The Patrimony of All: Paintings from the Lopez Museum and Library Collection

The Patrimony of All (Ang Panublion Sang Tanan): Paintings from the Lopez Museum and Library Collection is currently on exhibit at the Performing Arts Hall, Museum of Art and Cultural Heritage at the University of the Philippine in the Visayas until April 25, 2025. 

Featuring 16 masterpieces from renowned Filipino masters Juan Luna, Felix Resurrection Hidalgo, Fernando Amorsolo and Juan Arellano, the exhibit gives Ilonggos the rare privilege of seeing up close the works in a thematic quadrant of "In Light of Country" by Arellano; "Myth and History" by Hidalgo; "Dream and Daily Life" by Luna and "Kin in Place" by Amorsolo. Notably, the exhibition is housed at the historical main building of UP in the Visayas designed by the architect and painter himself Juan Arellano way back in 1935. Built in neo-classical style, the building is but a fitting, glorious temporary repository of the collection which is a loan from the Lopez Museum and Library. It is the first time that this collection is brought outside of Manila to Iloilo City, hometown of the illustrious Lopez clan. 

In his curator notes,  Patrick Flores writes, "Inspired by the words of the quintessential hero Jose Rizal, the exhibition lives by the promise  of the Filipino artistic talent being the 'patrimony of all.' Rizal exalted Luna and Hidalgo in Madrid in 1884 when both painters were conferred high honors at an internal exposition. 'Genius knows no country,'Rizal exclaimed; it is the inheritance of everyone, present in nature and birthright of both people and homeland deserving the fullness of freedom."

My favorite in the collection would have to be the idyllic and bucolic works of Fernando Amorsolo as I love themes of dreamy, provincial and family life. I always consider art viewing as a spiritual awakening of sorts when faced with artistic genius, one is jolted out of the prosaic monotony of life and pulled to a sublime and unknown force. Basking in this artistic inheritance of the masters is something not to be missed.