Reaction Paper Savage: Juan Luna in Paris A Documentary by Howie Severino

MANALO, JUDITH G.
MMLS 1-2
REACTION PAPER
Savage: Juan Luna in Paris; a documentary by Howie Severino
Juan Luna, a Filipino painter, sculptor and an activist of the Philippines Revolution
during the late 19th century. He was also famous for bringing prestigious awards and fame
he brought to our country. His talent was extraordinary and no one can deny that, and
because of that he is considered the National Artist of the Philippines. But despite of his
talent and showing that Filipinos are not sauvage, he had so many issues that time
especially while he is living in Paris. A documentary of Howie Severino in I-Witness,
entitled ‘Savage: Juan Luna in Paris; a documentary by Howie Severino,’ explains a lot of
his controversies and issue.
Juan Luna as a painter impressed the world that we are as good as them. He is one
of our great heroes who took a stand in our country and he was the first Indio to show
Europe that our ancestors are no sauvages. He also proved that Filipinos were honorable
and capable. But in spite of his greatness, Juan Luna is an irritable person, he got angry
easily. His way of realizing his anger is by hurting and slapping his wife, Paz Pardo de
Tavera. He always lost his temper.
Juan Luna studied art in Spain but because of the politics and culture there was
conservative, he moved to Paris together with Rizal and his brother, Antonio in 1884. The
same year he won the gold medal in a prestigious competition in Spain, his largest and
most famous painting the “Spoliarium.” He again entered the Spoliarium in another
premier competition in Paris and was held inside the Grand Palais by the Societe des
Artistes Franaais. And once again, Luna won.
While living in Paris, Juan Luna’s art changed. From historical subjects, he then
also began to paint what he depicts or observed on the streets. Like the woman he saw in
the cafes where Luna with Rizal and Dr. Ariston Bautista are hanging out, he called his
work “The Parisian Life.” It is the second of the most famous work of Luna that It made
headlines in 2002 after it was bought by the GSIS in an auction in Hong Kong for 46
million pesos. There are many interpretations in the work of Luna “The Parisian Life” one
of them is the story that the woman in the café appears to be waiting to be picked up
because that was the situation of Paris at that time, people are so liberal that’s why many
Filipinos come to Paris because of opportunities to make a mark, to learn, to organize and
specially to womanize. In the first prediction, the girl in the painting was said to be a
prostitute waiting to be picked up. But there is this one face that makes an appearance
again and again in some of his paintings and said that the girl was not only a model in the
life of maestro. It is often mistaken that the girl in his painting is Paz but it is obvious that
it’s a different girl. The woman in the portrait which bears the title “Mi Novia” is a French
woman, Angela Douche, whom Luna called his number one model in his notebook. She is
also the woman in the work “The Parisian Life.” There is also no proof that Luna and the
girl has a relationship. But there is no question that Luna praised her beauty in his
notebooks.
Luna is married to Paz Pardo de Tavera. Aside from cafes, Lunas friends are also
hanging around in his house. In history, Rizal is known to have introduced Luna to the
Pardo de Taveras, a wealthy family from manila. Juan noted that he met someone
beautiful, the daughter of Pardo de Taveras. But Paz’s mother did not like Juan Luna, she
is against them. Paz’s mother, Juliana believe that they would encounter big problems.
Despite being a Spanish descent, the Pardo de Taveras were nationalist and were forced
to leave Philippines because of their activism.
Juan Luna’s wife, Paz had a difficult life with him. Her mother wanted to separate
her from Luna because she witnessed all the awful things that were happening to her
daughter, in her own house. One of the awful things that Luna did to her was hitting Paz
with his paint brush because of Paz bought lipstick to put some on. Despite of the
difficulty of Paz, their marriage lasted for years. They had two children, the eldest was
Andres and the youngest was Maria. But then maria died with unknown disease, the
couple started blaming each other that led to a tragedy.
Up until now, the descendants of Luna maintain a different version. They believed
that his wife was seeing a Frenchman and because of that, he wanted to separate from
her. They also believed that she hides her son to Luna in a room and due to his furious
temper, he banged on the door but it was locked and couldn’t open it and he was
shouting. Because of that, Luna picks up his pistol and shot the door knob to open it not
knowing that his wife and mother-in-law were on the other side. The shots went through
the door killing Paz and his mother-in-law. Luna was locked up in France, in Paris.
On the other side of the story of de Tavera, before the mother and daughter were
killed, Luna first shot Paz’s older brother Felix. Because of the shot, Paz’s mother heard it
she opened the door for her son. After she open the door, Juan held her and shot her in
front of the fireplace in the room. Paz was by the window, shouting for help. When Luna
went after her, and dragged her and all of that was witnessed by the son. This crime
happened on September 23, 1892. Luna was jailed immediately but was also freed on
February the following year. He spent less than six months in prison after he killed his
wife and mother-in-law.
Juan Luna, despite of being a murderer is still considered as one of the heroes who
protected and fight for our country. Some may say that it is injustice because he didn’t
suffer in a prison for so long and must not be considered as one of the National heroes.
But we can’t deny that he has a great contribution to elevate the dignity of our country.

Reaction Paper Savage: Juan Luna in Paris A Documentary by Howie Severino

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reaction Paper Savage: Juan Luna in Paris A Documentary by Howie Severino

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reaction Paper Savage: Juan Luna in Paris A Documentary by Howie Severino

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MANALO, JUDITH G.

You might also like