Thursday, December 26, 2013

National Museum of the Philippines - National Art Gallery, Part 1

I have been procrastinating on writing about the National Museum. We were there last August when we decided to explore the museum and its galleries after attending the wedding of a niece the day before. I was principal sponsor in the wedding that was held in the afternoon and had a dinner reception afterwards. We decided to stay at our favorite hotel in the area, Sofitel, also to celebrate a new chapter in our lives as we had broken ground for our future home.

It's been a long while since we've been to one of the National Museum's buildings. In my case, the last time was in 2001, when my wife (then my girlfriend) and I went to the Museum of the Filipino People, which features the more contemporary Philippine artists as well as exhibits on culture around the country. That museum is housed in the former Department of Finance Building near the Rizal Park (Luneta). Our recent trip was at the National Museum building itself, which used to house the Senate of the Philippines, and which now hosts the National Art Gallery. The National Gallery has many exhibits featuring Filipino masters such as Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Fernando Amorsolo, Fabian dela Rosa, and Guillermo Tolentino, among others. Following are a few photos for this series on the National Art Gallery including three of the most prominent works in the collection.

Front of the National Museum Building along Padre Burgos Avenue in Manila
The halls that used to host the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines. These halls bore witness to many illustrious as well as controversial if not notorious figures in Philippine history and politics.
"The Assassination of Governor Bustamante" by Felix Resureccion Hidalgo.
The gigantic "Spoliarium" by Juan Luna is an awesome sight to behold.
"The Parisian Life" by Juan Luna features, in the background, Jose Rizal, Ariston Bautista, and Luna himself.

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