Felix Hidalgo was a passionate and persistent artist of his time. He had grown up in a family that had originally encouraged him to pursue a career in Law, but quickly realized that Hidalgo’s dream and talent was in his passion for painting. “Hidalgo produced over a thousand works which include oil paintings, water-color, pastels, and charcoal drawings. His subjects ranged from the mythological and historical to landscapes, seascapes, portraits, and figures of the genre” (www.lopezmuseum.org).

In 1887, Hidalgo first received recognition for his replicated design of Father Manual Blanco’s Flora de Filipinas, in which he won 2nd place. Soon after, Hidalgo’s first award, he continued to collect various other awards and achievements for his paintings in several different countries. In 1884, Hidalgo presented 3 canvases to the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Arts, in which he was awarded a silver medal for The Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace. In 1887, he had also received gold medals for The Boat of Charon and The Styx, which he presented at the Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas.  Hidalgo’s paintings were no stranger at the many international art competitions. In 1904, he had received a gold medal for his overall participation in the St. Louis Exposition in the United States.

Philippine National hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, a close friend of Hidalgo, had boasted: “…in the painting of Hidalgo, throbs the purest of sentiment, an idealized expression of melancholy, of beauty and weakness victimized by brute force…Hidalgo is all light, color, harmony, feeling, limpidness like the Philippines in her calm moonlit nights, in her serene days with her horizons inviting contemplation” (www.lopezmuseum.org).

Many of Hidalgo’s paintings still remain in a family mausoleum in the Philippines. 

References:

  1. www.lopezmuseum.org
  2. www.geringerart.com

Image: "The Boat of Charon"