Museum Hopping Part 2: Free Entrance to the National Museum

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

This is the second time I’m blogging about my favorite museum. You can visit this link first to check out my previous post.  The National Museum is a 20 minute car ride from the Metropolitan Museum. There are 2 notable changes since my last visit: (1) SLRs are now allowed to take photos and (2) ENTRANCE is free. 


The National Museum is my favorite for the simple reason that it houses some the works of our country’s best. It is surreal to see actual paintings you’ve talked about in class or the artworks of artists you’ve admired from a far. The museum made me a fan of certain artists! I am thankful to the National Museum for introducing me Jose Joya, Vicente Manansala, and making me a fan of Juan Luna. A lot of Luna’s work is in the museum besides the Spolarium.

A museum must: the Spolarium. I wrote extensively about my feelings about this work here.

Parisian Life by Juan Luna (1892)
 
Please do not touch the paintings. I have that one friend who wants to touch stuff in a museum, you know who you are.
 
Gallery V: A gallery devoted to National Hero Jose Rizal featuring his works and a few paintings about him.
 
El Ermitano by Jose Rizal (1893)
 
Andalucian Girl by Rafael Enriquez (1884)
 
Gallery II: The FCCP Hall featuring the Basi Revolt series by Esteban Villanueva

Gallery I: Colonial Philippine religious art from the 17th – 19 Century

Portrait of Julieta Abad Rufino by Fernando Amorsolo (1951)
 
Various drawings, studies and notes of Amorsolo
 
There’s a photo of this from my previous trip to the museum. This unfinished work by Amorsolo still makes me smile – such a beauty!
 
Pasensya na, di ko mapigilan. 

My recent art geek moment came when a whole gallery about Vicente Manansala was included!
 
Magsasaka by Vicente Manansala (1961)
 
Harana by Vicente Manansala (1961)
 
Birds in Flight by Vicente Manansala (1965)
 
Nipa Hut by Vicente Manansala (1975)

Here are more paintings from other artists:
 
Works of Federico Alcuaz (Undated, circa 1970)
 
Oracion by Fernando Amorsolo (1959)
 
Works of Carlos Francisco (Undated)
 
Las Lavanderas by Fernando Amorsolo (1964)


When this was being renovated, I already fell for it.  My hall crush is now finished! I got extremely giddy when I saw the finished hall with my own eyes. The photos do not do it justice. It is more captivating in real life. Or fine, I’m OA because I just really loved this hall. It was the ingress of an event during our visit.
 
So much beauty inside the museum.

Dear National Museum, I love that the galleries look different from each other. I love your walls with bright pops of color, the black and white tiles, and the subtle elegance of the pristine white galleries. I hope you don’t change it. I think it’s one of the many charms of your place.
 

This is my second visit yet I was unable to join the tour. The tour is free and you may need to call the museum for the tour schedule. I would love to learn more about the paintings and works displayed.
 

Take note of some of the museum guidelines when for your visit.
 

Free entrance is enough incentive for you to visit the museum. The thing is, I would pay to visit the National Museum because I believe in what it stands for. It is vital for us Filipinos to have access to our history and traditions. I just have so much love for this place and for our culture. 


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National Museum of the Philippines
Padre Burgos Drive, Manila City




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2 comments

  1. Thanks for this post. My wife loves Amorsolos, especially the ones about provincial life. We are going to visit the National Museum with our bunso to introduce him to these glorious artworks. Great that you included lots of pictures. They're eye-candy to us.

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