Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo

Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo y Padilla(1855-1913) is acknowledged as one of the great Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an acquaintance and inspiration for members of the Philippine reform movement which included Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce and Graciano Lopez Jaena, although he neither involved himself directly in that movement, nor later associate himself with the First Philippine Republic under Emilio Aguinaldo.

His winning the silver medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the gold win of fellow Filipino painter Juan Luna, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight in the memoirs of members of the Philippine reform movement, with Rizal toasting to the two painters' good health and citing their win as evidence that Filipinos and Spaniards were equals.

Background

He was the third of seven children of Eduardo Resurreccion Hidalgo and Maria Barbara Padilla. He studied in the University of Santo Tomas. 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. 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).

Life abroad

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.

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.

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 (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 Elysees, Paris.

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.

Sources

*Citation
last = Ocampo
first = Ambeth
author-link = Ambeth Ocampo
title = Looking Back: A gifted painter now almost forgotten
newspaper =Philippine Daily Inquirer
pages =
year = 2008
date = October 3, 2008
url =http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20081003-164296/A-gifted-painter-now-almost-forgotten