*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 60214 *** [Illustration: ERNESTO GARCIA CABRAL.] ERNESTO GARCIA CABRAL -A- MEXICAN CARTOONIST BY G. R. G. CONWAY [Illustration] Issued for private circulation from Calle de Marsella No. 47, City of Mexico. MCMXXIII Of this little book, one hundred and fifty copies have been printed for the amusement of friends, who will admire the genius of the famous Mexican cartoonist and at the same time forgive the shortcomings of the compiler. This copy, which is No. ____ is dedicated with friendly greetings to ____ By ____ _Xmas. 1923._ CONTENTS PAGE Biographical Foreword 7 to 13. ILLUSTRATIONS I. Ernesto García Cabral. II. Sr. Ing. Don Alberto Pani. III. Lic. Miguel Alessio Robles. IV. Sr. Ing. Antonio Madrazo. V. Lic. Benito Javier Pérez Verdía. VI. Lic. Luis Manuel Rojas. VII. Sr. Lic. Antonio Pérez Verdía F. VIII. Sr. Don Carlos B. Zetina. IX. Don José de la Macorra. X. The late Don Genaro García. XI. Sr. Don Carlos Meneses. XII. Señora Eugenia de Meléndez. XIII. Dr. Atl. XIV. Hon. William Howard Taft. XV. Ambassador Fletcher. XVI. Mr. George T. Summerlin. XVII. Mr. Matthew Elting Hanna. XVIII. Mr. Oscar Maxon. XIX. Mr. William Randolph Hearst. XX. Mr. Henry Ford. XXI. Ramón del Valle Inclán. XXII. Josef Lhévinne. XXIII. Anna Pavlowa. XXIV. Mr. E. R. Peacock. XXV. G. R. G. Conway. XXVI. Mr. Claude Marsh Butlin. XXVII. Georges Carpentier. XXVIII. Jack Dempsey. XXIX. Rodolfo Gaona. XXX. Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. XXXI. Juan Belmonte. XXXII.-LVIII. Political, Social and Topical Cartoons. Ernesto García Cabral _Once, on a glittering ice-field, ages and ages ago,_ _Ung, a maker of pictures, fashioned an image of snow,_ _Fashioned the form of a tribesman--gaily he whistled and sung,_ _Working the snow with his fingers. Read ye the Story of Ung!_ _Pleased was his tribe with that image--came in their hundreds to scan--_ _Handled it, smelt it, and grunted: “Verily, this is a man!_ _“Thus do we carry our lances--thus is a war belt slung,_ _“Lo! it is even as we are. Glory and honor to Ung!”_ ....................... _Straight on the glittering ice-field, by the caves of the lost Dordogne,_ _Ung, a maker of pictures, fell to his scriving on bone--_ _Even to mammoth editions...._ (_KIPLING_) The art of the cartoonist was flourishing in the palaeolithic age, about fifty thousand years ago. In the caves of Dordogne, in Southern France, the early artist scraped and scratched his figures of reindeers and mammoths, and colored them in red, white and black. He was a magic worker, using his remarkable art to impress his less skilled brother. The caricaturist belongs to a much later period; but he, too, was in evidence in Greece during the days of Aristophanes, a century or two before the artistic genius of the Maya race carved and modelled their quaint, grotesque figures of men and animals. That the art of caricature is an ancient one in Mexico we have abundant evidence. The artist usually worked in clay, but he also made drawings with pointed obsidian knives or charcoal on stone. Representations of his art craft can be seen in many of the ancient codices. In Padre Sahagun’s illustrations (the Florentine Codex) we find many whimsical and fantastic sketches, grim with sardonic humor. Except here and there, on rare occasions, the art of caricature which flourished in Europe during the Spanish Colonial period, was dormant in Mexico. In the Codex of San Juan Teotihuacan, which dates from the middle of the sixteenth century, we see the Indian artist caricaturing the portly Augustinian friars, and revealing with tragic earnestness the suffering of the poor natives whom the monks compelled to build their beautiful churches to the “Glory of God.” But the art of satirical expression can only be developed when some degree of freedom obtains. Under Spanish rule and the rigid jurisdiction of the Inquisition no freedom of thought was possible. With the changed conditions brought about by the separation of New Spain from the mother country there was liberty enough--and even license--for the caricaturist, which he used with biting satire against the ever-changing political heroes. To-day, the political cartoonist in Mexico is a powerful factor in moulding public opinion against influential persons. Since the fall of Porfirio Diaz the daily and weekly journals have been enlivened by the cartoons of a brilliant group of young men--foremost and leader of them all is Ernesto Garcia Cabral, the fertile genius who has daily depicted and delineated every phase of Mexican life and politics. Cabral, who is quite young, was born in the year 1891, in Huatusco, a picturesque village in the State of Veracruz. As a child of three or four years he amused himself by tracing figures on the ground and before the age of fourteen he delineated figures of animals and saints on the walls of the village church. At that time he also discovered his future artistic bent in making profile caricatures of his younger brothers and school-fellows. His school teacher, early recognizing the ability of the boy in draughtsmanship, persuaded the “Jefe Politico” of the district to solicit a scholarship from Señor Don Teodoro Dehesa, the enlightened Governor of the State. Señor Dehesa, a patron of art, who frequently acted