An Art Review: The World through the Eyes of Martino Abellana

The Sacred Heart School-Boys (SHS-B) Batch 1985 Foundation and SM City Cebu sponsored the art exhibition entitled “The World through the Eyes of Martino Abellana,” a retrospective exhibition on the life and art of Martino Abellana. The exhibit was ed locatat the Northwing Atrium of SM City Cebu. It ran from January 29 to February 28, 2015.

For starters, Martino Abellana is one of the old masters in Cebu’s arts scene. He was born on January 30, 1914 in Carcar. He became a teacher at the then Cebu Institute of Technology. He then pursued his arts career finishing his formal education at the School of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines Manila. He was taught under Fernando Amorsolo and Guillermo Tolentino.

One of his biggest achievements arguably was to help found the Fine Arts program at University of the Philippines College Cebu, where he had the chance to carve his legacy by influencing an entire generation of Cebuano painters.

Martino Abellana died in the year 1988.

“The World Through the Eyes of Martino Abellana” featured a lot of the best artworks from Abellana. Art works that are rarely seen together because they are now owned by collectors, friends, and immediate family of the artist.

Definitely this is one of the best exhibits that Cebu has to offer. I congratulate the organizers – The Sacred Heart School-Boys (SHS-B) Batch 1985 Foundation and SM City Cebu for this. It is truly a great tribute to the art scene and the cultural history of Cebu.

When I was in college, I only heard or saw pictures of Abellana’s work, so lucky are the young artists today to have this easy access to witness on hand the master’s work. I do hope young artist today value Cebu’s history and if they don’t then it is the task of teachers to remind them of it.

Martino Abellana is someone all Cebuanos can be proud of. This again was truly one of the best exhibits I have seen so far in Cebu. I never really thought I could see all the works of Abellana in one place. So I thank and congratulate again the organizers for making that reality possible.

I do hope we have more of these tribute exhibits in the future.

About the author: N.M. CABANGBANG graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Painting at University of the Philippines Cebu. He is now currently teaching grade 6 – 10 Art at B.R.I.G.H.T. Academy.