ART APPRECIATION

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FINAL REQUIREMENT

SUBMITTED TO: Prof. Patrice Joy S. Tabon

SUBMITTED BY:

Abe, Alexis P.

De Guzman, Justine E.

Eslava Carlo Jose R.

Guingab,Diana Iahhel A.

Igot, Raissa A.

Lim, Nethaniah Jan J.

Artwork: The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Artist: Carlos V. Francisco

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The art series- Carlos V. Francisco's The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Background of the art and artist.

“And to live we must go back to a bigger audience. For this it must have the power to

communicate and not repel. That is why I love to paint big murals for like a composer, I can

create a symphony from a history of our country or our own way of life." Letter of Botong to his

daughter, Carmen, March 5, 1968. The famous painter Carlos V. Francisco, born in November

04, 1912, was also referred to as “Botong Francisco” . He was an acclaimed mural artist from

Angono, Rizal. Just as how art can incite a big gush of emotions to the viewers, so was the size

Botong used for his art. Such a timely piece was his series The Progress of Medicine in the

Philippines which is why our group decided to pick this out of the others. For three decades he

has influenced and revived how mural paintings are to be appreciated. He was also linked to

other modernists and he was amongst the local art circle “The Triumvirate”.

True to his specialty , not only did he paint one, but four oil paintings on the theme The

Progress of Medicine in the Philippines which were commissioned for the main entrance hall of

the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) back in 1953. For over five decades, the painting was

hung at the entrance. But due to its location, it lacked recognition from art historians and scholar.

By the first decade of the 21st century, a joint project with financial aid of the US Department Of

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State through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has taken place. And The

Progress of Medicine in the Philippines, was nominated as A National Cultural Treasure. There

had been treatment of the painting for over 15 months in july 2006 and soon found it’s new home

in the National Museum on July 23, 2011.

Purpose of Art

The installation of “The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines” is a magnificent artwork by the

National Artist Carlo V. Francisco. It was commissioned by Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, director of

the National Museum, Dr. Agerico Sison, then director of Philippine General Hospital, and Dr.

Florentino Herrera Jr., and Dr. Constantino Manahan to Carlo Francisco and it was put in the

main entrance hall of Philippine General Hospital in 1953. The art was made by mural-like oil

paintings. This artwork is said to portray the history of the progress of medicine in the

Philippines which is represented in four parts. Every part of it is a transition of a major event that

happened in the history of medicine in the Philippines.

The first installation depicts the country’s practice of medicine in the pre-colonial period. It

shows the practice of what the townsfolk do in time of someone’s death. In particular, the

painting showed a babaylan. A mystical woman known as a babaylan acts as a link between the

physical world and the spiritual realm. It also displays additional customs like the offering of

animals and produce.

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The second installation depicts the country’s practice of medicine in the Spanish colonial period.

At that time missionaries, who are spiritual leaders, are the ones who use other medicinal

practices such as usage of plants as medicines. This is an entire shift to the last era’s spiritual

connection between life and death. While it depicts the Spanish colonial period in the

Philippines, it also noted the practices of our ancestors in those times. Such as midwives and

albularyos. It is evident that the Filipinos had their own beliefs regarding medical procedures

even during the Spanish colonial era.

The third installation shows how medicine was practiced in the nation during the American

colonial era. It demonstrates an improvement in medical professionals using methods more in

line with what is currently understood about medicine. In addition to nurses and doctors, they

also implemented cleanliness and conducted research on other medicinal plants that might be

utilized in the future, advancing the study of those plants and medicinal practices from the

previous era.

Sanitation played a big role in preventing at least the most common diseases at that time.

The fourth installation depicts the country’s practice of medicine as we know it today. It shows a

very updated healthcare system, A lot of doctors and a lot of new medicines that can help

everyone. Not only are there now doctors for all types of illness there are also doctors for

animals known as veterinarians in the painting.

The whole installation greatly showed just how far our medicinal history has become and what

had happened to reach it. Each era greatly improved compared to their predecessors. It has

become a reminder of how us humans will always evolve even in times of adversary. Seeing the

installation upfront was an entire experience in itself. The installation was massive and each one

depicted a story that unfolds right in front of your eyes. In my very own impression of it, it gave

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me a sense of hope. Practice of medicine is greatly needed way back then and until now. With the

situation of COVID Pandemic hitting the whole world I am reminded again that humans will

hope and our medicinal practices will cope as more and more different diseases hit us.

