06 January,2009 07:16 AM IST | | Anjana Vaswani
Gerard Da Cunha, curator of the exhibition holds up the collector's piece titled, Mario De Miranda.
A collection of works by octogenarian Mario Miranda, who learnt to side-step controversy while making readers smile for over half a century, are currently on display at a Mumbai art gallery. Anjana Vaswani dropped by to see how the Goan cartoonist views the world
Curator of The World of Mario, architect Gerard Da Cunha tells us that Mario's passion for drawing developed when his mother gifted him a sketchbook to keep him from turning the walls of their Goa home into one giant canvas. "He loved to draw," says Da Cunha, going on to describe his friend Mario as a, "born artist". While Mario's cartoons have amused generations of Indians, few appreciate the man's skill as an artist, Da Cunha says. Da Cunha's compilation titled, Mario De Miranda and the exhibition will present Mario's imagery in a whole new light, he hopes.
Mario in Mumbai
Mario schooled in Bangalore, Da Cunha reveals, pointing out an illustration in his book where a teacher has caught a student sketching her nude!
Underneath are the words, "At last my hidden talents are brought to light. I have been discovered but the process is painful."
This actually happened to Mario, Da Cunha shares, telling us that after he completed his schooling, Mario made his way to Mumbai. He enrolled at JJ School of Applied Arts, and then moved to St Xavier's College. After graduation, he found work at various local publications. It was then that he struck a friendship with Behram Contractor, popularly known as Busybee. Behram was the writer of an immensely popular city-centric column, who Mario admits to have followed from one paper to another. "He had a special kind of humour which agreed with my kind of drawing. It blended very well," Mario says in his book.
Mario's trapped in a coffee table book
When Mario, wife Habiba and Gerard Da Cunha decided to publish a compilation of Mario's works in 2005, Da Cunha set about sourcing material for the same. He approached collectors, friends and family of the artist to put together 25 volumes of material, that took Da Cunha and editor Bevinda Collau00c3u0083u00c2u00a7o a whole year to shape into Mario de Miranda, a book that's available for Rs 2,700. The book is a treat for Mario enthusiasts, with pages out of the cartoonist's diaries (1947 to 1951) punctuated with sketches, cartoons and drawings that resulted from trips around the world.
Tommy hates his work
Mario's own satirical commentary in the book offers a glimpse into his life. Admitting to the subconscious inclusion of dogs in his drawings, Mario speaks of his love for man's best friend while describing his pet dog Tommy, as his worst critic: "He never liked my drawings. He used to pee on them regularly."
Mario tells readers how his drawings came to adorn the walls of Goa's Mayfair Hotel and Mumbai's Cafu00c3u0083u00c2u00a9 Mondegar among other club and theatre walls. Pictures of souvenirs and greeting cards that he designed, have also made it to the collection.
What's up for sale?
Mario's depiction of the expressions on the faces of men at Parisian strip clubs, forms one of Da Cunha's favourite prints at the exhibition. "Large prints will be limited to 50 pieces, and we also have a range of small, unlimited-edition prints," he shares. Boxed sets of greeting cards, tiles, posters and 6-print-portfolios of Mario's drawings of Germany, Paris, New York, Macau and Goa will also be on sale. Da Cunha estimates that the base price for one of the limited edition prints would be around Rs 2,000.
We loved: A Jesus Christ sketch that has been screen-printed onto tiles for the exhibition. New York's Twin towers, a temple in Kyoto, Mario's home in Loutolim, are among a list of
most popular.
Where and when?
The World of Mario is open till Saturday, January 17 at Cymroza Art Gallery, 72 Bhulabhai Desai Road, Breach Candy from 11 am to 7 pm (except Sundays). Call 23671983 Mario de Miranda is on sale here, for Rs 2,000.
