To strengthen the goal of the Lopez Memorial Museum in preserving and promoting Philippine arts and letters,
the Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc. continues to publish Filipiniana material intended for scholars and the general public.
Its publications include the five-volume Philippine Insurrection Against the United States,
published in 1970 and the first important venture in this field;
Early Philippine Imprints in the Lopez Memorial Museum;
the five-volume Catalogue of Filipiniana Materials in the Lopez Memorial Museum;
A Guide to Luna and Hidalgo Paintings in the Lopez Memorial Museum;
Juan Luna: The Filipino as Painter;
the two-volume The Complete Writings of Dr. Eduardo A. Quisumbing on Philippine Orchids;
the first four books of The Lopez Family;
the two-volume Orchidiana Philippiniana;
Philippine Rariora;
Sanso: Art Quest Between Two Worlds;
Manansala Nudes;
Fernando Zobel and Amorsolo Drawings.
The Foundation's most recent project was the book, Hidalgo and the Generation of 1872 by Alredo Roces. Publication of this book marked the Foundation's contribution to and commemoration of the Philippine Centennial (1898-1998)
On occasion, an artist happens to become very much part of his times, a character
on a stage caught up in the rush of events during which a chapter in the history of a nation
is played out. Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo was one such artist. Born in Binondo, Manila in 1853,
young Felix was a victim of events that culminated in the purge against reformists in 1872, and as well
as a participant in the nationalist ferment generated by the young Ilustrados who
in the 1880s gained their tertiary education in Europe. Among his close friends were national martyr
Jose Rizal and the fiery painter Juan Luna.
Contrary to current attitudes of contemporary historians whp have popularized the
theory that the Ilustrado "betrayed" the nation to preserve their material status and that the
masses were the only true patriots, painter-writer Alfredo Roces, lucidly presents historical
evidence and fascinating narrative to piece together the image of the Ilustrado, shaped by the trauma
of 1872, as patriot and nationalist.
Here, in an original and fresh viewpoint, it is the dramatic account of Hidalgo and those magnificent
Filipinos who triumphed in Europe in the late nineteenth century, and whose exemplary artistic, literary
and nationalist feats remain unsurpassed a century later.
Alfredo Roces, a BFA graduate from the University of Notre Dame in the USA, has gained acclaim both in painting- Artist of the Year (Art Association of the Philippines) (AAP) 1975; Grand Prize 25th Annual Show (AAP) 1972, and in writing- TOYM 1961. CCMM Columnist of the Year. He is listed in the 10th edition of International Authors and Writers Who's Who published in Cambridge, England (1986).
Roces wrote the ground-breaking monograph on the painter Fernando Amorsolo in 1975 and was the prime mover and editor-in-chief of Filipino Heritage, the 10-volume study on Philippine culture and history published in 1978. Since 1977, Roces has made Sydney, Australia his base where he served as editor-in-chief of Geo, Australasia's geographical magazine.
His latest freelance projects include: a contemporary monograph on the late National Artist Cesar Legaspi which won the 1994 Art Book of the Year Award, an art biography on the sculptor Eduardo Castillo, (1995) and an international photographic publishing project entitled The Philippines, A Journey Through the Archipelago, where Roces served as editorial consultant.
An artist himself, one who prefers, as in this case, to do his own book design, Roces brings a concerned artist's insight in his simply written, sensitive and well-crafted portraiture of a Filipino artist.
Dick Baldovino is a key figure in the field of photography in the Philippines. Baldovino's successful career as a free-lance photographer was launched in the 1960 when he tackled photographic assignments for weekly Philippine newspaper magazines-This Week, (Manila Chronicle), The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Times, and the Philippine Herald. IN 1963 he achieved the distinction of being the first Filipino photo-journalist hired by Asia Week, (a Hongkong-based publication) to cover photo assignments in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, India, Australia, Canada, Guam and Hawaii. Three years later, he received the supreme accolade of a photo journalist when his photo essay of a religious sect in the Philippines was included in the prestigious Penrose Annual.
Baldovino has diversified into other fields of photography and has become a by-word in advertising photography, still film photography for National Artist Gerry de Leon, and in photography for book publications. The long list of books showcasing Baldovino's photography include, Art Philippines, Flora de Filipinas, Kayamanan Book of Paintings, Kayamanan Book of Philippine Jewelry, Legaspi-The Making of a National Artist and Breaking Out: An Eduardo Castrillo Sculptural Tour.
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Lopez Memorial Museum » The Lopez Reader: Hidalgo and The Generation of 1872 by Alfredo Roces