as a Maecenas to struggling artists, granted the young Ernesto the coveted bursary which entitled him to enter the San Carlos Academy in the Capital of the Republic. There he was able to improve his technique, but the scholarship did not make him independent. To live and continue his studies it was necessary for him to earn money. He therefore commenced to draw for the public, collaborating in the publication of a lithographed political paper called “La Tarantula.” In this paper, directed by Fortunato Herrerías, he dedicated himself exclusively to the art of caricature. At the end of six months he joined the staff of the short-lived comic weekly “Frivolidades” which soon had to stop publication for want of funds. The next important step in Cabral’s career was his collaboration with Mario Vitoria, in the well-known political weekly “Multicolor” and through the medium of this paper his drawings became known to a wider and more influential circle. “Multicolor” had great political influence during the three years it was published (1911-1914), and helped very powerfully towards the making and unmaking of the political idols of the hour. It was during this period that the brilliant young artist came to the notice of President Madero, who decided to send him to Paris to continue his studies at the expense of the Mexican Government. Cabral settled in Paris in 1912 and pursued his studies at the free academies of Colorossi and the Grande Chaumiére. Cabral’s native land was soon afterwards passing through the agonies of revolution and the tragic death of Madero left the artist penniless, as the new Government stopped all the bursaries of Mexican students then studying under official patronage in Europe. Deprived of all means of subsistence, Cabral, as he once told the present writer, was, for a time, actually starving. Some amelioration came to him as the result of winning a competition inaugurated by an official Academy of Painting at No. 80 Boulevard Montparnasse, the prize being free admission to the upper class of drawing from the nude. The competitors, who were fifteen in number, were required to make in five hours--one hour a night--a crayon drawing of a Greek statue. The starving artist’s success, ironically enough, was communicated by the Mexican Consul in Paris, to the Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts in Mexico, and the local press made Cabral the subject of flattering comment. Cabral was then able to continue his studies without expense, but was compelled at the same time to struggle gallantly for a pittance, by selling the productions of his pencil through the “Marchand de Tableaux”--and shortly afterwards he was taken on the staffs of “Le Rire” and “Bayonette.” When the Great War broke out, Cabral was again in difficulties. Paris cared only for her own cartoonists, and it was then that he lived the bohemian life of the Latin Quarter--that centre of cardiac energy--described so graphically by Du Maurier and Murger, with the usual companionship of a sweet, pious and self-sacrificing blonde “Midinette” who shared the dark days of his misery. At that time, he has told us, he was in the habit of casting lots with his bohemian companions, to see who would procure sufficient funds for the satisfying of their ravenous stomachs--a motley lot of comrades in adversity, including would-be painters, musicians, poets and journalists. Garcia Cabral had, on more than one occasion, the experience of resorting to extraordinary stratagems to obtain sufficient food for their wants. During 1918, when the Constitutional Government of Mexico was presided over by Don Venustiano Carranza, there was residing in Paris as the special envoy of the President, Lic. Isidoro Fabela, and under Sr. Fabela’s generous protection Cabral was appointed an Attaché in the Mexican Legation, his duties being the pleasant task of illustrating a book of narratives which Señor Fabela was intending to publish. Shortly afterwards, he accompanied Señor Fabela on his official missions to Madrid and Buenos Ayres and in the Argentine capital they stayed fifteen months. There, in the interest of a Mexican national propaganda, Cabral contributed his cartoons to the principal newspapers and reviews, achieving a very considerable reputation in the Argentine. In the beginning of 1919, after an exile of seven years, Cabral returned to his native land and his work immediately began to appear in the weekly “Revista de Revistas” and in the influential daily newspaper “Excelsior.” Since that time his career has been one of unbroken success and of extraordinary popularity. Cabral’s amazing drawings are worthy of taking rank with those of the most distinguished foreign cartoonists. He can, with equal facility, produce the most humorous of cartoons or the most satirical of caricatures. In his cartoons of representative people, he seems to extract by critical penetration--sympathetically--the quintessential expression of his subject. He is always an artist, a consummate designer and a psychological observer who analytically peers into the minds of men and lays bare their personalities. His art is versatile. In line, he excels as no other Mexican artist; but he is also a master of chiaroscuro, and as an illustrator his understanding of the massing of color is