November's museum: National Museum of Fine Arts

We headed out this weekend with very little in mind for our museum trip. Rather a realization that November was coming to an end and we were running out of time if we wanted to follow through on our goal. So I went looking for a museum that was open on Sunday, and decided upon the National Museum. Turns out the National Museum has a couple of building, having taken over some of the old legislation sites in Manila. I decided upon the National Museum of Fine Arts for no real good reason except that it was there and I could find the name of it to look up when requesting a taxi. Needless to say I had no idea what we were getting into with a visit to this weekend. But hey, it is open, and as an added bonus is free to the public all the time.

Bright walls!

I was not prepared for the bright walls that greeted us as we explored the ground floor galleries. Although I suppose in some ways they helped to brighten up the sometimes dark 18th century paintings. I'll admit I wasn't all that into the painting that were on display. Although I did find it interesting to note that the portraits, at least, were of Filipino people, easily distinguishable as they wore the recognizable traditional pina fabric made partially out of pineapple fiber. I was also fascinated by the sculptures that were made from concrete, marble being too expensive or not available. To be honest though, I found myself more distracted by the bright walls than engaged in the paintings.

One of my favorite statues, although I don't think
this one was concrete.

So then we had to decide if it was worth heading upstairs to check out another level of galleries. We're here, might as well, right? I was relieved to find the work on this floor more colorful (and the walls less colorful) and modern, more to my taste. In fact I found some work by Vicente Silva Manansala, the National Artist for Painting in 1981, that I quite liked. Not only was the majority of his work of local scenes (landscapes, cock fights, religious ceremonies, etc) his use of color and shapes were quite appealing to me. 

Isda, The Philam Life Manansala Series (No 7)

All in all we spent about an hour and a half in the National Museum. It was worth a visit, especially if you enjoy old buildings. I particularly liked the stairwell near the entrance and the handles on the gallery doors reminding you that you were in the National Museum. All in all, a pretty good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.