Hilde Weber (Waldau, Germany 1913 - São Paulo SP 1994)
Hilde Weber Abramo.
Political cartoonist, illustrator, draftswoman, painter, ceramist.
In 1932, she completed her studies at the Hamburg School of Graphic Arts. In that same period, she began drawing and painting courses and worked as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines in Altona, Germany. In 1933, she came to Brazil to rejoin her father, who had moved here in 1918, after the end of World War I (1914 - 1918). Hilde Weber remained in the country and, in Rio de Janeiro, worked alongside Rubem Braga (1913 - 1990), producing illustrations for Assis Chateaubriand's (1892 - 1968) Diários Associados. Between 1943 and 1950, she lived in São Paulo and created illustrations for the periodicals Folha de S. Paulo, Noite Ilustrada, O Cruzeiro and Manchete. She studied painting with Bruno Giorgi (1905 - 1993) and, with Alfredo Volpi (1896 - 1988) and Mario Zanini (1907 - 1971), devoted herself to ceramics and tile painting at Rossi Osir's (1890 - 1959) Osirarte. In 1949, she designed the set for the play Baile dos Ladrões [Thieves' Carnival] by Jean Anouilh (1910 - 1987). In 1950, she moved to Rio de Janeiro and worked at Carlos Lacerda's (1914 - 1977) Tribuna da Imprensa. She became known for her political cartoons and caricatures of President Getúlio Vargas (1882 - 1954). In 1962, she moved permanently to São Paulo and worked as a contributor to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo. In 1960, she received the Latin America Section prize of the World Newspaper Forum Caricature Competition for the best international cartoons. She took part in the 1st to 4th and the 6th editions of the Bienal Internacional de São Paulo [São Paulo International Biennial]. In 1986, she published Brasil em Charges 1950-1985 [Brazil in Cartoons 1950-1985] through Circo Editorial.
Critical Commentary
Hilde Weber ranks among the leading political cartoonists of the Brazilian press. Her most notable works are those made in the 1950s and published daily on the front page of Carlos Lacerda's (1914 - 1977) Tribuna da Imprensa. A fierce opponent of the government of Getúlio Vargas (1882 - 1954), Lacerda used the newspaper to demand the president's resignation. The caricatures created by Weber then became emblematic of that political campaign.
Perhaps it was Hilde Weber who best portrayed the moment of crisis of the Vargas Era. One example is the cartoon Daqui Não Saio [I'm Not Leaving Here], published on August 13, 1954, in which Vargas appears tiny, seated in the presidential chair, practically in flames, in an attitude of resistance to resignation.
Through her daily illustration of political and everyday events in Brazil, Weber became a chronicler who narrated tense and dramatic situations with good humor. Without dwelling on details, she worked with quick, unfinished strokes that seem to dialogue with the very speed of events. The economy of line and the constant concern with communicating give precision to her critical comments; she defined drawing as the ideal technique for "saying everything with little".
With the publication of the book Brasil em Charges 1950-1985 in 1986, Hilde Weber organized part of Brazilian political history, as commented on by her drawings in the pages of newspapers.
Collections
Acervo Artístico-Cultural dos Palácios do Governo do Estado de São Paulo [Art and Cultural Collection of the São Paulo State Government Palaces] - Palácio Boa Vista - Campos do Jordão SP
Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo Collection - MAC/USP - São Paulo SP
Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo Collection - MAM/SP - São Paulo SP
Critiques
"Hilde makes her maps of Brazil, a country she adopted, which is her land, as a whole conquered and chosen, and in which she draws on the richness of her agile line to deepen regional differences, to the point that each centimeter synthesizes a way of thinking and feeling, as only a draftswoman of her caliber can conceive. She makes an incision in the earth and in the clearings of the green. Customs, costumes, the characteristic posture of man and his production emerge, as well as the scenery and the animals, rooted in its depths. Only the immersion of someone who chose this land as her own could be so expressive with so few elements, born from the skillful movement of a hand wielding the bristles of a brush, with no possibility of hesitating and redoing, since the technique records every touch of the artist, as the 'biscuit' is quite susceptible. There is a visibly simplified treatment and an interest in commenting rather than merely transcribing, thus maintaining her caricaturist's vein, capable of a critical, ironic and good-humored discourse on Brazil's various realities. Remaining at Osirarte from 1941 to 1950, she had the opportunity to mature and individualize her expression".
Maria Cecília França Lourenço
OSIRARTE: pinturas sobre azulejo de Volpi, Zanini, Hilde Weber e Gerda Brentani. Apresentação de Jorge da Cunha Lima. Textos de Ciça França Lourenço e Ruth Sprung Tarasantchi. São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado, 1985.
