In the nineteenth century, Southeast Asia ushered in the dawn of modern art, and in the Dutch East Indies and the Spanish Philippine Islands, two artistic pioneers appeared, bringing about two artistic trends. The two archipelagos, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, without hinterland and surrounded by the sea, belonged to the Netherlands and Spain, and the two artistic trends were nearly half a century apart.
Raden Saleh of the Dutch East Indies brought classicism and romanticism to Southeast Asia in the mid-nineteenth century. The gaps of the late nineteenth century were filled by Juan Luna of the Spanish Philippines, who painted a splendid picture of Southeast Asia in the late-century pre-Raphaelite, aesthetic, impressionist, and Art Nouveau styles. Bin Saleh's time was a post-Revolution phase towards capitalism, and Juan Luna was caught between imperialism.
The Woman of Bragan, Juan Luna, 1895, National Museum of the Philippines
Colonial art under imperialism
From the 1870s to the beginning of the 20th century, it was the Belle poque in Europe and the late Victorian period in Britain, a school of peace, and the rapid development of culture and art. The United States across the ocean is in the Gilded Age, just after the Civil War, and capitalism is rapidly developing and leaping to the world's first power.
The Roman Maid, Juan Luna, 1882, private collection
In Southeast Asia at the end of the 19th century, the colonial powers tightened their control. The British took over the Straits Settlements from the British East India Company and were under the direct control of the Queen of England; the Dutch East Indies were taken back from the Dutch East India Company, which went bankrupt in 1800, and handed them over to the Dutch Crown. Spain was further unified by the Constitution in 1869, but the Spanish Empire's New World colonies were increasingly loosened, and the United States of America became a new empire, coveting Spain's colonies in the Americas and Asia.
Portrait of Ramon Blanco, Governor-General of Spain in the Philippines, Juan Luna, 1894-1896, Collection of the Lopez Museum, Philippines
Juan Luna is highly respected in the Philippines and is regarded as the founder and national hero of modern Art in the Philippines. Compared with Indonesia's Bin Laden Saleh, Juan Luna's national hero is more legitimately named. Bin Saleh has never publicly or officially expressed support for Javanese nationalism and was even once a loyalist to Dutch authority. But Juan Luna at the end of the century was a true nationalist, not only a painter but also a politician. He was one of the early pioneers of the Republic of the Philippines and was long involved in political independence activities.
Juan Luna's "The Basement of the Colosseum" is a treasure trove of the National Museum of the Philippines
Juan Luna had a short artistic career at the age of 42. Unlike the steady and determined life of Dutch colonial "system" painters such as Bin Laden Saleh, Juan Luna was young, ups and downs, and his personal experience was reflected in his works, and in the heyday of imperialism, the painter tried to dance with the dazzling light of the imperial noon.
The Woman in the Shawl, Juan Luna, 1889, Collection of the Ayala Museum, Philippines
Juan Luna and Bin Laden Saleh never met, or even knew of each other's existence, but invariably crossed time and space and walked the same path: learning painting from the European suzerainty, gaining recognition from the mainstream art world of the suzerainty with their talents, and then returning to their homeland to become local artists again. They have all created a large number of European style paintings, as well as works with local themes in Southeast Asia.
In the middle and late 19th century, Spain's control over the Philippines weakened due to the weakening of the country, and a large amount of foreign capital infiltrated into the Philippines, and the Philippines became the source of raw materials and investments of Western countries. Economic activity has led to an increase in the middle class of the Philippines, exposure to Western progressive ideas, and beginning to pay attention to the rights of the Filipinos themselves.
Juan Luna's two different editions of Spain and the Philippines were exhibited at the National Gallery in Singapore
Historical Theater
Born in 1857 to a middle-class family in Luzon, Philippines, Juan Luna attended sailing school with his older brother and pharmacy in Spain. Becoming a seafarer is a steady livelihood for a middle-class family, but Juan Luna has loved art since childhood. Unlike the Dutch "system within the system" painter Laden Saleh, who came from a powerful background and could pursue art without worry, Juan Luna's artistic path required more effort.
Violinist, Juan Luna, 1876, Collection of the Lopez Museum, Philippines
Accompanied by his older brother Manuet, 20-year-old Juan Luna arrived in Madrid, Spain, in 1877 to study music, he studied classical oil painting. Juan Luna's early works are classical in theme, drawing on ancient European history. Drawing inspiration from Bouvet-Lytton's historical novel The End of Pompeii, he created the painting La belleza feliz y la esclava ciega (Happy Beauty and the Blind Slave) in Barcelona, and the Death of Cleopatra based on the history of the Ptolemaic dynasty in ancient Egypt.