extraordinary. During the past three or four years, Cabral must have produced several thousand cartoons and caricatures. His cartoons of representative people in Mexico have been drawn mostly from life, each sketched rapidly and surely in a little over half an hour. His political, social and topical cartoons form a kaleidoscopic history of contemporary Mexico. A great political question, such as the official American recognition of President Obregon’s Government, finds Cabral sympathetically interpreting the international aspirations of the Mexican people. The danger of Bolshevism in the State of Veracruz becomes a subject for many convincing cartoons, of more influence than dozens of leading articles. Mexico City, due to an exceptional drought, is called upon to economize in its use of electric energy and daylight-saving is officially established for a time. Cabral, during the crisis, daily illustrates the necessity. He wages war upon incompetent medical men, portrays the risk the pedestrian takes on the crowded streets of the Capital, the evil effects of unlawful strikes, and so on;--every phase in the everchanging life of the Capital is eloquently depicted. In some of his cartoons of persons he subordinates caricature in favor of true portraiture, and in others, the kindly sympathetic personality of the artist changes rapidly into the satirist and cynical student of life with an ineradicable memory of its shams and miseries. For the selection of the cartoons reproduced in this book the writer is responsible; it does not profess to represent Cabral’s best work, and he himself would probably have chosen quite differently from the thousands he has done. The cartoons have suffered by reduction and reproduction, as the majority of them have been copied direct from the “Excelsior.” Nos. I., XVII-XXIV and XXV, were reproduced from the original drawings. The writer’s apology for a selection that may not represent the best of the artist’s work is due to the cartoonist, as those reproduced have been selected on account of their personal appeal to the friends for whom this limited edition is intended. Cabral hopes, at an early date, to publish a representative collection of his work--which all lovers of his art will joyfully welcome. A critical study of the Mexican cartoonist’s genius will some day be attempted. This little book does not pretend to be anything more than an appreciation by an admirer, who lacks the critical and artistic knowledge to determine Cabral’s true place among cartoonists in Mexico and abroad. _G. R. G. CONWAY._ [Caption for following illustration: I. ERNESTO GARCIA CABRAL. As he sees himself.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: II. SR. ING. DON ALBERTO PANI. Has held the Portfolios of Foreign Affairs, and of Commerce and Industry. Was formerly Mexican Minister accredited to France and is now Minister of Hacienda. He is the “handy man” of the Mexican Government: a cultivated engineer, a technical and political writer, and a lover of art. A genial spirit, perpetually smiling and smoking.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: III. LIC. MIGUEL ALESSIO ROBLES. Recently Minister of Commerce and Industry. Formerly Mexican Ambassador to the Court of Madrid.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: IV. SR. ING. ANTONIO MADRAZO. During President Carranza’s administration acted as Sub-secretary of the Department of Finance; and under President Obregon has been Governor of the State of Guanajuato.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: V. BENITO JAVIER PEREZ VERDIA. Lawyer, journalist and man of letters. One of the founders of the Fascisti movement in Mexico.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: VI. LIC. LUIS MANUEL ROJAS. One of the originators of the Mexican Constitution of 1917; the founder of the “Revista de Revistas” and a prominent mason.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: VII. SR. LIC. ANTONIO PEREZ VERDIA F. An eminent lawyer and Chairman of the Mexican Bar.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: VIII. SR. DON CARLOS B. ZETINA. A progressive and democratic captain of industry who realizes that the old order passeth giving place to the new. Many of his friends would like to see him a future President of the Republic; but he prefers a more tranquil pathway along life’s pilgrimage.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: IX. DON JOSE DE LA MACORRA. A representative Spanish merchant and manufacturer of paper.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: X. THE LATE DON GENARO GARCIA. A scholarly historian of Mexico, who gave to the world for the first time an exact transcript of the Guatemala manuscript of “The True History of the Conquest of New Spain” by that lovable and garrulous old conquistador, Bernal Diaz. Genaro Garcia’s fine library is now a treasured possession of the University of Texas.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XI. SR. DON CARLOS MENESES. A notable Mexican musician. Founder of the School of Pianists and organizer of the first symphonic concerts in Mexico; one who has done much for the advancement of music in his native land.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XII. SEÑORA EUGENIA DE MELENDEZ. A well-known Mexican woman writer.