Fabián de la Rosa

Don Fabián de la Rosa y Cueto (May 5, 1869 – December 14, 1937) was a Filipino painter. He was the uncle and mentor to the Philippines' national artist in painting, Fernando Amorsolo, and to his brother Pablo.

Un recuerdo de la Villa Borghese (A remembrance of the Villa Borghese), 1909.

Early life and education Fabián de la Rosa was born in Paco, Manila to husband and wife Marcos de la Rosa and Gorgonia Cueto. Born to a family of artists, he was exposed to art at an early age and learned to draw well before he could write. He was trained to sketch portraits and landscapes by his aunt, Marciana de la Rosa, when he was ten years old. He also apprenticed under his uncle, Simón Flores y de la Rosa, a well-known painter of portraits and church interiors from the nineteenth century. De la Rosa lived most of his life in the Philippines and visited Europe for the first time when he was 39. He married Gorgonia Tolentino on January 13, 1900. Three years into his training de la Rosa's father died, forcing the young painter to drop out of the school in order to help feed his family. It was during this time that he painted his first known masterpiece, La Perla de Lucban. In 1893, he entered the Escuela Superior de Pintura Escultura y Grabado at the age of 24 where he received training from Lorenzo Guerrero and Miguel Zaragoza. In 1898, de la Rosa won a contest for a scholarship to Spanish Art Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. However, the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution meant his dream would not materialize.

Later under the American regime, the Escuela would become one of the three founding units of the University of the Philippines (established in 1908) and renamed the UP School of Fine Arts. In 1908, he traveled to Europe as a pensionado through a scholarship opportunity given by the Germinal Cigar Factory. He attended the Académie Julian in Paris, France.

As a professor Young Filipina. Oil on canvas, 1928, from the Paulino Que Collection.After traveling from Europe, he became one of the first instructors at the School of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines, where he introduced to his students the decorated form of painting. De la Rosa became the full director of the school from 1927 to 1937.