Museum then called

National Gallery of Art in Manila. A major and controversial mural is the Assassination of Governor

Bustamante, which shows friars murdering the governor.

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. In 1912, he visited his relatives in Manila for

six months, after which he hurried back to Paris. His mother, who had not seen him for 30 years, wanted him

to be with her in her last days, but he had to leave. The following year, Resurreccion Hidalgo died at Sarrea,

near Barcelona, where he went to recuperate from failing health. His remains were brought to Manila, where it

now lies entombed in the Hidalgo family mausoleum at the Cementerio del Norte.

Kulay-Diwa  is a venue for Philippines and Southeast Asian Contemporary Art. Inaugurated on February 7, 1987, Kulay-Diwa, is strategically located within a cluster of communities South of Manila.  It has five independent exhibition areas able to accommodate large-scale works and a garden ideal for programs, performances and sculpture installations.  The goal of the gallery is to discover and promote the works of young, talented but deserving Filipino Artists and to foster cultural interaction and exchanges with the local regions and other countries.

Kulay (Colour)

Diwa  (Spirit, Thought)

Felix Hidalgo, "Lady in Red Shawl", Oil on Canvas, 16 x 11 inches, undated (1870-1880's)

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