Unknown and lost forever: Juan Luna's prison wall paintings (1896-1897)

Paintings of Juan Luna in his prison cell at the military barracks in Manila as 

photographed by M. Arias y Rodriguez, which appeared in the 06 August 1900 

issue of La Ilustracion Artistica.

Political prisoner Juan Luna was locked in a dungeon in the ground floor of the cavalry barracks, "leaving him completely incommunicado," according to Manuel Arias y Rodriguez. The famous Spoliarium artist was arrested on 23 October 1896"for having been implicated in the Philippine insurrection against Spain."

He was writing about Luna's paintings on his prison walls in the 06 August 1900 issue of La Ilustracion Artistica, a weekly journal published in Barcelona.

M, Arias y Rodriguez (1850-1924) is well-known for his photograph of Jose Rizal's execution on December 30, 1896. He was, in a way, a war correspondent, a photo journalist, of La Ilustracion Artistica, Said to be sympathetic to the Philippine revolution against Spain, he sent his photographs of the Filipino insurrectos to the Barcelona journal; he also covered the Spanish side of the war.

How did the famous painter of the Spoliarium get to paint while in confinement until he was pardoned and set free on 27 May 1897?

Apparently, he was privileged to be supplied of  "books, colors and brushes" and thus, "for his pastime or leisure, [Luna] adorned the rough walls of the so-called dungeon with his works."

Arias y Rodriguez said that when Luna was released, he asked permission and was allowed by the head of the cavalry squadron to photograph the wall paintings. 

He described Luna's prison cell: "The dungeon consisted of a small room about three meters long by two and a half wide: a meter from the floor was a wooden floorboard that occupied the entire cell to avoid the high humidity of the floor, located at a level lower than the patio. In front of the front door there was a square window with light iron bars. The half-bleached walls had an unequal surface, almost like a rough stone, and the innumerable holes and cracks on them showed that they had not been repaired for a long time." 

He noted that "[s]ince this room had served as a dungeon for classes and soldiers, one could see in them some of those crude drawings that are usually found in such places, among which are the ones done by the aforementioned Filipino artist, which stand out."

The "ones done" by detainee Juan Luna were on the right and left walls. 

What Arias y Rodriguez sent to La Ilustracion Artistica was the picture of the left wall paintings comprising various images like a clock marking the hour when he was arrested (Luna brought the clock with him), an imitation of a bas-relief, a portrait of a stranger, a little girl and Sarah Bernhardt (a popular concert artist of that time).

We can imagine what was on the right wall, which Arias y Rodriguez described as consisting of several figures including a wall calendar with the date when Luna was arrested, and the seal of the Customs of Manila for the dispatch of packages.

The walls tumbled down from the bombs of the Second World War, and the paintings were lost forever.

Unlike Luna's prison paintings, the art works produced by political detainees of recent memory--the Martial Law years, for example--were expressions of their advocacy and insurrection against the dictatorial regime of Marcos, and the continuing repression of political action after the EDSA revolution.

P.S. Juan Luna went back to Spain after his release from his dungeon at the military barracks. When he learned of the assassination of his brother Antonio by Aguinaldo's men in June 1899, he decided to come back. But on his way home, he had a heart attack in Hong Kong on 7 December that same year.

References:

• Juan Luna prison wall painting. 1900 August 06. La Ilustracion Artistica. 19:971 (512, 518). Retrieved from Hemeroteca Digital, Biblioteca Nacional de Espana at  http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0005530609 

• Agencia Editorial. Manuel Arias y Rodriguez. Retrieved from http://www.nigelgooding.co.uk/Spanish/Business%20Firms/Agencia%20Editorial/AgenciaEditorial.pdf

Juan Luna's 'Death of Cleopatra' (1881) goes to Singapore

As first seen at the Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1881.
Source: La Ilustracion espanola y americana (30 June 1881)

News photo of La Muerte after 136 years.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer (16 November 2017)

Famous Filipino artist Juan Luna was first noticed in Spain because of his work La Muerte de Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra), competition entry number 379 in the Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid that opened on 18 May 1881.

