Woman in Unfinished Painting of Fernando Amorsolo is Nena Belo, Mother of Vicki Belo
VICKI BELO – The mother of celebrity dermatologist Vicki Belo, Nena Belo, was identified as the woman in the unfinished painting of Fernando Amorsolo.
One of the most prominent persons in the history of painting in the Philippines is Fernando Amorsolo. He got lots of paintings of Philippine rural landscapes and it never fails to elicit praises from people.
Amorsolo was born in Manila on May 30, 1892. At the age of 79 years old, he passed away on April 24, 1972. According to the National Museum of the Philippines, he has an unfinished painting when he died. He was painting a woman.
Based on the post, the identity of the woman in the painting of the late Fernando Amorsolo was recently confirmed. She is Florencia Singson Gonzalez-Belo, the mother of celebrity dermatologist Vicki Belo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoVKReVF5kL/?hl=en&taken-by=victoria_belo
In March 2016, Mrs. Judy Araneta pointed out the woman in Fernando Amorsolo’s unfinished painting is Nena Belo. The NM found ways to prove that the woman in the painting is indeed the mother of Vicki Belo.
They reached out to Quark Henares, the son of the celebrity dermatologist with her former husband Atom Henares. It took NM more than two years to convince the Belo family to help them in verifying the identity of the woman.
According to the National Museum, recently, Dra. Vicki Belo together with her husband, Dr. Hayden Kho Jr., and daughters Cristalle Belo and Scarlet Snow recently visited the museum.
Here is the full post of the National Museum over the unfinished painting of Fernando Amorsolo:
“We recently confirmed the identity of the National Artist Fernando Amorsolo’s previously unknown sitter for his last portrait painting commission.
Passing away in April 24, 1972, the 79-year old Amorsolo was not able to complete it. Her name is Florencia Singson Gonzalez-Belo, the late mother of the famous dermatologist Dr. Vicki Belo…”
“This unfinished painting was part of the donation made by Amorsolo’s widow Maria del Carmen Amorsolo that included his studio furniture, memorabilia and more than 100 studies and drawings.
In March 2016 as we were preparing for a donation of a statue by Guillermo Tolentino from the President Manuel Roxas Foundation, we gave Mrs. Judy Araneta Roxas a tour around the National Museum of Fine Arts. She pointed out that the last portrait of Amorsolo was “Nena” Belo…”
“Although she was certain, it was important for the Museum to apply due diligence in establishing its provenance based on research through archival data, interviews and connecting with our network who might have known Mrs. Gonzalez-Belo.
It took more than two years to convince the Belo family through our friend and film director Quark Henares, Dr. Belo’s son, to help us verify the identity of the portrait.
Finally, a few weeks ago, Dr. Belo visited with her family, including her husband Dr. Hayden Kho, and daughters Cristalle Henares and Scarlet Snow Kho…”
“Someone must have told them that Scarlet looks a little like the son of Juan Luna who was fondly called “Luling” (who became an eminent architect Andres Luna de San Pedro)…”
“The family went to see Luling’s painting in our gallery devoted to Luna and his contemporary Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. As it happens, there seems quite a likeness between him and Scarlet…”
As of this writing, the social media post of the National Museum has racked up more than four thousand likes on Facebook.
In their comments to the post, lots of netizens tagged their loved ones to show them about the revelation over the unfinished painting of Fernando Amorsolo.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2163129907044649&type=1&l=1698139e60
