A Pair of Indigenous Filipino Portraits by F. O. Tanglao

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One might reasonably ask: What were the 16th-century Spanish colonizers thinking when they took on the conquest of the Philippines? … Read more One might reasonably ask: What were the 16th-century Spanish colonizers thinking when they took on the conquest of the Philippines? The archipelago nation is comprised of 7,641 islands, certainly more than in Spain or anyplace else they conquered in North or South America. A geographic nightmare for efficient administration. Yet, the resulting isolation enabled more than 110 ethnolinguistic groups of indigenous people to maintain a connection to their ancestral traditions to this day. With this pair of portraits, Filipino artist F. O. Tanglao focused on two young people fully exhibiting the beauty and dignity of one such native culture. Perhaps it was one man’s way of peeling back the Spanish cultural overlay to rediscover the country’s own cultural expression after the nightmare of World War II.
Tanglao had first come to recognition in 1956, the year he produced these paintings, for his work with fellow Filipino artist Salvador Perea illustrating "What's Cooking in Subic," a notable Filipino cookbook. Living in central Luzon’s Pampanga, an area famous for its sophisticated culinary industry, the artist’s focus on the subject was a natural. According to labels on the verso of these two pieces, he also operated a store at the time, Tanglao’s Woodcarving Shop, which likely sold his works recalling the Philippines’ historic motifs in other mediums. Think what this handsome pair might do for your gray walls. See less