GENTE MENUDA. GRAN SUPLEMENTO INFANTIL ILUSTRADO

IN THE ABC GALLERY – SEVILLA
Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Opening hours subject to availability due to event organisation).

 

Gente Menuda was a publication that left its mark on Spanish children growing up in the first third of the 20th century. This exhibition introduces us to the universe of Gente Menuda, a publication ahead of its time, innovative, creative and avant-garde, which many consider to be the best children’s supplement in the history of Spanish journalism.

Gente Menuda was born in 1904, in a first stage, until 1914 it was published as a section within ABC and Blanco y Negro and at times as a separate supplement of these two publications. Its second stage began in 1928, again as a section of the magazine and from 1932 as an independent and free supplement. That was the period in which it was considered the best children’s supplement. The last issue of that publication was published on Sunday 19 July 1936. Between 1976-1978 and 1989-1999, the newspaper ABC revived a supplement of the same name, but with content mainly from other publishers, which is not included in this selection.

This exhibition aims to showcase the first Gente Menuda, from 1904 to 1936, through the works of its most outstanding creators and the characters that filled its pages. Among its most outstanding cartoonists were Francisco López Rubio (the graphic soul of the supplement), Sancha, Xaudaró, Regidor, Méndez Bringa, Espí, Máximo Ramos, Masberger, Tauler, Tono, Pellicer, K-Hito, Barbero, Salvador Bartolozzi, Piti Bartolozzi, Robledano, Alonso, A.T.C., Serny, Hidalgo de Caviedes, Climent, among many others. All of them created countless illustrations for the stories of the most important writers of their time, including Carlos Luis de Cuenca, María Atocha, María de Echarri, María de Perales, Elena Fortún, Aurelia Ramos, Antoniorrobles, Manuel Abril, Magda Donato and Matilde Ras, among others.

The illustrations published in the pages of Gente Menuda form a fundamental part of the extensive ABC Collection.

But above all the names mentioned, one name stood out, without surnames and not belonging to the real world: Celia, that endearing character born from the pen of Elena Fortún in 1928. Undoubtedly the most important character in Spanish children’s literature. But this little girl from Madrid was not alone, she was accompanied by the characters created by Francisco López Rubio: Roenueces, Don Oppas, Professor Bismuth or the Magician Pirulo and the little Lita and Lito. López Rubio was the graphic architect of Gente Menuda. We owe to this multifaceted creator the creation of the characters that inhabited the pages of the supplement and also the modern image, the avant-garde typography and the fun and varied content that was published every week.

Enjoy this exhibition like a child.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Francisco López Rubio was born in Motril in 1895. In 1915 he moved with his family to Madrid. Throughout his life he carried out various jobs in the media and artistic fields: scriptwriter, cartoonist, designer, radio announcer and set designer. In Madrid, he soon achieved great recognition as a cartoonist, especially from 1920 onwards when his caricatures won the third medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. It was the first time that caricatures were awarded prizes at this artistic event. His clean, synthetic style led him to be recognised as the master of the clear line.

In 1928 he began to collaborate with Blanco y Negro and two years later he landed in its children’s supplement, Gente Menuda, of which, with Elena Fortún, he was the great architect.

The Civil War surprised him in Madrid and he lived almost clandestinely. After the end of the conflict, he returned to work for ABC, especially in its Sevillian edition. He has been one of the great forgotten cartoonists despite the fact that his work was fundamental to the evolution of comic art and Spanish graphic design in the 20th century.

He died in Madrid in 1965.