The Death of Cleopatra, Juan Luna, 1881, Museo Nazionale del Prado, Spain
Popularly known as "Cleopatra", Juan Luna presented his creativity in dealing with the subject, and The Death of Cleopatra has the style of the pre-Raphael school, poetic and quiet, with a balanced rhythm of folk songs, as if Dante Rossetti had reappeared. The painting won second place at the Spanish National Exhibition in 1881.
For painters from the Spanish East Indies colonies, if they want to be recognized, they must accumulate performance, participate in national art exhibitions and fairs and win awards, and it is possible to stand out. Juan Luna competed in exhibition competitions during his time in Europe, and his "The Basement of the Colosseum" won the first prize at the Spanish National Fine Arts Exhibition in 1881 and became the artist's most famous work, sending him to the position of national hero painter of the Philippines, which is now displayed in the most prominent exhibition hall of the National Museum of the Philippines.
Spoliarium(Spoliarium), Juan Luna, 1884, National Museum of the Philippines
Along with Juan Luna, the winner was Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo's Joan of Arc Exposed to the Public. The two artists won the highest honor in the Spanish authoritative art exhibition, which is of great significance to the Philippines, marking that Filipino artists are on an equal footing with Spanish artists, and can compete equally and compete in the same field.
Joan of Arc Exposed to the Public, Hidalgo, 1884, National Gallery of Singapore, Collection
This award is not only an artistic but also a political victory. At the Philippine celebration dinner after the painter's award, José Rizal, who later became the founding father of the Philippines, performed: "In Luna's work, we see shadows, conflicts, fading lights, mystery, terror, like the echo of dark storms in the tropics, the thunderclaps of thunder and lightning, full of volcanic eruption-like destructiveness. ”
Jose Rizal, Juan Luna, 1891, in the collection of Luis Antonio and Cecile Gutierrez
José Rizal was a pioneer of national independence in the Philippines, and in Europe in 1884, José Rizal, like Juan Luna, was a newcomer intellectual. After learning Western ideas, they became more and more aware of the inequalities of weak and small people, and formed a political group "Propaganda Movement", hoping to include the Philippines as a province of Spain, which was later transformed into a demand for the restoration of the seats of Filipino representatives in the Spanish Parliament and the protection of basic human rights such as Filipino participation in politics, association, freedom of speech, and assembly.
Juan Luna (first from right) with the Philippine League comrades in Spain
As a poet and writer, José Rizal collaborated with Juan Luna many times, and José Rizal's famous book is an illustration created by Juan Luna.
Illustration by Juan Luna Ghazé Rizal's novel Noli me Tangere
Two years later, Juan Luna completed another large-scale painting on the subject of history, The Blood Alliance, in Paris, based on a pact concluded in 1565 with the local chief Sikaduna, the Spanish conquistador Legaspi who landed in the Philippines. As a testimony of their friendship and trust, they mixed each other's blood into the wine. The event became the starting point for Spain's domination of the Philippine colonies, and the paintings were filled with a heavy sense of tension and a festival-like atmosphere, evoking a sense of longing for liberation from colonial domination. This work later became a symbolic work of Philippine independence and was prominently placed in the Presidential Palace in Manila.
The Blood Alliance, Juan Luna, 1886, Malakanang Palace, Philippines
Juan Luna began to repeatedly try on the path of historical subject painting, the Battle of Lepanto depicts the history of Spain's victory over the Turks and symbolizes the victory of the Catholic Church over the Islamic rulers, this work was presented to the Spanish Regency Queen along with the work of the famous Spanish painter Francisco Padilla Ortiz, "The Surrender of Granada", which was exhibited in the Senate Building in Madrid. The exhibition also raised Juan Luna's status in the Spanish art world to new heights, and was praised by José Rizal as a "nationalist master".
The Battle of Lepanto, Juan Luna, 1887, Senate House, Madrid
The Surrender of Granada, Francisco Pradilia, 1882, Senate House, Madrid
In 1888, Juan Luna created the most representative and controversial work of his life, "Spain and the Philippines", representing Spain in red, the goddess in red holding the goddess in blue representing the Philippines from behind, pointing to the sunlit distance. Both goddesses wore crowns of olive leaf laurels and were as beautiful as the Greek Goddess of Liberty, marching on the flower-covered steps toward the bright far side. However, the work has another name: "Spain Leads the Philippines on the Road to Progress."