This historical painting was awarded a silver medal but it has never been seen again. The Museo Nacional del Prado kept it for 136 years. Luna fans will have to fly to Singapore to see it on exhibit at the National Gallery Singapore from 16 November 2017 until 11 March next year.

We first saw the news photo reproduction of La Muerte painting in the 30 June 1881 issue of La Ilustracion espanola y americana, a Madrid magazine, and read a review of it and other paintings in the Madrid exposition in the 22 June issue.

The reviewer said that Luna's work, which was in the fourth exhibition sala, caught the fixed attention of viewers; and he called the newcomer in the Spanish art circle as "energetic, frank, brilliant."

"The subject of the painting," he wrote, "is the death of that queen of Egypt whom Horace called the fatal monster, and Virgil a cursed woman; that one which Michelet said does not deserve mercy or admiration. .. In golden bed lies the corpse of Cleopatra, adorned with pharaonic magnificence; the slave Iras, also dead, is in front of the bed; the black slave Charmion, who has just placed the royal crown on her lady's head, falling at that moment, as if struck by lightning." The venomous asp had just done its job.

There is something missing, he added. And he took it from Plutarch: the emissaries of Octavio who were able to enter the mausoleum where "Caesar's and Anthony's mistress" and her slaves locked themselves in. One of the emissaries was supposed to have shouted to Charmion that Cleopatra does not deserve the crown, but the slave shouted back that she's most worthy of it, being the daughter of kings.

In the composition, the reviewer said, "one can see the faithful Charmion falling to the ground but you can not see or even guess that there were Roman intruders.

He noted that the many exuberant details on the canvas, and even the beautiful background, greatly distracted from the main theme of the work.

He concluded, however, that the painter is a promising luminary in the Spanish art scene.

Juan Luna would make a bigger splash in the Spanish media in 1884: the highest honor and praises his Spolarium gained, two news magazines having him in their covers, with one of the cover stories written by his friend Jose Rizal. In later years, reproductions of his works were featured including the paintings he did on the prison walls when he was incarcerated for rebellion in Manila. 

References:

1. Review of La Muerte in La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana. 25:23(406). 22 June1881. 
2. Painting reproduction in La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana. 25:24(415). 30 June 1881.

Women in the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Class of 2017

Sandiglayan 2017 in parade formation.

The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) Class of 2017 is still male-dominated: of the 216 graduates, 17 are women. They received their Bachelor of Science degrees in Marine Transport (BSMT) and Marine Engineering (BSMarE) during the 196th Commencement Exercises at the Academy grounds in San Narciso, Zambales on 06 July 2017.

Two women graduated BSMarE cum laude: Kim Melody B. Canet and Agiebel P. Dulatre.

Of the 17 women, seven (7) were in the marine transport, and ten (10) in the marine engineering, degree programs.

The women among the 91 BSMT graduates were Bernadette S. Addun, Karen G. Alcoser, Shaira Marie D. Alzate, Maria Theressa D. Cabrera, Francine Gyneth P. Galino, Christine N. Genotiva and Charlotte S. Pelaez. Cabrera received an efficiency medal from the Department of Naval Science and Tactics.

And the women among the 125 BSMarE graduates were Mira Liza Balabag, Evan Royce A. Bautista, Theya Marie A. Bumanglag, Rizza Mae D. Cabrera, Chinnie Lhen I. Calba, Kim Melody B. Canet, Agiebel P. Dulatre, Kloise Floreca C. Opena, Zaira Margarette M. Rubia and Hazel Gayodan Tallongan. 

Zaira Margarette Rubia receiving the Philippine Coast Guard Sword.

Canet and Rubia were in the Top 10 in the MarE program. Rubia was the most awarded of this batch of women graduates. She was presented the Philippine Coast Guard Sword, the 'Iron Woman' award from the Department of Naval Science and Tactics, and Leadership and Discipline Medals from the Department of Midshipmen Affairs.

This is the 10th year ever since PMMA accepted women into the long blue line in 1997. Of the women graduates since then, two graduated valedictorian and magna cum laude of their respective classes: the first, Zulaika Mariano Calibjo in 2006,  and the second, Laarni Grace Pangilinan in 2014.

