“Bordalian” magazines

A significant part of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro’s graphic work was published in the gazettes he founded and owned. He began by launching publications that were short-lived: O Binóculo and A Berlinda, in 1870, and A Lanterna Mágica, in 1875, in which the character of Zé Povinho appeared for the first time. Between 1875 and 1879 he lived in Brazil, where he published O Mosquito, Psit!!, and O Besouro, which form part of the history of Brazilian caricature. On his return to Lisbon, in 1879, with O António Maria (1st series), he began a period of 25 years during which, despite some interruptions, his publications were made available to the public on an almost weekly basis. This was followed by Pontos nos ii (1885), a 2nd series of O António Maria (1891) and A Paródia (1900). Through these publications, we are able to follow the ins and outs of Portuguese social and political life, in a documentary and critical record, always filled with humour, where the figure of Zé Povinho, the Portuguese everyman, crops up regularly and is consolidated as an icon of the Portuguese people.

The Bordalo Pinheiro Museum has benefitted from an important partnership with the Lisbon Municipal Newspaper Library for the digitalisation of the magazines that Rafael Bordalo edited or with which he collaborated. These can be consulted online.