Spain and the Philippines, Juan Luna, 1884, National Gallery of Singapore, Collection
The technique of the work is aesthetic, the colors are bright and warm, soft and moving, but it still causes many controversies, criticizing Juan Luna for glorifying colonialism too much and describing the relationship between Spain and the Philippines as too harmonious. Spain dominates, and the Philippines is a passive follower, and the setup is also "politically correct", turning a blind eye to the ugliness of colonialism.
Spain and the Philippines, Juan Luna, 1888-1893, Lopez Museum, Philippines
The painter painted several different versions of this subject, which was welcomed by the art world and was collected many times. At the end of the 19th century, the Spanish Empire had reached sunset, most of Spanish America had broken away from the Spanish Empire, and the only remaining Spanish colonies were Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, which caused the Spaniards to feel nostalgic about the empire.
However, the Filipino critic Lopez Jaena argues that "there is one less detail missing from the painting, when a Spanish monk blindfolded the Indian woman's eyes with a handkerchief so that she could not see the broad road that the Spaniards had pointed out to her." He satirized the high vigilance and vigilance of the Spaniards for Philippine independence at that time, the beauty and harmony of the picture could not hide the reality, and in the 1880s, the swords between the two places in Spain were raging, and the conflict was on the verge of breaking out.
Self-Portrait, Juan Luna, 1886, in the collection of Paulino and Hetty Que
As a member of the Philippine political revolutionary group, Juan Luna was well prepared for the coming Philippine Revolution. In 1891, Juan Luna published the series The Unsung Hero in Paris. The lonely and nameless crowd marched forward with their heads buried, miserable and unable to see the direction, but continued to move forward, silently protesting in a non-violent way, and the painter portrayed the daily life of the working people and expressed compassion for the people at the bottom. The nonviolent protest conveyed in the work is the political position of José Rizal, founded in Manila in 1892 by the League of the Philippines.
The Unsung Hero, Juan Luna, 1890-1891, Museum of the University of Victor Balaguer, Spain
Impressionism in Southeast Asia
Although the flames of nationalism in the Philippines have been ignited, the midday sun of the Empire is still glaring. At the end of the 19th century, the Western capitalist countries embarked on the stage of monopoly capitalism and imperial expansion, and the empires competed on a global scale. It would be naïve to attribute the obstacle to Philippine independence only to the end of the Spanish Empire.
On the Balcony, Juan Luna, 1884, Private Collection, Madrid
After the mantis catches cicadas and the yellow finches, the decline of the Spanish Empire seems to have given the Philippines a glimmer of light, in fact there is no respite at all, because another empire on the other side of the Pacific ocean is coming. The Philippines, in a crack, under the dazzling light of the empire, can only take a nap in the afternoon.
Picnic in Normandy, Juan Luna, 1890, University of the Philippines Museum
The leisure of finding shade under the flames of empire is reflected in the work of Juan Luna in the 1880s. Juan Luna was a sensitive artist with ups and downs, his political views radical, but also fascinated by the "Belle Époque" and "Gilded Age" under the imperialist sun, his works presented the laziness, casualness, glitz of the late 19th century, and also brought the impressionist techniques that were popular in Europe at that time into Southeast Asian art.
The Lady of the Racecourse, Juan Luna, 1889, Collection of the Ayala Museum, Philippines
The Spanish Woman on the Balcony, Juan Luna, 1884, France, private collection
"Normandy Picnic" is the same as Monet's "Woman with an Umbrella", and "Street Florist" seems to be from Renoir's hand. The lonely and wandering woman in a café in "Life in Paris" is even reminiscent of Edward Hope of the United States.
The Street Florist, Juan Luna, 1885, Collection of the Lopez Museum, Philippines
Life in Paris, Juan Luna, 1892, National Museum of the Philippines
The artist also experimented with aestheticism and the pre-Raphael school. "The Lady of the Palace" is like Sir John Everett Millais's "Ophelia", the lying posture, the dreamy atmosphere, and the romance of the roses everywhere are all paying tribute to the predecessors.
The Lady of the Palace, Juan Luna, 1886, by Luis Ma. Araneta hides
By the time of the work "Pastoral Pastoral", Luna already had a taste of Art Nouveau, like a poster of Mucha. The girl wearing the garland is like the spring maiden in Mucha's "Four Seasons", which is beautiful and beautiful, and the interior design in "Nude Girl" has an exotic style and a decorative style.
Idilio (Idilio) Juan Luna, time unknown
, Juan Luna, 1885, Museum of the University of Victor Balaguer, Spain
Viewers can even taste the style of the American "Gilded Age" artist Sargent. Similar to Sargent, Luna painted portraits of many aristocratic women who were richly dressed, with exquisite details in their costumes, and had many records of fashion at the end of the century.
