The Artistic Society of Friends

Intellectual and social currents in the founding of the first art academy
during the Spanish Colonial Period in the Philippines
Geronimo F. Cristobal, Jr.
Abstract
In 1823 the Sociedad Economica de los Amigos del Pais founded the
Academia Dibujo y Pintura, which absorbed the painting school in
Tondo initiated in 1821 by Damian Domingo (1796-1834). The fusion
became the first art academy in the colony and was a highly successful
endeavor. The school through many incarnations would become the
University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, now the oldest
running and premier institution for art education in the country. The
Academia serves as a case in illustrating the liberal agenda and
aspirations of the Sociedad Economica, composed mainly of nineteenth
century men of influence. Their participation in the propagation of art
and art education would prove to be an essential development in
Philippine art history, by serving as a cornerstone in the building of
"Filipino Art" and of "Filipino artists". The paper briefly discusses the life
of Domingo, a mestizo de sangley by his own claim, considered by art
historians as the Primer Pintor Filipino, and his successors: Agustin
Saez (1828-1891), Lorenzo Guerrero (1835-1904), Simon Flores (18391904), et al. who have carried on with his vision for an egalitarian art
academy in sync with the ideas championed by the Sociedad
Economica. The artists and the maestros who would inhabit the
Academia advanced the establishment of an artistic language that
would develop the culture of the nascent Filipino nation. This paper
analyzes the various accounts of the founding of the Academia in
relation to the activities of the Sociedad Economica mainly through the
archives of the Ministerio de Ultramar. A biographical catalog of
selected members of the Sociedad Economica is also presented. All
previous scholarship on the subject are consolidated and critically
examined, and the development of the 19th century Manila art scene
is traced from its earliest manifestations to its long-lasting influences.

Contact

Geronimo F. Cristobal, Jr.

University of the Philippines - Diliman
Tel. Nos. 2834412 / 09173574568