Passing on the art today
Iam very proud of my ancestors — starting with Damian Domingo, the first recognized Filipino artist who established the Academia de Artes y Dibujos in Tondo, Manila in the 1800s. He accepted illustrados and indios without discrimination. His granddaughter Pascuala married Roman Ongpin, patriot and hero of the Philippine revolution. He supported and fought for the cause of the Katipunan by contributing armaments and funds. He established El 82 in Binondo, a hardware store that carried imported art materials and established fixed prices. Notables like Juan Luna, Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo, Fernando Amorsolo frequented his shop and became friends with his son Alfonso T. Ongpin, who later amassed a huge collection of art, including theirs.
As a child I recall their frequent meetings in his home in R. Hidalgo with Don Eugenio Lopez and Don Luis Araneta. They would outbid each other (in Spanish) in his receiving parlor on the ground floor. I still see Luna’s “Ensueños de Amor” in the dark staircase as I ascended to the second floor filled with now-famous paintings. All walls and even posts of the house (there used to be haligues propping up the ceilings in those times) were proudly outshining each other. You now see these beautiful paintings in the National Museum and Lopez Museum and Library, among other famous collections. Since he was also an avid Rizalista, memoirs of the national hero were encased in escaparates.
Above these were paintings of his “novias” in oval frames all in a row. He even had Rizal’s clothes worn when he was executed in Luneta. Many of his collections were donated to The National Historical Commission in Intramuros. Alfonso himself painted but dedicated his life to collecting and to his gallery cum frame shop, El Arte.
On the Herbosa side, my husband Poch was the great-grandnephew of Dr. Jose Rizal. Lucia, Rizal’s sister, married Mariano Herbosa (his namesake). Some of Rizal’s genes must have been inherited by our daughter Mia and my two granddaughters. For indeed, aside from his patriotism and valor, he was an artist as well, and a doctor, among many other talents.
Six generations after, I find myself somehow continuing the legacy of my revered ancestors. In the year 2000 I established L’Arc en Ciel Atelier, Inc. and have taught hundreds of students from ages six to 87. I have made a second home for talented artists, some of whom have soared higher with their own wings.
I am proudest of all of my daughter, Mia Herbosa, an international artist who studied at the Art Students League for 28 years in New York City. Holding three certificates, each covering four years (Painting, Lithography, and Sculpture), she garnered the highest citation in school: the coveted Edward McDowell art award with excellence over all the fields. She was given a grant to travel to 27 art capitals in Europe, widening her vast knowledge of art. I was fortunate to be her travel companion half of the way.
She is now one of the foremost portrait artists in the country.
As for me, I reinvented myself in my retirement years from being a stockbroker into being an artist. I owe this to Mia who inspired me and mentored me unselfishly through the years.
We pass on the torch to the seventh generation. To Nina Herbosa, daughter of my son Alfonso, who painted frenetically through this time of pandemic, creating her own version of modern art and how she perceives it. She was given a scholarship at Beacon Academy for her entire high school and is now at the Ateneo in her third year and aims to be a doctor. She has been painting with me since she was six and has joined many shows, selling out her oeuvres.
Lastly, we have Lana, Mia’s 19-year-old. Since early childhood she has been drawing and painting in her own style: cartoon-like depictions of our family, some quite poignant that I have framed and immortalized in my home. She has been outstanding in art as well at Brent International School and at Waldorf, New York. She is inclined to take up interior design for college.
We hope to share our art with you, varied as it may be, to show you how we are now “passing on the torch.” May our ancestors be smiling down on us. This is our legacy.
This April 7, our show, “Passing on the Torch,” opens at L’Arc en Ciel. We would love to celebrate our art and history with you.
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“Passing on the Torch” will be open for viewing by invitation only after opening night. Contact Elaine Ongpin Herbosa at 0917-8901219 for more information.
