Damian Domingo (1796-1834) was active in Manila in the early part of the 19th century as a painter of portrait miniatures and religious images. He also produced albums illustrating the native costumes of the era for collectors. His place in Philippine art history is assured by his efforts to systematize the study of art along Western principles.

In 1821, he established a school for artists in his residence in Tondo and served as the director of the first official Philippine art academy. It was also likely the first in Asia to teach the Western principles of foreground, middleground, and background perspectives, among other artistic techniques. In 1823, the Real Sociedad Economicade Amigos del Pais (Royal Economic Society of the Friends of the Country) opened an art school called the Academia de Dibujo, which offered Domingo a teaching position in 1826. He later on took on its directorship. During his term, Domingo instituted non-discriminatory policies that gave equal rights to the Indios. They were taught to draw still life and the human form and to prepare colors and surfaces and paint in oil and aquarelle. While he died at the age of 38 and the school closed soon after in 1834, Domingo was mostly responsible during his time for training a new generation of artists oriented in Western artistic traditions.

Damian Domingo, a painter known for his miniature portraits on ivory and oil portraits on canvas, became one of the most sought-after artists of his time. The exhibition is the first to attempt to gather the artist's oeuvre and highlight his important contributions to Philippine art history.