Weakness and Strength of Art

Like most of the arts, the painting The Progress of Medicine, was once structured weakly and

unstable which caused its surface to darkened and covered with thick layers of dust,smoke and

insect stains. The main reason for this is that the painting was once placed in a relative humidity

area in the entrance area of the Philippine General Hospital. The third and fourth painting have

holed and slash tears on its lower portion. The back of the painting was also attacked by

microorganisms like termites and other insect attacks. It didn't have much recognition when it

was in the hospital in which it didn’t receive any preservation and treatment which caused the

painting to be damaged and almost painted. But then, the National Museum wants to preserve

this kind of painting for its deeper meaning and uniqueness as it was also recorded to be one of

the largest paintings in the Philippines. The painting can also stand on it alone, though it was a

series of art, every single art has its own deeper meanings and message. Due to the following

reasons, the National Museum then gave recognition to this painting and took it to its new home

on September 21, 2011. After this event, the painting received lots of public and political

attention in which even the US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton personally took time

to personally visit The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines as it highlights the restoration and

preservation of Art. The painting has been to lots of catastrophes in which the Philippine

Government then learned their lesson on preserving and restoring such an important art like The

Progress of Medicine in the Philippines.

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Something needs to improve, or suggestions for the art

The art "The progress of the medicine in the Philippines by Carlos V Fransisco tackles a

series of the story where it was indeed amazing and creative. The art emphasizes the evolution of

medicine in the Philippines which means it says a lot of stories from its drawing to its very small

detail of things that can be seen inside the painting. There are four episodes of painting where

each of them uses great shapes and cubism, and Carlos maximizes the space of the painting to

express the story in a bigger picture, however, it is almost close to perfection where there is just

one thing that the researchers think that is missing in the painting. The timeline of the history of

medicine in the Philippines has been greatly used in this painting because it follows a pattern to

make it show a story but the evolution of the drug medicine itself doesn't show in the painting

except in painting number one, it is just more on the contributor but not the ‘’product’ of a

contributor and it doesn’t show things that are mainly used as the medicine itself. Yes, it is

evolving but the researchers could not find out what physical medicine looks like, especially in

the last episode of the painting where it is in a much more modern period than the other three

because it just only shows doctors and nurses helping each other. It doesn’t show the modern

look of Philippine medicine in the last 50 years such as the usage and effectiveness of Liquids,

Tablets, Capsules, Drops, Inhalers, Suppositories, and lastly the most important one the usage of

injections. If the painting tells also the evolution of the medicine product it must be great and it is

more interesting to know the effectiveness of each side of the story per episode of the painting.

On the other hand, the usage of art in the painting, since it was a mixture of cool and

warm colors with a dramatic tone it was impressive and creative however that there is something

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to improve on its vibrancy and texture because the colors cannot be seen clearly due to its

oldness, it was also restored 5 times, first was Tomas Bernardo restored the panels in 1974 and

1991. Its 2006 restoration was under Orlando Aninion's supervision and was funded by the US

Department of State’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. Aninion's team worked on

the restoration in 2006 and 2007, with conservation treatment activities including solubility

testing, facing and consolidation of paint layers, cleaning of surfaces and removal of old lining

and re-lining, removal of facing, surface dirt, and old varnish, grafting of holes and leveling

lacunae, and preliminary and final retouching. However, the researchers are seeking an

improvement for its vibrancy and textures because proper usage of vibrancy can make it more

appealing together with the proper usage of textures that can emboss the beauty of classic

imagery of painting "The progress of the medicine in the Philippines by Carlos V Fransisco. All

in all, it was Good, and the critiques appreciated his effort, passion, and the idea of the artwork.

Carlos V Fransisco was indeed a famous and creative painter in history of philippine art due to

its unique style of painting and proper usage of cubism.

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SUMMARY

The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines, consisting of four large-scale paintings that have

different representations of healing practices in the Philippines, was made by Carlos "Botong"

Francisco. It was hung at the entrance hall of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) for over

five decades. In the first decade of the 21st century, due to the lack of recognition from art

historians, the US Department of State has taken place through the Ambassador's Fund for

Cultural Preservation. The paintings were nominated as a National Cultural Treasure and were

moved to the National Museum after receiving conservation treatment.

The four large-scale paintings portray the history of the progress of medicine in the Philippines

starting in the pre-colonial period to the modern period. In the first installation, there is a

"babaylan" that acts as the link between the physical world and the spiritual realm. And in the

second installation, the term "babaylan" becomes missionaries. They are spiritual leaders that use

plants as medicines. In the third installation, which is the American colonial era, there were

already professionals. Proper and more advanced methods are already present in this period. And

in the last installation represents the medical practices that we have today.

The progress of medicine in the Philippines goes through a lot of catastrophes, from being hung

in a humid area, to restoration, and finally being preserved in a National Museum. These four

large-scale paintings really showed us how we evolve through different eras and give us hope,

especially these days when we are in the middle of a pandemic.

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Conclusion ( Why this art needs more recognition?)-carlo

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