IllustratedMagazinesandGraphicArts

Although Rio's visual arts were mostly produced within official institutions and an academic profile, the transformations taking place in Rio de Janeiro led artists from different backgrounds and profiles to work in the new media that began circulating among the population. Urban growth and the Parisian bent that Pereira Passos's reforms imprinted on the city center energized a series of sectors linked to culture and entertainment. Amid cinemas, phonograph shops, photography studios and architectural renovations, illustrated magazines became a craze and a workspace for a different kind of artist than the official painters of historical battles and sculptors of monuments. These were cartoonists, illustrators, future painters and designers in general who revolutionized the culture of the image in the city.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white illustration depicting a woman dressed in an elegant long gown and a large, extravagant hat. She is shown facing forward, arms crossed over her chest. In the background, there is a caricature of another female figure, also wearing a voluminous hat. The page contains text in Portuguese, with the title "FON-FON!" prominently displayed and the name "Réjane" highlighted on the right. The text describes an era and its characteristics, mentioning terms such as "arrivista," "dominador senhorial," and "inexperiência."

Having as one of its main origins the work of the Italian-Brazilian graphic artist Angelo Agostini and his Revista Ilustrada (founded in 1876), the republican era launched itself onto the country through Rio magazines such as O Malho (1902-1952), Careta (1908-1960) and Fon-Fon (1907-1958). Among many other successful titles, they brought to their pages of political criticism the graphic invention of the carioca urban spirit that was being born in the local belle-époque. Key names of this period were Nair de Teffé, Raul Pederneiras, Belmonte, K. Lixto (or Calixto), Malagute, among others.

Among the great artists of that period, the best known and most striking for his work was the Rio-born José Carlos de Brito e Cunha, known to all simply as J. Carlos. Illustrator, graphic designer, cartoonist, editor, he ran the magazine O Careta, for years, in addition to having collaborated with practically every major magazine of his time. The most striking aspect of his work was the creation of urban Rio types that – despite the explicit use of racist connotations that circulated openly in his time – became defining features of the population's public imagination. The melindrosa, the characters of Black culture such as sambistas, malandros, and ordinary people, made J. Carlos's work a form of urban and popular art that few students of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes managed to match on their canvases.

Image description: The image is a colorful illustration depicting a festive event. On the left side, there is a large orange-colored mountain with houses crumbling. At the top of the mountain, a man standing on a ladder is installing a sign that reads "RUA DA AMARGURA." In front of him, several people watch the event. The sign is being held up by a man wearing a red hat. In the background, more people are watching the ceremony. The illustration is in vivid colors, highlighting the orange of the mountain and the green of the characters' clothing.

Another important name in Brazilian visual arts that emerges within the scope of Rio's illustrated magazines is Di Cavalcanti. The young Rio native, still under twenty years old, was already working as an illustrator in the crowded pages of Fon-Fon magazine. Also making sophisticated covers, Di's art in this period had a strong influence of Art Nouveau, the European movement that was transforming graphic art in the West. Di not only made works for the magazines, but also had, in the editorial offices of A Cigarra magazine, the location of his first exhibition in the city, in 1917. His development led him closer to painting, even though his relationship with the artists who would found modernism in São Paulo alongside him was built through his graphic work -- such as the illustrations for Manuel Bandeira's book Carnaval or the famous poster for the Semana de Arte Moderna in 1922.

Image description: The image is a poster in shades of blue and orange. At the center is an illustration of a woman wearing a straw hat and a headscarf. She holds a wine bottle in her right hand. In the background, there are geometric decorative elements in blue. At the bottom, "FON-FON!" is written in large blue letters.