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XIII. DR. ATL. Originator of the Casa Mundial (I. W. W.) of Mexico. As a writer and teacher has done a great deal to popularize the minor arts of Mexico. Is a painter with ultra-impressionistic tendencies, and well-known as an intrepid climber of Popocatepetl.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XIV. HON. WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT. Twenty-seventh President of the United States; now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XV. AMBASSADOR FLETCHER. Formerly Ambassador of the United States in Mexico; an authority on Latin America; now Ambassador in Belgium. Has had long diplomatic experience, his whole career having been spent in the service in many lands.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XVI. MR. GEORGE T. SUMMERLIN. Counsellor of the American Embassy with Ambassador Fletcher when he took office in 1917, and since January 1919 has been Chargé d’Affaires. “Summie,” as his intimate friends affectionately call him, has served his country well and has gained the respect and confidence of the Mexican people. His friends hope that his expected promotion will take him to the Court of St. James.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XVII. MR. MATTHEW ELTING HANNA. Has charge of Mexican affairs in the State Department of Washington. “Joe,” as he is known to all his friends in Mexico City, was formerly First Secretary of the American Embassy. He is a hard worker, a genial host and a welcome guest and is greatly missed in the Capital.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XVIII. MR. OSCAR MAXON. Maxy is the wittiest American in Mexico City. Probably he would be called in his own home town “a wealthy and prominent realtor.” He collects many beautiful things and is always willing to open his packing cases to show them to genuine lovers of antiques.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XIX. MR. WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XX. MR. HENRY FORD.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXI. RAMON DEL VALLE INCLAN. The most skilful musician among modern Spanish poets. As a visitor to Mexico he received an indifferent welcome from his “paisanos” owing to his outspoken remarks on the reigning Spanish monarchy.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXII. JOSEF LHEVINNE. The eminent pianist who always finds a popular welcome in Mexico City.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXIII. ANNA PAVLOWA. The Queen of dancers.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXIV. MR. E. R. PEACOCK. A Canadian by birth and a graduate in arts of Queen’s University. About 20 years ago was a senior master in Upper Canada College, Toronto. From there he entered the world of finance in London and now has the distinction of being the first Director of the Bank of England appointed outside of the esoteric circle of “the City”--a tribute not only to himself but a compliment to Canada. Is actively interested in many British enterprises in Mexico, Spain and South America.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXV. G. R. G. CONWAY. “Cuando había agua.” (Excelsior, 11th February, 1921.)] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXVI. MR. CLAUDE MARSH BUTLIN. The best all-round sportsman in Mexico. As becomes an Englishman he excels in cricket; has been for many years tennis champion; a scratch golfer and withal a fine player of the difficult game of pelota.] [Illustration] XXII GEORGVE CARPENTER The famous French puglist. [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXVIII. JACK DEMPSEY.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXIX. RODOLFO GAONA. A Mexican “Torero” and the idol of the bull-fighting public. He is reputed to be the bravest that ever appeared in the rings of New Spain.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXX. IGNACIO SANCHEZ MEJIAS. A very brave and ambitious bull-fighter from Seville. Formerly a student of medicine, he abandoned his profession for the plaudits of the middle and upper-class frequenters of the bull-ring, who adore him.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXI. JUAN BELMONTE. The “Phenomenon” from Seville, who thrills his excitable audiences with his daring work near the horns of the bull.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXII. FINAL CONSULTATION. HE WHO IS POINTING (President Obregon): “Energy within the law!” ... PUBLIC OPINION: “I have confidence in you, Doctor.”] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXIII. INTERNATIONAL TAILORING. President Obregon: When will you let me have the suit, boss? Uncle Sam: We require many fittings (pruebas) yet, General. (“Pruebas” in Spanish means both fittings and proofs.)] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXIV. THE RECOGNITION QUESTION. General Obregon, as Ford driver: Ready sir? Uncle Sam: Does the car go well? Ford Driver: Just examine (reconozca) it and you’ll see. (“Reconocer” in Spanish means both examine and recognize.)] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXV. WILL HE GIVE HER THE DEATH BLOW? Cabral here depicts the strangling of Industry in the State of Veracruz by Bolshevism.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXVI. TAKE YOUR MUSIC ELSEWHERE. The Average Man: “What a goat’s whiskers he’s got.”] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXVII. WHAT A KNOCK IN THE EYE! This cartoon refers to an insulting and threatening telegram sent by the Strike Committee to General Obregon during a Tramways strike in Mexico City, and the President’s vigorous reply.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXVIII. Employer: I won’t give you work because you get drunk so often. Workman: Not very often, boss; only when I celebrate my name day. Employer: What’s your name? Workman: Domingo. (Sunday).] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XXXIX. INFALLIBLE FOR HEADACHES. “Comment unnecessary.” In Mexico City the jitney is a terror to the pedestrian. Upon this one is an advertisement of a patent medicine “Infallible for headaches.”] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XL. He: I am reading a sensational piece of news. She: What is it? He: An automobile knocked a man down and killed him. She: That’s nothing; many people are knocked down every day. He: Yes, but in this case they arrested the chauffeur.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLI. “Excuse me, sir, has the Colonia-Roma tram gone by?” “Do you take me for a tram despatcher?” “No, sir, I mistook you for a gentleman, that’s all.”] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLII. IS LIGHT NECESSARY? “Shall we get accustomed to being without light, friend?” “That is a matter of indifference to me as my wife gives a tremendous lot of light.” (In Spanish, the verb “To give light” means also “To give birth.”)] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLIII. EL CONFLICTO DE LUZ Y FUERZA (The Light and Power Conflict) Who gave you that, brother? Luz, (Light) my wife. What energy she used! Naturally, seeing she has lots of motive power. (fuerza motriz.)] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLIV. THE OFFICIAL TIME. Widow: He died at four in the morning, official time, without making a will; he didn’t have time to do so.... ... God’s will be done; but if he had died at four o’clock astronomical time, everything would have been all right!] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLV. OFFICIAL TIME. “I’m awfully sorry to tell you, old man, but on Saturday, at 11 o’clock at night, I saw your wife with another man.” “You lie, you idiot!” “Man!--You insult me!” “It was twelve o’clock. Don’t you know that we are an hour in advance?” “You’re quite right--pardon me.”] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLVI. THE WATER CRISIS. “Have you noticed that black shirts are fashionable?” “Certaintly--it is the triumph of Fascismo.” “Rubbish!--it’s on account of excess of dirt and want of water.”] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLVII. OUR RESTAURANTS. Diner: Imbecile!--the fish you gave me a week ago was better. Waiter: You are the imbecile--because I can prove to you it’s the same!] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLVIII. 1st kiddie: My parents bought me new shoes and a little brother in Paris. 2nd kiddie: Oh well, mine didn’t bring me shoes because they bought me twins.] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: XLIX. SAFETY AT NIGHT. The Young Fellow: My wife has just given birth to twins--at four o’clock in the morning. The Old Boy: Well, that’s very commendable caution. Few people care to arrive alone in Mexico at that hour.] [Caption for following illustration: L. THE HENPECKED ONE. Lunch time, and my wife so jealous! What the deuce am I to do to justify my late arrival?] [Illustration] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: LI. BETWEEN MILK VENDORS. “How many liters of milk does your cow give, Don Pancho?” “About eight liters, Doña Julia.” “And how many do you sell?” “Oh, not more than twenty.”] [Caption for following illustration: LII. “So you’ve finished crying at last!” The Kid: “No!” (sniffling)--“I’m only resting a little.”] [Illustration] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: LIII. IRONY. He: After you Madame!] [Caption for following illustration: LIV. FAMILY DISPUTES. He: And so you are capable of saying I am two-faced! She: Heavens, no! The one you have is enough!] [Illustration] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: LV. The Padre:--(Teaching his pupil the ten commandments) The fifth--‘Thou shalt not kill.’ The Pupil: Not even when I have “fuero,” father? (“Fuero” is a privilege granted to Congressmen and others which exempts them from arrest for crimes committed when holding office.)] [Caption for following illustration: LVI. FATHERS OF THE COUNTRY. “To think I have so many and am so neglected!” (Congressmen in Mexico are called “Fathers of the Country.”)] [Illustration] [Illustration] [Caption for following illustration: LVII. THE FAUX PAS. “What do you think of my wife’s voice?” “Excuse me, that woman’s making such a noise I can’t hear a word!--What were you saying?”] [Caption for following illustration: LVIII. “Why don’t you marry Rose?” “Nothing doing, old man. She’s bitterly opposed to divorce.”] [Illustration] [Illustration] End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ernesto Garcia Cabral, by George Robert Graham (G. R. G.) Conway *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 60214 ***