II PHILIPPINES AND PARIS EXPOSITIONS

II

PHILIPPINES AND PARIS EXPOSITIONS

Paris has been the host of many expositions. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Paris hosted six editions of the Exposition Universelle (World Exposition)12 and one Exposition Coloniale Internationale (International Colonial Exhibition).13 These expositions marked milestones in technology, culture, and aimed to improve understanding between nations.

The Philippines participated in the 1867, 1878, and 1889 expositions in Paris under Spain, and under the United States, during the International Colonial Exhibition in 1931. In these expositions, the Philippines was represented by various provinces, universities, religious groups, companies and private individuals. Products exhibited included different types of wood, agricultural products, shell craft, cigars, liquor, fabrics, perfumes, oils, native hats and bags, and even plans for a country house near Manila. Philippine agricultural products were singled out for awards during these expositions.14

Paris was similarly the site of the Salon de Paris. Organized by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the Salon de Paris showcased the works of selected artists from around the world.15 Often, it coincided with the holding of the World Exposition.

THE WORLD EXPOSITION AND saloN dE ParIs OF 1889

Philippine participation in the 1889 World Exposition and the Salon de Paris was a landmark one with leading Filipino intellectuals, artists, and businessmen of that period coming together and representing the Philippines.

Some of the more notable Philippine exhibitors during this exposition were: the Cámara de Comercio de Manila (Chamber of Commerce of Manila), which exhibited agricultural products that

Figure 200. The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World Exposition. The Palais du Trocadéro can be seen in the background. The 1889 World Exposition would occupy the entire area pictured. (Postcard)

won the Bronze and Gold awards;16 and, Ayala y Cía,17 which won the Grand Prize for its exhibit of alcohols produced by its Destilería Ayala. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, who was the representative of the Chamber of Commerce, exhibited coffee and cacao products which also won the Bronze Prize in their respective categories.18

Leading Filipino painters and artists of the time, Juan Luna, Félix Resurección Hidalgo, and Félix Pardo de Tavera19 exhibited their artworks at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts at the Palais du Champ de Mars located in the World Exposition grounds. Luna exhibited five oil paintings—the Fiesta de Himeneo (“Hymen, oh Hyménée I”), Retrato de las señora M.P. y L., Bacante, La modelo, and Paisaje. Hidalgo exhibited the El Aquéron (La Barca de Aqueronte)20 and Rêverie while Tavera exhibited a terracotta bust of Miguel López de Legazpi, the first Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines and a cast statue entitled Pensive.21

At the same time, the Salon de Paris22 exhibited Luna’s La Chula and Félix Pardo de Tavera’s plaster busts entitled Portrait of Lulin and Mlle Th... (sic).23 Three years earlier, in 1886, Luna exhibited Spoliarium at the Salon de Paris and was awarded the bronze medal.

Figure 201. Félix Resurección Hidalgo’s La Barca de Aqueronte (Lopez Museum)

Figure 202. Extract from the Catalogue illustré of the Salon 1889 showing the name “Rizal”

But what is perhaps the most important and least known fact in the history of Philippine participation to the Paris expositions and salons is that the Philippine national hero, José Rizal, joined Luna24 and Pardo de Tavera in the list of Filipinos who exhibited in the highly coveted Salon de Paris in 1889.

In a letter to his family, Rizal writes “I made a bust that I will exhibit at the Salon de Paris. I have been fortunate to have been accepted. People say that is it very difficult for foreigners to be accepted, and that there were two other Filipinos who were initially declined but later accepted.”25 In another letter, this time addressed to his friend, Fernando Canon,26 Rizal explains that the “affairs of the Salon in which I exhibited a bust, and other little pursuits...have not left me a free moment for friendly conversation with you.”27

The Catalogue illustré of the Salon 1889 confirms that a “Rizal (F.)” exhibited a plaster bust of “Monsieur le Dr. P. de Favera.” One can surmise that given the evidence, the “F” in both Rizal’s name and in Favera’s were likely printing errors as the J. in Rizal’s signature can easily be mistaken as F. The bust that Rizal exhibited is most likely that of Dr.Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera.28

Figure 204. José Rizal (center) with Juan Luna's (left), family and friends who attended the World Exposition (Pardo de Tavera Library and Special Collections, Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila University)

Rizal was in Paris from March 1889 to January 1890 and found time to visit the World Exposition frequently. He enthusiastically wrote to his friends to come to Paris to view what was “truly an exposition.”29 Rizal visited the exposition together with Luna, Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Valentin Ventura, Justo Trinidad, and Ramon Abarca.30 Describing the exposition to his family, Rizal wrote that the exposition attracted many people to Paris and that from the Philippines alone, he knew about a hundred of them.31

INTERNATIONAL COLONIAL EXPOSITION OF 1931

Figure 205. The Palais du Trocadéro and the country pavilions during the 1931 International Colonial Exposition. (Postcard)

After 1889, the Philippines returned to Paris during the International Colonial Exposition of 1931. The Philippine pavilion was billed as a masterpiece by the French media.32 Outwardly, the building was a simple wood frame building. But, as soon as one entered the thirty meters long and twelve meters wide pavilion, the history of the islands from 1521 up to the American period was presented through a collection of art, food and fashion of the past four hundred years.

Figure 206. Le Petit Journal article on the Philippine Pavilion citing it as a masterpiece, 25 August 1931.

Figure 207. Philippine Pavilion at the International Colonial Exhibition of 1931 (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée)

The highlights of the pavilion were the large frescoes that covered its walls. Painted by Fabián de la Rosa, then Director of the School of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines, and Fernando Amorsolo, the frescoes were rendered with as much simplicity as with talent.

Fabián de la Rosa, who had studied at the Académie Julien in Paris,33 was by then already known in the French art world having participated at the Salon des Artistes Français for several years. He was acknowledged as a master, particularly of portraits. He was the mentor of Amorsolo who would later become the Philippines’ national artist in painting.

The 1889 and 1931 expositions and salons are just but two occasions where Filipino artistry, talent and creativity were showcased in France. Fast forward to the 21st century, Filipinos continue to exhibit these same characteristics and achieve recognition in various expositions in France.