João Abel Manta

João Abel Manta (born January 29, 1928 in Lisbon , Portugal ) is an important Portuguese caricaturist , painter , ceramic artist , graphic artist , cartoonist , and architect . Along with Stuart Carvalhais, he is considered to be the most important Portuguese caricaturist in the twentieth century. He is often called the "cartoonist of the revolution".

Life

João Abel Manta was born into a family of artists and had a happy childhood. His father was the famous painter Abel Manta , his mother the painter Clementina Carneiro de Moura . As a child he often traveled because he accompanied his parents, who exhibited abroad, in Spain , France , Italy and the Netherlands . He began studying at the Escola Superior de Belas Artes de Lisboa in Lisbon with a focus on architecture. After completing his studies, a rebellious phase followed, which in 1958 even brought him several months in prison. He then worked for some time as an architect and ceramic artist, when he was employed as a cartoonist for various magazines and newspapers at the end of the 1960s. In it he initially courageously criticized the somewhat shaky, fascist government of António de Oliveira Salazar and, under his successor Marcelo Caetano - with a few exceptions - was able to caricature Salazar almost without exception and pull it through the cocoa. After the bloodless Carnation Revolution, he did not hesitate to use caricatures to criticize those in power, who were considered left to communist.

In 2008 the book " João Abel Manta Capriches e desastres " by João Paulo Cotrim was published, which depicts the artist's life and work.

The cartoonist Manta

As a cartoonist he has worked for magazines and newspapers such as O Jornal , O século illustrado , Gazeta Musical , Todos os artes , Seara Nova , Eva and the newspaper Diario de Lisboa .

Many caricatures made him a cult figure: such as the caricature on which two desks can be seen depicting the functionaries of the two currents fighting each other in Portugal: on the left were the fascists with a picture of Salazar and Caetano on each wall , a man with parting and a suit and tie, and on the desk a small model of a padrão , a cross that the Portuguese sailors placed in the newly discovered areas; on the other side the communists, with a long-haired, tie-free functionary, on whose table a woman is depicted as a figure with a rifle for the communist struggle, on the wall a poster of Che Guevara and the stamp in the shape of a carnation, referring to the carnation revolution should point out.

Another caricature, consisting of three parts, shows a window and behind each Salazar: the dictator in the prime of his years, at around 50 years of age, then the old and already stooped Salazar with snow-white hair and the third window no longer shows any Salazar at all, because that was to say that he was already dead, but that nothing had changed in terms of circumstances.

The third well-known cartoon by Manta shows a classroom. The outlines of Portugal can be seen on the blackboard, all kinds of figures from world history sit on the school desks. In addition to Salazar, who probably represents Portugal here, you can also recognize Lenin , Karl Marx , Che Guevara, Leon Trotsky , Jean-Paul Sartre , Mao Tse Tung , Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro, among others . This was supposed to suggest that Portugal appeared on the map of world history for the first time (during Salazar's reign) and that these figures were more or less (except for Marx) contemporaries who sooner or later couldn't get past Portugal, that is, they the country, despite its insignificance, had to take note. The cartoon was entitled: "Uma problema difficil".

In a caricature he portrayed the poet Fernando Pessoa as Hamlet musing melancholy over a skull in his hand. Two albums with the complete caricatures of Manta, mainly from the revolutionary era, have so far been published as catalogs or books.

The graphic artist and illustrator

Above all, he was able to work as a designer of postage stamps. In 1974 he managed to have two stamps bearing his motifs. Since these stamps also exist with German philatelists who collect Portugal, they should not be unknown. There two workers are shown on one stamp, they stand for the upheavals in Portuguese society and the restructuring of agriculture. The second stamp shows the then Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves , who stands between a worker and a soldier and stands for the political upswing in Portugal.

He also worked as a book illustrator. He designed the book cover for the German book " Portugal - a difficult problem " from 1976.

The ceramic artist

As a ceramic artist or azulejoist , he designed many buildings with his azulejo panels and is thus also perceptible as an artist in public spaces: there are azulejo panels by Manta, for example, at the Teatro Académico Gil Vicente in Coimbra (1956/62), which he helped design, at the headquarters of the Associação Académica de Coimbra (1959) or at the Caixa Geral de Depósitos in Mafra (1972).

In the capital Lisbon, it is mainly the restaurant (casino) of the luxury hotel Hotel da Avenida Infante Santo (1952) and the Escola Primária do Alto dos Moinhos (1955).

The painter

As a painter, he did not become very well known. His best-known work is the painting " Rua Guincho-Cascais " from 1989.

Poets' Cabinet

In a series, Manta drew countless great figures from Portuguese literature, each of which he gave a unique note, which means that the portraits each point to a special feature of life or work, without this being explicitly mentioned. The authors he portrayed include Camoes , Carlos de Oliveira , Aquilino Ribeiro , Eugénio de Andrade , Miguel Torga , Jorge de Sena , Eca de Queiros , Camilo Castelo Branco .

Awards (selection)

Prémio Nacional da Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, 1949.
Prémio Municipal de Architectura, 1957.
Prémio da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian , 1961.
Silver medal at the International Art Exhibition in Leipzig, 1965.

swell

personal data
SURNAME	Manta, João Abel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Portuguese caricaturist, painter, ceramic artist, graphic artist, cartoonist
DATE OF BIRTH	January 29, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH	Lisbon , Portugal