Portrait of the Marquise of Monte Olivar, Juan Luna, 1881
Juan Luna's work at this time was already at ease, full of elasticity, freely switching between various styles. "The Ship Continues to Sail" ("A Do... Va la Nave?" It is a rather stunning work of Impressionist art, with the title taken from a poem by a Spanish Romantic poet: Where are you going when the ship is drifting? The characters in the painting are free and lazy, postured and carefree, without a trace of fear of the endless vast sea, poetic idealism.
The Ship Continues to Sail, Juan Luna, 1885, Paris
Painters who are full of artistic imagination for women are too paranoid in reality. In 1892, an agitated artist suspected his wife of cheating, shot his wife and mother-in-law, and was imprisoned in a Paris prison. Although the Paris District Court eventually released him, Luna's European era came to an end, and he was greeted by a stormy homeland.
Portrait of Wife Paz Pardo de Tavera, Juan Luna
Revolutionary vernacular
After returning to the Philippines, Juan Luna began to explore localist art, using Impressionist techniques to create Works of Filipino themes, and his revolutionary feelings became increasingly radical, starting a life of ups and downs.
The 1895 work "Sullen and Unhappy" depicts a pair of Filipino lovers who are at odds with each other, men and women dressed in traditional Filipino costumes, gambling with each other on the balcony of a typical Large Filipino villa, which not only expresses the sadness of the painter's personal family life, but also conveys the fury that erupted in the Philippines before the storm of revolution.
"Stuffy and Unhappy", Juan Luna, 1895, in Rosalinda Orosa
When the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896, the Secret Revolutionary Society of Katipunan rebelled, and Jose Rizal was executed by the Spanish colonial authorities. Juan Luna was arrested and imprisoned for his involvement in the Katipunan Revolution.
Juan Luna's fencing school in the Philippines
The following year, Juan Luna was released and his brother remained in a political prison. To shelter from the wind, Juan Luna went to Madrid and, while leaving, created many paintings of indigenous themes for his family and hometown. He probably expected that he would henceforth bid farewell to his homeland and never return.
Portrait of Filomena Baltazar de Luna, Juan Luna, 1897, Collection of the Lopez Museum, Philippines
The portraits of women dressed in traditional Filipino costumes, although not as luxurious and beautiful as European portraits, are calm, classical, and simple, full of the calm beauty and tenacity of the East.
Nena and Tinita, Juan Luna, 1897, in the collection of Paulino and Hetty Que
The painter also turned his attention to working women, in the Philippines, a society that has not yet been conquered by industrialization and is in the simple Asian rice agriculture, women wearing bucket hats work and harvest in the rice fields, they are simple, quiet, moving, and show endless wisdom in ordinary life.
Harvesting Rice, Juan Luna, 1894-1896, National Museum of the Philippines
Landscapes of Harvest, Juan Luna, 1894-1896, Collection of the Ayala Museum, Philippines
In June 1898, the Philippines declared its independence from Spain and established the First Republic. Exiled Juan Luna, who was on a hurry between New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong for the infant republic, was appointed by the revolutionary government as a Philippine envoy abroad to mediate in the United States in the hope of winning American support for the First Republic of the Philippines.
Filipino Mixed-Race Woman, Juan Luna, 1887, Museum of the University of Victor Balaguer, Spain
Sadly, neither Spain nor the United States recognized the First Philippine Republic, even though the Spanish-American War between the two empires would soon begin. The Philippines, which tried to take advantage of the gaps in the contradictions of the empire to gain independence, only then did they understand the essence of imperialism, and no matter how many conflicts existed between the empires, their attitude on the colonial issue was always the same: to prevent the independence of the Philippines.
Flag of the Philippines, Juan Luna, 1894, National Library of the Philippines
After the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Juan Luna terminated his plan to visit the United States, went to Canada to meet the revolutionaries, and went to Austria to talk with pro-revolutionary scholars, but in the end he was only disappointed, and the weak people were powerless in the face of power.
During the trip, the painter learns that his sister died of illness, that his brother was killed in prison, and that Spain was defeated by the United States. The new American empire bought Philippine sovereignty for just $20 million, and the First Philippine Republic, which had survived for only a year, collapsed in an instant.
Juan Luna did not want to live in the Philippines under US imperialism, and he failed to leapfrog the old century and enter the new. In the last year of the old century, in 1899, when the United States was about to occupy the Philippines, his life came to an abrupt end in Hong Kong, and southeast Asian modern art was permanently sealed in the nineteenth century.