was founded on 13 February 1960 by Don Eugenio Lopez, Sr. in
honor of his parents, Benito Lopez and Presentacion Hofileņa. Don Eugenio built the museum in order to
provide scholars and students access to his personal collection of rare Filipiniana books, manuscripts, maps, archaeological artifacts, and fine art.
he museum's art galleries house paintings by 19th century Filipino masters, Juan Luna y Novicio and Felix
Resurreccion Hidalgo. Luna and Hidalgo both garnered honors for their country when the paintings they submitted to the 1884 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid won the Filipino some international recognition in the field of fine arts.
he galleries also house selected works by 20th century National Artist, Fernando Amorsolo, who gained prominence during the early Thirties and Forties as the painter who popularized the era's rustic Philippine landscape and the lovely dalagang Filipina. Throughout the years, the museum has acquired paintings by many of the country's National Artists including Botong Francisco, Vicente Manansala, H.R. Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, and Arturo Luz. Important artists such as Fernando Zobel, Nena Saguil, Juvenal Sanso, Macario Vitalis, Jose Joya
And Romeo Tabuena are also represented in the museum's ever expanding collection. The museum is equally proud of its largely under-rated pieces from Juan Arellano and Dominador Castaņeda.
mong the museum's other treasures is an initial collection of 14th and 15th century artifacts recovered in the Calatagan burial sites. The Calatagan excavations opened new areas of study on the culture and civilization of the early Filipinos. The museum's share in the diggings which Don Eugenio financed consists chiefly of porcelain of Chinese origin, Filipino earthenware, beads and a few Annamese and Siamese pieces.
he library has a collection of over 13,000 Filipiniana titles, constantly enriched by new acquisitions. Its rare Philippine imprints date from early 17th century - the oldest being a unique copy of the Belarmin-Lopez Doctrina in Ilocano (Manila, 1620). Among the other rare books and manuscripts displayed are works by such eminent printers as Tomas Pinpin, Raymundo Magysa, Nicolas Cruz Bagay, Laureano Atlas and Juan Correa. The earliest book in the library is the third edition (Rome, 1524) of De Moluccis Insulis, by Maximilianus Transylvanus, which has the first printed account of Magellan's voyage to the Philippines. Another important book in the Lopez collection is the famous Relacion de la Islas Filipinas by the Jesuit Pedro Chirino (Rome, 1604). The library also has extensive holdings on books of the Spanish and early American period. To these are added periodicals (such as The Tribune), photo albums of the Philippine flora, fauna, Philippine urban and rural environs, and microfilms of manuscripts and the like.
o strengthen the goal of the Lopez Memorial Museum in preserving and promoting Philippine arts and letters, the Eugenio Lopez Foundation continues to publish Filipiniana material intended for scholars and the general public.
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Lopez Memorial Museum » Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc. : About the Lopez Museum
The Lopez Memorial Museum is open to all students, art lovers, Filipiniana scholars and researchers who wish to discover their heritage and maintain a pride in being Filipino.
