Manuel Luque facts for kids

Manuel Antonin Ildefonse Cypriano Luque de Soria (born around 1853 or 1854 in Almería, Spain – died on November 8, 1924, in Autun, France) was a talented artist. He was known for drawing funny pictures of people, called caricatures. He also worked as a lithographer (someone who makes prints), a designer, and a painter. Manuel Luque spent most of his life working in Paris, France.

Manuel Luque, drawn by Ramón Cilla in 1884.

Manuel Luque's Life and Art

Manuel Luque grew up in a family that didn't have much money. When he was about 16, he moved to Madrid, the capital of Spain. In 1873, he started working as a cartoonist for a funny magazine called El Mundo Cómico [es]. This magazine didn't last very long.

The director of El Mundo Cómico, José Luis Pellicer, helped many young artists. He greatly influenced Manuel Luque's drawing style. While working there, Manuel also drew for other similar magazines.

In 1875, Manuel Luque moved to Paris, France. He lived in the Latin Quarter, a famous area for artists and students. He met Pierre Véron, who was the editor of two popular French magazines, Le Charivari and Journal Amusant. Véron helped Manuel become well-known as a caricaturist in France.

Even though Manuel returned to Madrid in 1876, he kept sending his drawings to Véron in Paris. From 1879 to 1880, he worked with another artist, Daniel Perea [es]. They decorated the fancy rooms at the Café de Fornos [es] and the Café de la Iberia [es] in Madrid.

Manuel Luque moved back to Paris in 1881 and stayed in France for the rest of his life. Between 1885 and 1890, he drew most of the cover pictures for a famous series called Les Hommes d'aujourd'hui [fr]. This series featured important people of the time.

He created 68 covers in total. One of his most famous covers shows the poet Arthur Rimbaud (drawn in 1888). Because of this drawing, he was asked to create a series of engraved portraits for a book called Les Poètes maudits by Paul Verlaine. He also illustrated a book about bullfights, Les Courses de taureaux, by Armand Dayot.

In 1892, Manuel Luque started a new part of his career as a painter. He showed his paintings in Madrid for many years. At the same time, he also drew caricatures again for a Spanish magazine called Blanco y Negro.

In 1908, he married Yvonne de Courneau de Bosquet. They soon moved to Autun, where he passed away in 1924. You can see some of his original artworks at the Musée Rolin in Autun.

Selected Covers by Manuel Luque

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  The engineer, Gustave Eiffel

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  The architect,
  Charles Garnier

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  The composer,
  Jules Massenet

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  Kaiser Wilhelm I

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  President
  Sadi Carnot

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  English explorer,
  Henry M. Stanley

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  The poet,
  Arthur Rimbaud

See also

In Spanish: Manuel Luque (dibujante) para niños