88-year-old Fernando Amorsolo painting stolen from Hofileña Museum
An 88-year-old artwork by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo has been stolen at a museum in Silay City.
Maricar Hojilla, the niece of the museum's late owner Ramon Hofileña, confirmed the theft incident to PhilSTAR L!fe. "It's unfortunately true. We were made aware of this yesterday. I am in the US so I saw it in our cousin group chat upon waking up," she said.
The artwork, dubbed Mango Harvesters (1936), was taken from the Hofileña Museum in Silay, Negros Occidental last Wednesday, July 3 at 10:50 a.m. According to a police report obtained by L!fe, the Silay PNP was alerted about what happened at around 11:35 a.m. of the same day.
Initial investigation showed that two suspects—one male and one female—entered the establishment as visitors. They "went around the museum and when they got the opportunity, the male suspect took the Amorsolo oil painting that was hanging on the wall and put it in his bag and hurried out of the museum."
Maricar called on the public to help them retrieve the piece. If you have any information that could help with its recovery, you may contact Silay authorities at 09985987443 or 09989674432 or report to the nearest police station.
Hofileña Museum is a heritage house built in 1934 by the late Manuel Severino Hofileña and Gilda Ledesma Hojilla. It was later managed by cultural tourism advocate Ramon Hofileña, who passed away in 2021. It houses a private art collection that includes antiques and artworks by Amorsolo as well as Juan Luna and Jose Rizal, among others.
"The museum is our maternal ancestral home in Cinco de Noviembre. Since Tito Ramon was unmarried with no heirs, the house became all his remaining siblings and nephews and nieces' common property, which we are sharing with the public as he wished," she continued.
Known as the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art," Amorsolo was the first National Artist of the Philippines. He became famous for his works that mainly put the spotlight on rural landscapes in the country.