This year's batch named their class Sandiglayan, which means "Samahan ng Mandirigma at Manlalakbay ng Karagatan sa Kaunlaran ng Bayan."

Razor Dave C. Samortin, BSMT, magna cum laude, in his valedictory address, profusely thanked, on behalf of his classmates, their families and the Academy for their support and guidance as they sailed the course in the academy, and invoked courage when they face the rough seas in their chosen fields. Arjan Lyndl E. Flores regaled everyone when he recounted how he became stronger by overcoming his academic failures, and thus succeeded to earn the distinction of being 'Anchorman,' the guy with the lowest weighted average grade in their class. 

Samortin, Flores and their classmates entered the Academy through a rigid selection process. PMMA says that about 5% of around 6,500 applicants from all over the country pass the screening and get accepted as midshipmen in two academic programs of their choice: marine transport and marine engineering.

Eight of the 17 women members of Sandiglayan 2017.

Sandiglayan had four-year residency courses: the first, second and fourth years for academic studies on campus, and the third for a one-year internship training as deck or engine cadets on board commercial vessels plying the international ocean lanes. The fourth, the graduation year, is the professional stage where they learn the additional knowledge and skills to qualify as third mates and fourth marine engineers.

They were all government scholars who enjoyed free tuition, board and lodging, and an assured shipboard training on board international vessels with stipend. 

The famous painter Juan Luna y Novicio of Spoliarium fame preceded Sandiglayan by 143 years. He was 17 when he graduated Piloto de Altos Mares (Pilot of the High Seas) from the Escuela de Nautica de Manila in 1874. 

The Escuela was established in 1820 and through the years evolved into the PMMA as we know today.

After sailing for thirty months, Luna quit seafaring, even if he was called el marino atrevido (the daring seaman) by his shipmates, and went to study fine arts.

In the case of Sandiglayan, three career paths were opened for them: enlisting with Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard, and joining the Merchant Marine.

The PMMA stamp virtually assures them 100% employability with  immediate hiring by more than 30 partner international and manning companies of the Academy. Their promising careers include being master mariners, chief engineers, shipping executives, naval or coast guard officers, educators, trainers in maritime-related industries/institutions, etc.

The Philippine Coast Guard has already inducted 22 of Sandiglayan Class earlier on 03 July 2017 as Probationary Ensign, two of them are women. 

Valedictorian Samortin and Anchorman Flores are now P/ENS of the Philippine Navy.

"Our graduates," VAdm Richard Ritual, PMMA Superintendent, said, "constantly serve as Ambassadors of Goodwill, for they circle the different parts of the globe on board various international seagoing vessels bringing with them the positive tenets inculcated upon them during their Academy days: Kawastuhan, Kababaang-loob, Kagitingan (Righteousness, Humility, Courage)."

Sandiglayan tossing their caps in the air after the ceremonies.

Juan Luna, cover boy of Ilustracion Artistica

Three days before his 27th birthday, Juan Luna was cover boy of the 20 October 1884 issue of La Ilustracion Artistica, a weekly newspaper on literature, arts and science published in Barcelona, The cover story gave a brief biography of the artist and dwelt lenghtily on the Spoliarium, his large painting that won the 'primer premio' (gold medal) in the Exposición de Bellas Artes (Exhibition of Fine Arts) in Madrid.

The story described Luna as a 17-year old boy who received the title of Piloto de Altos Mares (Pilot of the High Seas) from the Escuela de Nautica de Manila in 1874. He boarded a ship shortly after graduation, starting his career as a beardless boy, according to the story, and sailed for thirty months. His shipmates called him el marino atrevido, the daring sailor.

