Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro

In this name, the family name is Bordalo Pinheiro, not Pinheiro.
Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro
Born March 21, 1846
Lisbon, Portugal
Died January 23, 1905 (aged 58)
Lisbon, Portugal
Nationality Portuguese
Notable works
 Zé Povinho

Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (21 March 1846 - 23 January 1905) was a Portuguese artist known for his illustration, caricatures, sculpture and ceramics designs, and is considered the first Portuguese comics creator.

Life

He was a disciple of his father, the painter Manuel Maria Bordalo Pinheiro. His mother was D. Maria Augusta do Ó Carvalho Prostes and his brother the painter Columbano. He started publishing illustrations and caricatures in humoristic magazines such as A Berlinda and O Calcanhar de Aquiles, frequently demonstrating a sarcastic humour with a political or social message.

In 1875 he travelled to Brazil to work as an illustrator and cartoonist for the publication Mosquito (and later,another publication called O Besouro), which was also employing the Italian/Brazilian illustrator Angelo Agostini, until then the unrivaled cartooning authority of Brazil.[1] Pinheiro eventually became editor of other humorous, politically critical magazines. His fame as a caricaturist led the Illustrated London News to become one of his collaborators.

Zé Povinho and comics

Zé Povinho, Bordalo Pinheiro's famous series
Pinheiro caricature of Eça de Queiroz

In 1875, Bordalo Pinheiro created the cartoon character Zé Povinho (literal translation: Joe Little People), a Portuguese everyman, portrayed as a poor peasant. Zé Povinho became, and still is, as an iconic symbol, the most popular character in Portugal.

In Zé Povinho, as in his other works, Bordalo Pinheiro's drawing style was innovative and influential, making extensive use of onomatopoeia, graphical signs (such as those to used represent movement), strong images (the manguito), and his unique style of mixing punctuation marks, such as brackets, with drawing.

Pottery

In 1885, he founded a ceramics factory in Caldas da Rainha, where he created many of the pottery designs for which this city is known. The factory is still in business.

Legacy

The Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro Museum in Lisbon is dedicated to his life and works.

Sources

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Lustosa, Isabel and Britto, Paulo Henriques (1995). "The Art of J. Carlos, The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts".

External links