Fernando Cueto Amorsolo(May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) is one of the most important artists in the history of painting in thePhilippines.Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light. Born inPaco, Manila, he earned a degree from the Liceo de Manila Art School in 1909.
After graduating from the Liceo, he entered theUniversity of the Philippines' School of Fine Arts, where De la Rosa worked at the time. During college, Fernando Amorsolo's primary influences were the Spanish people court painterDiego Velázquez,John Singer Sargent,Anders Zorn,Claude Monet,Pierre-Auguste Renoir, but mostly his contemporary Spanish masters Joaquín Sorolla BastidaandIgnacio Zuloaga. Amorsolo's most notable work as a student at the Liceo was his painting of a young man and a young woman in a garden, which won him the first prize in the art school exhibition during his graduation year.To make money during school, Amorsolo joined competitions and did illustrations for various Philippine publications, including Severino Reyes’ first novel in Tagalog language,Parusa ng Diyos("Punishment of God"), Iñigo Ed. Regalado'sMadaling Araw("Dawn"), as well as illustrations for editions of thePasion. Amorsolo graduated with medals from the University of the Philippines in 1914.
During the 1950s until his death in 1972, Amorsolo averaged to finishing 10 paintings a month. However, during his later years, diabetes, cataracts, arthritis, headaches, dizziness and the death of two sons affected the execution of his works. Amorsolo underwent a cataract operation when he was 70 years old, a surgery that did not impede him from drawing and painting. Two months after being confined at the St. Luke's Hospital in Manila, Amorsolo died of heart failure at the age of 79 on April 24, 1972 .
Four days after his death, Amorsolo was honoured as the firstNational Artist in Paintingat theCultural Center of the Philippinesby thenPresidentFerdinand Marcos.