During those thirty months, he had as much time to study the sky, according to the story, and probably to think about new ideas of securing a bright future. Here's how Ilustracion depicted Luna's predicament out there at sea  --

"Who knows ... Maybe in the imposing solitude of the sea, in one of those times when there is no way to avoid nostalgia, in which one yearns for something unknown and the heart struggles to get out of the chest as the prisoner struggles to leave the prison, as the bird struggles to get out of the cage, our young man was fixed on a star; and the wind that rippled the surface of the waters whispered in his ear unexpected revelations, mysterious words that no one pronounces and yet distinctly resonate in the soul of the preordained. Those words are also like those heard by Saul on the road to Damascus and Augustine on African soil; inspiration from on high that puts the powerful genius to go in reverse what he begun on the journey of life."

All it wanted to say was that Luna changed his mind about his career. For as soon as he had landed, and he was turning twenty years old, he entered the Academia de Bellas Artes in Manila 'with the intent of studying drawing.'  He was, according to the story, tested soon. He got affected by the dismissal of one of the directors, who was deemed inept or not fully qualified by the rest of the school directors.

Luna transferred to another school, and as Ilustracion said:

"Who was daring at sea should not, on the ground, easily give up a pawn: D. Lorenzo Guerrero, a professor as modest and as intelligent, admitted Luna to his Academia India, and discovering in this already big student truly exceptional qualities, he advised his parents to send him to Madrid, where he met the renowned painter D. Alejo Vera, a skilled teacher and a friend, more than a friend, almost a father. It is not therefore surprising that when Vera transferred to Rome, he took with him his fond disciple. This was in 1878; a year before he begun in the first rudiments of drawing; three years later. he won the second medal in the Madrid Exposition of 1881, with the painting "Muerte de Cleopatra." The new artist started his career rather late, but as if to make up for the lost time, he had to catch up. In three years, he had leveled with good painters; in another three (1884), he has taken place among the great masters.".

The Spoliarium was a supplement, a two-page spread, in the La Ilustracion Artistica. 

.

That same issue had for its supplement a two-page spread of the painting of fallen gladiators being hauled away after the bloody sports competition in the Roman arena.

Five months earlier, the cover of  the 30 May 1884 issue of La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana, a weekly newspaper published in Madrid, also showed the Spoliarium: how it was displayed at a Exposicion gallery with a small crowd of viewers, who could have been discussing about its merits and rating it among the other competing entries.

Spoliarium at the Exposition

Luna's works actually started getting the attention of these two weekly newspapers as early as 1881. La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana featured a one-page spread of his Muerte de Cleopatra, which he entered in the Exposicion de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1881. The reporter on the exhibits noted that with better composition and careful drawing, Luna, without doubt, would shine in Spanish contemporary art.

In our latest survey, the last appearance of a Luna painting was in the 27 January 1896 issue of La Ilustracion Artistica: the painting titled El Trapero [The Ragman or Ragpicker].  The write-up said that "this simple composition has enough elements to show the characteristic qualities of  the painter's works, among which undoubtedly stands out the vigor of his drawing and brushwork, revealing a fiery temperament and a lively imagination." 

El Trapero.

In that span of fifteen years, several of Luna's work were played up in both Ilustracion newspapers. Except that of the masterpiece Spoliarium, a short write-up accompanied each featured painting.

Pictures of the following Luna paintings appeared in La Illustracion Artistica of Barcelona:

1.  Mujeres Romanas was the supplement (two-page spread) in the 25 February1884 issue; 

2. La Belleza Feliz y La Esclava Ciega occupied one whole page in the 14 March 1887 issue; 

3. El Babieca was on the cover of the 02 April1888 issue; 

El Babieca.

4.  La Mestiza, which won a diploma of honor in the 1887 Exposition in Madrid, was in the 28 May 1888 issue; 

5. Ensuenos de Amor, his entry to the Universal Exposition of 1888 in Paris, appeared in the 25 June 1888 issue; and  

Pueblos y Reyes

6.  Pueblos y Reyes was fearured in the 21 May 1894 issue.  The accompanying short article said that this was a controversial piece in the 1892 Exposicion Nacional but it deserved the applause accorded to it and the painter. It was described as a "large canvas [that] can be appreciated as a great sketch pictorially; but the conception, movement and action of the figures, the whole ensemble energetically portrays a moment, a violent and brutal deed, the orgy of a popular uprising." 

