B R A Z I L I A N
FO L K A R T
Woodcuts by the Borges Family
& Other Artists from Pernambuco
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Artist and poet José Francisco Borges is Brazil's best-known folk artist working in the wood-cut medium, and his work has been exhibited all over the world. But he comes out of a long tradition of folk poet/artists who publish their own work in the form of small (generally about 6" by 9") cheap chap-books or pamphlets written in verse, known as folhetos. They are also known as literatura de cordel after the way vendors sell them in the marketplace, hanging over a string. This tradition (including the work of Borges) is described in detail by Candace Slater in her book Stories on a String. Other artists working in the folheto woodcut medium include José's sons, José Miguel da Silva and Ivan Borges, his brother Amaro Francisco Borges, his nephews, Givanildo and Severino, Marcelo Soares, and Abrao Batista of Juareiro do Norte in Ceara state.
Marion Oettinger, Jr. describes these folhetos in his book The Folk Art of Latin America: Visiones del Pueblo: "Brazilian chap books deal with popular poetry, accounts of local catastrophes, popular legends, famous crimes, and infamous love affairs. The Man who Married a Donkey, The Son Who Murdered His Parents in Order to Get His Hands on Their Retirement Benefit, The Football Game in Hell, and The Overturned Bus Disaster are examples of the alluring titles found in a typical marketplace. The front of these pamplets usually contain wood-block illustrations of the book's contents, and they, in themselves, form a special type of folk expression.... Frequently, chap book vendors sing the songs in their books or read aloud the contents of their books to market crowds, many of whom are illiterate, and their voices usually draw enormous gatherings."
Ivan Borges demonstrates printing at the International Folk Art market in Santa Fe, July, 2005 (Photo by A H Fisher)
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José Francisco Borges and Ivan Borges display finished print and woodblock. (Photo by A H Fisher)
A Arte de J. Borges do Cordel a Xilografia/ The Art of J. Borges from Cordel to Woodcuts
José Octavio Penteado, Tania Mills, Pieter Tjabbes
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brasilia, 2004
104 pages
Text in Portuguese and English, extensive illustrations
$60 (paperback) Out of print
Abrao Batista, 2007 (Photo by A H Fisher)
Abrao Batista at the International Folk Art Market, 2007 (Photo by A H Fisher)
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Jose Francisco Borges began writing verse for folhetos in his 20s, and soon also began to operate a printing press to produce woodcut prints for their covers. In the 1960s his woodcuts came to be recognized in their own right. He was encouraged to produce images in larger formats, in color as well as the more traditional black and white. But even in larger formats, his prints reflect the same popular themes, such as The Honeymoon of Matuto (an archetypal back-country bumpkin), The Monster of the Backlands, The Woman who Put the Devil in a Bottle, and many tales of the legendary bandit Lampiao. Borges' work has now been exhibited all over Brazil as well as in Paris, Zurich, Buenos Aires and in Germany and the United States. The Louvre, the Smithsonian and the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe have exhibited Borges' work. Borges also collaborated with the noted Uruguayan author, Eduardo Galeano, providing fanciful illustrations for his collection of equally fanciful tales, Walking Words. You may read more about Borges and the other woodcut artists in the New York Times article, "From Brazil's Backlands, a Master of a Folk Tradition" (March 27, 2002).
Still more recently, the New York Times carried an excellent article on the cordel tradition, featuring Borges and others, "The Traveling Troubadors of Brazil's Backlands" (June 14, 2005).
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Os Retirantes
José Miguel da Silva (Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil), 2006
Woodcut print on Kraft paper (13 1/2 x 17 1/2)
$110
SOLD 11/07 |
Os Retirantes
José Miguel da Silva (Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (13 1/2 x 17 1/2)
$120 SOLD 8/05 |
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O Presepio (Nativity) - black and white
Ivan Marquete Borges (Brazil), 2005
Woodcut print on paper (19 1/2 x 11 1/2)
(also available in color)
$110
Out of Stock |
O Presepio (Nativity) - color
Ivan Marquete Borges (Brazil), 2005
Woodcut print on paper (19 1/2 x 11 1/2)
(also available in color)
$110 |
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A Sereia do Mar
Ivan Marquete Borges (Brazil), 2005
Woodcut print on paper (11 1/2 x 19 1/2)
$120
Out of Stock |
Ilha Das Sereias (Island of the Sirens)
Givanildo Borges (Brazil), 2003
Woodcut print on paper (13 3/4 x 18 3/4)
$110 |
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Advogado dos Bichos (Animal Lawyer)
Severino Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (8 1/2 x 13)
$78 |
Amanhecer no Sertao (Dawn in the Sertao)
Severino Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (13 3/4 x 20)
$110 SOLD 9/06 |
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O Pescador (The Fisherman)
José Miguel da Silva (Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil), 2006
Woodcut print on paper (17 1/2 x 10)
$110 SOLD 4/2007 |
Capoeira
Amaro Francisco Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (14 3/4 x 17 1/2)
$110 |
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Vitimas do Descaso (Victims of Drought)
Givanildo Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (19 1/2 x 15)
$110 SOLD 4/05 |
Jogo do Baralho (The Card Game)
Givanildo Borges (Brazil), 2000
Woodcut print on paper (15 1/4 x 10)
$110 SOLD 10/06 |
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Bumba Meu Boi
Ivan Borges (Brazil), 2005
Woodcut print on paper (12 1/2 x 20)
$110 |
Lampiao e Maria Bonita no Sertao (Lampiao and Maria Bonita in the Sertao)
José Miguel da Silva (Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil), 2006
Woodcut print on paper (13 1/2 x 19 1/2)
$110 |
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O Namoro do Matuto
Ivan Borges (Brazil), 2006
Woodcut print on paper (19 1/2 x 11 1/2)
$110
Out of Stock |
A Sabia
Ivan Borges (Brazil), 2005
Woodcut print on paper (18 x 13)
$110
SOLD 7/07 |
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O Cordelista
José Miguel da Silva (Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil), 2006
Woodcut print on paper (6 1/2 x 8 1/2)
$42
Temporarily Out of Stock |
Luta de Capoeira
José Miguel da Silva (Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil), 2003
Woodcut print on paper (5 1/2 x 8)
$42
Temporarily Out of Stock |
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O Perdao (Forgiveness)
Amaro Francisco Borges (Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil), no date
Woodcut print on paper (17 1/2 x 14)
$145 |
A Diaba Buchuda
Ivan Borges (Brazil), 2006
Woodcut print on paper (19 3/4 x 11 1/4)
$110 |
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Os Artesãos
José Miguel da Silva (Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil), 2007
Woodcut print on paper (19 1/2 x 13 1/2)
$110 |
Forro No Arraia
Givanildo Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (9 1/4 x 6 3/4)
$42 |
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Diabos (Devils)
Givanildo Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (6 1/4 x 6)
$42 |
Lampiao
Givanildo Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (9 x 4 1/2)
$42 |
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Maria Bonita
Givanildo Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (8 3/4 x 4 1/2)
$42 |
Cavalo Marinho
Severino Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (5 x 6 1/2)
$42 |
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Bumba Meu Boi
Severino Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (4 3/4 x 6 1/4)
$42
SOLD 12/09 |
Frevo
Severino Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (4 3/4 x 6 1/4)
$42 |
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Boi Dente
Severino Borges (Brazil), 2004
Woodcut print on paper (4 3/4 x 6 1/4)
$42 |
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