Master of all arts: Antonio Mingote

It is said that a picture speaks more than thousand words. It simply states that through a picture one can give more effective message but what happens when words and picture are equally effective?  Answer is magic. Mingote created such magic through his art. Antonio Mingote was a cartoonist, a journalist, an author, a theater person, and director of an animation film, an actor and what not.  Antonio Mingote like bigwig artist has contributed to Spanish artworks by all means.

Don Antonio Mingote Barrachina took birth on 17 January 1919. Antonio Mingote, popularly known as Mingote spent his childhood days in Daroca, Catalayud, Teruel and Zaragoza. Antonio Mingote took admission to study Philosophy and Arts at the University of Zaragoza, which he left in 1944 to settle in Madrid.

 In 1946, Antonio Mingote began his professional career with the then most popular weekly graphic humor magazine “La Codorniz”. After joining Antonio Mingote soon published his first novel, “Las palmeras de carton”. Antonio Mingote also edited the humorous magazine called “Don José”. In 1953, Antonio Mingote started working in “ABC news” the oldest and third largest (in Spain) Spanish newspaper. He was famous for his satirical and ironic stands which reflected from his cartoons.

Antonio Mingote designed sets and costumes for the musical comedy show “Ven y ven Eslava”; he did not stop here, he was also the artistic director for the 2002 animated film “Puerta del tiempo”.  “La Venganza de don Mendo” was very famous show in Spain, scenery and costumes of the show were brainchilds of Antonio Mingote.

Cartoon related to the 1962 NASA expeditions By Antonio Mingote

Antonio Mingote art work beautifully captured centuries of change in Spanish society, living habits. His cartoons were critical but they were not skeptical. Antonio Mingote used more ink and stronger lines in his cartoons to give kind of impact the message demanded as noted down by his art critics. Antonio Mingote employed sharper outlines with clearer strokes to portray exact character. Antonio Mingote was master of words as well as lines. Throughout his lifetime he achieved numerous awards like Gold Medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid, Knight's Cross of the Order of Isabella la Católica, National Journalism Award, Gold Medal for Merit in Work, Quevedos Spanish-American Prize for graphic humour Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts.   Antonio Mingote passed away in 2012 leaving legacy of not only cartoons but creative artwork.

Cartoonist who fought against Fascists

Many times in a life, we often come across persons who have created a new way of dealing with the subject without having formal education of the one, Sir David Low was one of them. Without having the formal education Sir David Low created wonders in the field of editorial cartoons. Sir David Low is considered as the greatest cartoonist of 20^th century. Sir David Low became role model for many artists all over the world, not only by his strokes, but also his fearless expression of creativity.

Sir David Low was an extra ordinarily creative as well as a studious kid. He used to study for so long that Low was taken out of the school, as his parents believed that he had been weakened by over studying. Low’s used to draw cartoons for his hobby. His first cartoon published in the British comic book called “Big Budget”, when he was just 11 years old. Interestingly Sir Low was first attracted towards the field of cartooning and caricatures by seeing British comics only.

Low worked for the Sydney Bulletin in Australia, later went to London to pursue his career. Sir Low also worked in the Canterbury Times where he got popularity due to his cartoons on William Hughes, the then prime minister of Australia

Low joined the Star, a London evening paper. This paper gave enough freedom to Sir Low. His cartoons in this period were influenced by left-wing thoughts. In 1927 he joined the Evening Standard as a political cartoonist. He made it clear before joining that, there would be no editorial interference in his work. The Evening Standard’s management also agreed and assured Mr. Low to give complete artistic freedom and to give dedicated half a page for his cartoons. This helped Mr. Low a lot in order to work on the concept as well as to sketch a cartoon detailing many things. Low’s many legendary characters like the Two-headed Ass, the TUC carthorse, and the Colonel Blimp are created in this period

Every artist needs an opportunity or an event to express his creative capabilities fully. Second World War gave such to the Sir Low. Disregarding the fact the Fascist forces were power in the beginning, Low continued to make fun of the Fascist by showing hollowness in their ideology. Sir Low’s cartoons on Fascist forces were so hard hitting that, the Hitler added his name in ‘A Black Book’, a list comprises of the persons to be punished after winning the allies. Even after getting threats, censor notices from various important persons he continued to fight a war against the Fascists. In a broader sense, Sir Low’s cartoon reduced the fear about the Hitler and gave kind of confidence which was needed.

Sir David Low's cartoon depicting Hitler dancing over the democracies due to spineless leaders.

 Sir Low used to describe himself as a nuisance dedicated to sanity. Being a cartoonist it is sometimes necessary to create inconvenience for the things which could harm the larger interest. So, Sir David Low, in his 50 years of career created such nuisances for evils with his 14,000 drawings and inspired many to do so. Sir David Low, showed not just an art but a fearless way to fight mighty enemy that too democratically, that is priceless!

So what you think, what are the reason due to which Sir David Low was seen as threat to Nazis?