The popular painting España Guiando a Las Islas Filipinas por el Camino del Progreso was featured in the 08 January 1889 issue of  La Ilustracion Española y Americana of Madrid.  A version of this can be viewed at the Lopez Museum and Library.

Spain guiding the Philippines

Luna killed his wife and mother-in-law in September 1892. We have yet to see if a French newspaper had a story about this incident and his acquittal later. It appears that this did not affect the appreciation of the culturati of Spain of Juan Luna's masterful paintings. His works still got publicity after 1892.

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Note:

All images in this blog are from the digital collection of the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana. The Ilustacion newspapers can be accessed from the Search box of the Biblioteca webpage: http://www.bne.es/es/Catalogos/BibliotecaDigitalHispanica/Inicio/index.html

Juan Luna's "A Do Va Nave?"sold for Php40-M ... is this the original?

The photo-engraving of the Luna painting published in the 31 May 1886 issue of Ilustracion Artistca. 
The title in the caption: "A DO VA NAVE? ... QUIEN SABE DO  VA!

The painting came all the way from Argentina. It was sold by Salcedo Auctions at Php40-million. 

A phone-in bidder clenched Juan Luna's "A Do Va Nave?" oil painting from Salcedo Auctions for a whooping Php 40-million on19 September 2015. When the auctioneer banged the gavel to close the sale, the audience gave it appreciative applause and cheers as mobile phonecams rose to record the winning price on the screen.

The painting is dated 1885. A similar painting--although with very significant differences--appeared in the May 31, 1886 issue of Ilustracion Artistica: a photo-engraving by M. Weber. It was titled"A Do Va Nave?,,, Quien Sabe Do Va!" from the first chorus of the "El Diablo Mundo" (The Devil World), a poem that was left unfinished by the famous Spanish poet Jose de Espronceda (1808-1842):

                               "Alla va la nave: Quien sabe do va?

                               "Ay, triste el que fia / Del viento y la mar!"

"El Diablo Mundo" is described as a "Romantic poem [which] builds an allegory of human existence. ... [The six hymns or parts] recount how Adam, as the embodiment of all mankind, must choose between dying and discovering the ultimate truth, or living eternally. Having chosen the first option, Adam is reborn in a young and strong body, But all this will bring him bitter consequences. [1]"

Luna must have admired Espronceda, his life as poet, lover and rebel. Ilustracion said that the painting is his interpretation of the poet's devilish world. One woman was just about to be swallowed by the sea. Tthe sea has claimed a victim, Ilustracion said, and that the lady reclining is unconscious and"leaning towards the abyss." The boatload of ladies with a young officer and a gentleman are headed to the unknown in the face of danger, a storm looming in the distance.  These make us then look at the totally veiled lady in white as a specter, not a bride as we initially thought.

The version that was auctioned came all the way from Argentina. According to the published reports, the original owner brought it with him from Cuba to Argentina after the Casto take-over, and tt's possible that this could have been from Gov-Gen Ramon Blanco, a friend of Luna, who was posted in Cuba.

The picture became postcard pretty: ladies in a leisurely trip on a boat, and one of them a bride, with the young man at the helm, and the older gentleman busy with his pen, There are skiffs too in the left background even if the sea appears rough and the skies are dark.

We forward that the Luna painted two versions. He could not have reworked the Ilustracion version to eliminate the lady falling to the sea. He could have been commissioned to do a variation of the theme. The "A Do Nave?" came after the success of Spoliarium in the Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts.  In fact, according to his biography [2], Luna was commissioned to do an exact copy of the Spoliarium for a Russian art lover even as the masterpiece was still hanging at the Madrid Salon.

The Ilustracion version could be the original; it was still around in 1886 to be photographed for publication.  This copy then remains lost. Who knows, the heirs of the original owner may yet bring it to the lucrative art market in due time.

Notes:

[1] Spain is Culture at http://www.spainisculture.com/en/obras_culturales/diablo_mundo.html
[2] Pilar Santiago Albano. 1980. Juan Luna: The Filipino as painter. Quezon City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc.