Tag: Manila
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Josef Selleny’s View of Manila, 1858
When Josef Selleny visited Manila in 1858 as part of the Austrian Novara expedition, the city was a busy Spanish colonial port defined by walls, churches, cigar factories, river traffic, and the movement of hemp, tobacco, and other commodities. Shipping on the Pasig River at Manila belongs to this moment of maritime activity. Signed with…
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Anonymous Filipino, Girl with Bird and Flowers, c. 1801-1850
The painting Niña con pájaro y flores (Girl with Bird and Flowers) has been identified as Filipino based on the species of the bird shown in the background. The museum record identifies the bird as a pied fantail, Rhipidura javanica, a species associated with the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It appears on a branch at…
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Mikhail Tikhonovich Tikhanov: a Russian artist in Manila (1819)
During the Manila stop of Captain V.M. Golovnin’s 1817–1819 circumnavigation aboard the sloop Kamchatka, the expedition artist Mikhail T. Tikhanov produced a series of drawings from direct observation, of which only three Manila scenes are known to survive. An Indian in Manila Took Tikhanov’s Hat and Ran Away, Malays Arey and Thomas from the Island…
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Félix Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho (Manila, 1859 – Paris, 1932)
Erratum: This post previously included a photograph I identified as Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera (T.H.) and Felix Pardo de Tavera in their youth, sourced from Alfred W. McCoy’s Anarchy of Families (Manila: ADMU Press, 1994). The image in fact depicts a younger generation of Pardo de Taveras from the early 20th century. I am…
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Intellectual and Social Currents in the Establishment of the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura (1821–1834) published in Sojourn
I’m pleased to announce the publication of my article in Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia: Geronimo Cristobal, “Intellectual and Social Currents in the Establishment of the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura (1821–1834),” Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 41, no. 1 (2026): 1–45.https://doi.org/10.1355/sj41-1a The article revisits the origins of the…
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Desde el cielo: Real Photo Postcards and the Counter-Archive of Alfonso Ongpin
Art History, ulaf050, https://doi.org/10.1093/arthis/ulaf050 I’m pleased to share that my article Desde el cielo: Real Photo Postcards and the Counter-Archive of Alfonso Ongpin has been published in Art History (Oxford University Press). The article examines the work of Alfonso Ongpin (1885–1975), a Filipino photographer, art conservator, and collector active in early twentieth-century Manila. It focuses on…
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Juan Adán Morlán (1741–1816)
Juan Adán Morlán (1741–1816) is one of the defining sculptors of Spanish Neoclassicism, a figure whose artistic achievements were often intertwined with personal controversies and professional disputes. Born in Tarazona, Aragón, and baptized on March 1, 1741, Adán’s early life was rooted in a family of carpenters. His father’s craft provided the young Adán with…
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Luneta Hotel, a Remnant of a Beautiful Era
I wrote this article during my freshman year in college. At the time, there were very few in-depth articles about the old hotel, and it ended up being read by quite a few people and cited as a reference in some news articles. Every time I see it quoted, I feel a bit embarrassed because…
Geronimo Cristobal 