Solo Exhibitions
1948 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Itapetininga
1955 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Galeria Ibeu
Group Exhibitions
1941 - São Paulo SP - 1º Salão Osirarte [1st Osirarte Salon], at Rua Barão de Itapetininga, 124
1942 - São Paulo SP - Salão do Sindicato dos Artistas Plásticos [Visual Artists' Union Salon], at Galeria Prestes Maia
1943 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Exposição de Azulejos da Osirarte [Osirarte Tile Exhibition], at Mnba
1944 - Belo Horizonte MG - Exposição de Arte Moderna [Modern Art Exhibition], at Edifício Mariana
1944 - São Paulo SP - Anita Malfatti, Clóvis Graciano, Hilde Weber, Nelson Nóbrega, Francisco Rebolo, at Galeria Jaraguá
1944 - São Paulo SP - Exposição de Pintura Moderna Brasileira-Norte-Americana [Brazilian-American Modern Painting Exhibition], at Galeria Prestes Maia
1944 - São Paulo SP - Mario Zanini, Bruno Giorgi and Hilde Weber, at Livraria Brasiliense
1944 - São Paulo SP - Nelson Nóbrega, Alfredo Volpi, Anita Malfatti, Clóvis Graciano, Hilde Weber and Francisco Rebolo, at Galeria Alerida
1944 - São Paulo SP - 9º Salão do Sindicato dos Artistas Plásticos [9th Visual Artists' Union Salon], at Galeria Prestes Maia - Matarazzo Prize
1946 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Osirarte, at Salón Peuser
1946 - São Paulo SP - Osirarte, at Galeria Benedetti
1946 - São Paulo SP - Salão do Sindicato dos Artistas Plásticos [Visual Artists' Union Salon], at Galeria Prestes Maia - Matarazzo Prize
1947 - Mendoza (Argentina) - Osirarte, at Galeria Gimenez
1947 - São Paulo SP - Aquarelas e Guaches [Watercolors and Gouaches], at Biblioteca Municipal Mário de Andrade
1951 - São Paulo SP - 1ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo [1st São Paulo International Biennial], at Pavilhão do Trianon
1952 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão Oficial de Arte Moderna [Official Salon of Modern Art] - silver medal
1953 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2º Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna [2nd National Salon of Modern Art] - jury exemption
1953 - São Paulo SP - 2ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo [2nd São Paulo International Biennial], at Pavilhão dos Estados - acquisition prize
1955 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 4º Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna [4th National Salon of Modern Art]
1955 - São Paulo SP - 3ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo [3rd São Paulo International Biennial], at Pavilhão das Nações
1957 - São Paulo SP - 4ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo [4th São Paulo International Biennial], at Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo Sobrinho
1960 - São Paulo SP - Contribuição da Mulher às Artes Plásticas [Women's Contribution to the Visual Arts], at MAM/SP
1961 - São Paulo SP - 6ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo [6th São Paulo International Biennial], at Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo Sobrinho - jury exemption
1961 - São Paulo SP - Humoristas [Humorists], with Jaguar, Fortuna, Ziraldo, Borjalo and Claudius, at Galeria Ambiente
1962 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão dos Jornalistas Liberais [Liberal Journalists' Salon] - gold medal (Caricature)
1971 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Paço das Artes
1974 - São Paulo SP - 6º Panorama de Arte Atual Brasileira [6th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art], at MAM/SP
1976 - São Paulo SP - O Desenho Jovem dos Anos 40 [Young Drawing of the 1940s], at Pesp
1979 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Group show, at Galeria Realidade
1985 - São Paulo SP - Osirarte: pinturas sobre azulejo de Volpi, Zanini, Hilde Weber e Gerda Brentani [Osirarte: Tile Paintings by Volpi, Zanini, Hilde Weber and Gerda Brentani], at Pesp
1987 - São Paulo SP - As Bienais no Acervo do MAC: 1951 a 1985 [The Biennials in the MAC Collection: 1951 to 1985], at MAC/USP
1989 - São Paulo SP - 20ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo [20th São Paulo International Biennial], at Fundação Bienal
1990 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1993 - São Paulo SP - Obras para Ilustração do Suplemento Literário: 1956 - 1967 [Works for Illustration of the Literary Supplement: 1956 - 1967], at MAM/SP
1994 - São Paulo SP - Bienal Brasil Século XX [20th-Century Brazil Biennial], at Fundação Bienal
Posthumous Events
1997 - São Paulo SP - O Humor Gráfico nos Anos 30, 40 e 50 [Graphic Humor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s], at Itaú Cultural
1997 - Belo Horizonte MG - O Humor Gráfico nos Anos 30, 40 e 50 [Graphic Humor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s], at Itaú Cultural
1998 - Brasília DF - O Humor Gráfico nos Anos 30, 40 e 50 [Graphic Humor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s], at Itaugaleria
1998 - Penápolis SP - O Humor Gráfico nos Anos 30, 40 e 50 [Graphic Humor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s], at Itaú Cultural
2002 - São Paulo SP - A Linha Como Estrutura da Forma [Line as the Structure of Form], at Espaço MAM - Villa-Lobos
2004 - São Paulo SP - Mulheres Pintoras [Women Painters], at Pesp
Source: Itaú Cultural
