I Know Nothing About Art But I Visited Pinto Art Museum Anyway

In all honesty, I learned nothing in my Humanities class back in college, blame my cute professor! It was all his fault. No, he wasn't incompetent, in fact I thought he was. It was just he was cuter than the lessons, hahahaha! Hi Sir, if you happen to come across this blog! I hope you still remember the thin girl with short hair sitting somewhere in the second row with her equally pretty friends :) (Landi!)

I have been planning to visit this museum which was not so far far away from where I live ever since I saw it on social media. When I finally had the free time, I forced my cousin to come with me since she was just sitting at home killing time while waiting for her papers to go back to UAE where she works. So off we went to Pinto Art Museum which was just a kendeng away from the city proper of Antipolo.

Let me share with you this really nice quote that I found in Instagram a couple of days ago:

"Once, Picasso was asked what his paintings meant.  He said, 'Do you ever know what the birds are singing?  You don't. But you listen to them anyway.' So, sometimes with art, it is important just to look."

Bingo! That's just us, right? The normal people who would not even distinguish which art is a Renaissance or whatever but just love looking at paintings and sculptures and anything that is called a work of art.

If you are not from anywhere near Antipolo, you won't be having a hard time looking for this place. Ask directions if you are driving your car, using the famous Antipolo church as the landmark, do this by singing along to the tune of Tayo Na Sa Antipolo, at Doon, Maligo Tayo! And if you're commuting, the jeepney and tricycle drivers would be willing to help you out, just yell "yeah, we're visiting the Pinto Art Museum, we're cool! I'm sure you wouldn't get lost! The place is very accessible.

Armed with my humble Samsung J7 Prime, I took more than a hundred photos when I was there so forgive me if I had a really hard time choosing the best one for you. So just scroll down and take a look, and I hope you like them:

At the entrance, you would be greeted by a staff, ask you to log your name on a record book, pay for P 200 each, (students and senior citizens have discounts) and a map of the place would be handed to you. Wow, the place was bigger and lovelier than I expected so I wished we came earlier in the morning (we arrived at around eleven so imagine the sun glaring brightly at us! The photo above was my first shot.

Pinto Art Museum is located in a residential area in Sierra Madre St., Grand Heights, Antipolo. I think it's not just enough to call it a museum alone. It's so big there's a chapel inside, a cafe, a swimming pool, the landscapes of beautifully manicured lawns, and with plenty of beds with white sheets in almost every corner, I don't know what to call it. Everyone who went there were so right, the place is Instagram worthy!

There was not a corner that I did not find anything artsy in here. I tried to look for a trash bin to check if they're also artistically made but I did not find one. Sorry, I should ask one of the staff pretending I was throwing away a candy wrapper. Maybe next time! :)

Photo above is one of my favorite spots. Inside this gallery are arts from the Ilocos region ( hope my memory serves me well, arts inside were labeled, correct me if I'm wrong and you've been there) And that curtain, which was made of something I wasn't sure if it was a fruit shell or what, I can't even tell. I would love to have something like that in my house!

Walls are all white, with windows that let light and air inside you would not need a flash for taking pictures. It was almost noon time so were a little sweaty wandering the place, but the cool air outside the gardens were relaxing. I wanted to jump in the pool but there was no sign that swimming was allowed,

One of the most memorable paintings I saw in my whole life was the famous Spoliarium during our field trip back in high school. The painting scared the hell out of me it even haunted me in my dreams, lol! Seriously, I wanted to see that painting again. Hope to check out the National Museum again soon. And take another back pose of me, like the photo above.

Back to Pinto Art Museum, there's a corner where I thought the paintings were alien inspired, because, the faces on those paintings were distorted and creepy, like that one above, and they were drunk. Now I regret that I did not really pay much attention to my art appreciation class back then. How would I interpret this painting now? Tsk tsk tsk!!! Ha ha ha!

Like they say, the place is a feast for the eyes, with so many beautiful and colorful paintings of all sizes, I lost count of how many galleries and rooms we entered, I even lost track of time I did not expect that two hours was not enough to see the whole place! If you're planning to come here, make sure to wear comfortable clothes and shoes, don't wear high heels and heavy make up. For art's sake, just don't, lol!

It was a weekday when we went there but there were a number of people inside, even in the cafe, so imagine this place on weekends and holidays right? The museum is open on Tuesdays to Sundays, and I assumed they have some maintenance works on Mondays, where they are closed. Better check the schedule :)

At first I was only interested to have a few cute pictures for my boring IG account, but the place would make you appreciate the beauty in even the simplest of things... like...uhm... a door. Okay, not funny! You know what I mean, right?  Who owns the place? What does he do for a living? Go google! There are plenty of articles written about this all over the net. Go check this article HERE very helpful.

Amazing view over one of the decks, and one blog I visited,  here you can watch the beautiful view of the sunset. Are you among us who loves the sunset? This place is for you! I would surely come back here for the sunset!

There's a place off limits to visitors. I guess these are still under construction, I'm thinking it would be really worth it to go back and hopefully these constructions in progress are done. I'm not exaggerating if I tell you a second visit is worth it. Namnamin ang ganda ng paligid! Maybe I would try a meal or drink in the cafe, if I have extra money.

Can you imagine life without art? I can't! Thank God for art! When things in life hits us really hard, sometimes it's art that helps us go through and cope with it. It helps us pour our frustrations and hopelessness into a meaningful kind of experience.

So! I'm running out of thing to say, but there's just one thing I want to tell you. Don't just be contented in seeing this in photos. Go see these art pieces for yourself. It's really worth it!

PS, all photos above are mine, raw and unedited. I did not  use any filter at all.

Thank you and leave a comment, tell me what you think, I'd love to hear it!

xoxo,
Claire