Toribio Antillon

Background

Toribio Antillon was born on November 1, 1856, in San Juan, La Union, Philippines. He was the son of Eriberto Antillon and Maria P. Asona Montes.

Education

After finishing the primary course and before reaching the age of sixteen, Toribio Antillon entered the Escuela Normal de Maestros in June 1872. In 1874 he left that school and enrolled in the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura then under the direction of Don Agustin Saez y Granadell. He was still a student in this school when two Italian painters arrived in Manila in the employ of an Italian opera troupe, the Compania Assi-Panadis.

Career

From recently coming in Manila painters, Divel-la and Cesar Alberoni, Toribio Antillon had his apprenticeship in scenographic painting, a branch of the graphic art then practically unknown in this country according to Miguel Zaragoza, the drop-curtains then used in Tagalog Moro-moro plays being either out of perspective or sloppy. When Alberoni and Divel-la were through with their contract with the opera company, they started a business of their own instead of going back home - decorating interiors of private homes, public edifices, churches, painting drop-curtains, etc. - which soon attracted the attention of the well-to-do in the city and in the provinces. Antillon became their assistant in this expanding occupation, learning the technique very fast by following these masters whenever they went.

Later on, Antillon separated from his teachers and established a shop of his own. His first independent attempts at decorative painting to win him a name were those done for the Variedades and the Tondo theaters in Manila. Soon a number of private colleges engaged his services. He executed decorative murals and ceiling and panel works for the Ateneo de Manila, the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and the Colegio de San Francisco Javier. Screen painting jobs were entrusted to him, in particular, the curtain used during the inauguration of the Teatro Circo Zorrilla on August 17, 1893, attracted wide acclaim.

During the early years of the American occupation, a new development in the dramatic arts took place. The Tagalog drama received a new incentive and impetus never felt before in the past era. Tagalog dramatic companies were being formed and even individual playwrights started producing their own works. Many of these groups and dramatists engaged his services. Antillon, for instance, painted the drop-curtains for the production of the first attempt at opera-making in Tagalog, Pedro A. Paterno's Sandugong Panaginip which was shown on August 16, 1902. After that, his services were in great demand.

Also, the interiors of a number of residential houses in Manila, as those of Joaquin Inchausti, Gregorio Araneta, Moreno Lacalle, Arcadio Arellano, Eduardo Litongjua, Mariano Limjap, Irineo Felix, Ildefonso Tambunting, Felipe R. Hidalgo, and many others were decorated by Antillon. His artistic services were also engaged by the churches of Daraga, Tabaco, and Guinobatan in Albay province; in Batangas, Bauan, and Taal in Batangas province, in San San Fernando and Guagua, Pampanga province, and in Manila, those of San Sebastian, Ermita, and Malate churches. The ceiling of the old church of Antipolo also received the touch of Antillon's brush.

In a humid and tropical climate such as the Philippines have, artistic works have a continuous battle to fight against destructive elements. Therefore, very few of Antillon's artistic labors remain in such a state of preservation as to enable a fair description, and a proper appreciation, of them. They showed a strong influence of his foreign teachers. Even his drop-curtains made for the Tagalog dramas were not free from anachronistic scenes showing exotic background. He undoubtedly had command of perspective and his dimensional properties which enhance stage canvasses and his works produced such theatrical effects which heightened popular appreciation of the local drama of the period. Along the line of scenographic art, Antillon was a pioneer and unexcelled among Filipino painters of his time. He cultivated the art of aquarelle which he taught to a number of students. Juan Abelardo worked for him for a time and soon became his competitor.

Achievements

• Toribio Antillon is considered to be a popular decorative and scenographic painter. His interiors attracted much attention and became the fashion of the period. He received recognition and great reviews for his works. Fr. Clotet who saw Antillon's works in their freshness stated that "he knew how to impact on his decorative works a liveliness, a transparency and delicacy which were found rarely among other painters."

Works

More photos

• artwork

  • The artwork in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian

  • Interior de un Patio Arabe Decoracion

    1914

  • Decoracion Ojival

    1914

Connections

Toribio Antillon married Margarita Borja. The marriage produced one daughter.

Father:

Eriberto Antillon

Mother:

Maria P. Asona Montes

Wife:

Margarita Borja

References

• Dictionary of Philippine Biography
  1970