José Francisco Borges
José Francisco Borges (4 August 1935 – 26 July 2024), best known as J. Borges,[1] was a Brazilian folk poet and woodcut artist. He was considered the greatest woodcut artist in northeastern Brazil, and "the most celebrated master of the art."[2] His work was exhibited around the world, including at the Louvre and the Smithsonian. It is in the permanent collection of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Borges was a proponent of Cordel literature.[3]
Life
[edit]Borges was born in Bezerros, in the state of Pernambuco, and only attended one year of school, leaving at age 12.[4] As a young man, he worked as a bricklayer, farmhand, herb seller, carpenter and potter.[2] He began selling, and then writing and selling, the leaflets known as "cordel literature," containing epic poems illustrated with woodcut prints in a small format that the sellers would hang on strings, or cordeis. He began to illustrate them with his own woodcuts, eventually producing hundreds of different cordels or folhetos (leaflets, or chapbooks).[3] At his workshop in Bezerros, he mentored other woodcut artists including his brother Amaro, cousin Joel, son Ivan, nephews, and adopted son José Miguel da Silva.[3]
Borges died on 26 July 2024, aged 88, in the house he lived in for his entire life, in Bezerros.[4]
Work
[edit]According to Borges, producing a cordel takes two people two days of work.[5] By the 1980s, Borges stated that he was selling 500,000 copies of the leaflets each year, although their popularity declined in the 1990s.[5]
Meanwhile, starting in the 1960s, Borges began producing large-format woodcuts as well as smaller cordel illustrations. The large prints, eventually produced in color as well as the traditional black and white, are sold in galleries throughout the world. In addition to traditional scenes of life in the northeast, and folktale illustrations, he responded to the market in producing series including zodiac signs, and fruits of Brazil. His work was exhibited throughout Brazil, as well as in Paris, Zurich, Buenos Aires and in Germany and the United States.[6]
Borges also produced 135 illustrations for the 1993 book Walking Words by Uruguyan author Eduardo Galeano, and Publishers Weekly called the illustrations "enchanting, folksy woodcuts, mixing childlike wonder and surreal fantasy."[7]
Honors and Legacy
[edit]Borges was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit by Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. In 2002, he received a UNESCO award, and was chosen to illustrate the United Nations annual calendar. In 2005, he received a Living Heritage award from the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.[8] In 2018, the samba school from the neighborhood of Rocinha devoted their Carnival performance in Rio de Janeiro to a tribute to Borges, cordel literature, and the northeast.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Peduzzi, Pedro (26 July 2024). "A despedida de J. Borges, que fez das xilogravuras crônicas dos nordestinos". Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ a b Rohter, Larry (14 June 2005). "The Troubadours of Brazil's Backlands". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Rohter, Larry (27 March 2002). "From Brazil's Backlands, a Master of a Folk Tradition". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Morre J.Borges, mestre da xilogravura nordestina, aos 88 anos". O Globo. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ a b Borges, J. (1 January 2008). J. Borges por J. Borges [J. Borges by J. Borges] (in Portuguese and English). Brasilia, Brasil: UNB (published 2008). ISBN 978-8523008574.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Borges Family | Indigo Arts". indigoarts.com. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Walking Words by Eduardo H. Galeano". www.publishersweekly.com. 29 May 1995. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "Cartilha Patrimônios Vivos by Fundarpe - Issuu". issuu.com. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ Mais Carnaval (7 July 2017). 🦋 Rocinha lança enredo sobre a história da Xilogravura no Brasil para o Carnaval 2018 🦋. Retrieved 27 July 2024 – via YouTube.
External links
[edit]- Tesoros Trading Company reprint of New York Times article about Jose Borges
- http://www.mariposa-arts.net/GalleryMain.asp?GalleryID=136733&AKey=tjms9e5s
- Roots: J. Borges
- The Troubadours of Brazil's Backlands
- Prestes a completar 80 anos, J. Borges abre as portas do ateliê em Bezerros para fazer balanço sobre vida e obra, with video interview
- Museum of International Folk Art
- Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery
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