Filipino artists find grit and growth in Madrid museums

When visiting Madrid as a Filipino art enthusiast, among the must-do’s is to look for the works of Filipino artists on display at the Spanish capital’s world-renowned museums.

Over at Prado, the main Spanish national art museum in central Madrid, in a sea of Juans, none of Filipino National Artist Juan Luna’s works was spotted, although a staff confirmed that they have one in possession and was just not on display during our visit.

Through grit, however, you might find Filipino painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s small painting simply titled “Landscape,” which prominently features the Fiipino bahay kubo in a provincial setting.

To strengthen their classical painting skills, Luna and Hidalgo studied at Madrid’s Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where the prominent Spanish-Fiipino artist on display is Fernando Zobel de Ayala, whose 1984 “A Dialogue with Thomas Eakins” painting is also included in the museum’s official book.