Oscar Conti facts for kids
Oscar "Oski" Conti (born in 1914, died October 30, 1979) was a very important cartoonist and humorist from Argentina. He was known for his funny drawings and unique style.
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Oski's Early Life and Art
Oscar Esteban Conti was born in Buenos Aires in 1914. He went to the National Fine Arts School to study art. To pay for his studies, he drew funny pictures for advertisements. After graduating, he also studied scenography, which is the art of designing sets for plays and movies.
Starting His Career
Even though he didn't love drawing for magazines at first, Oski started working for Cascabel magazine in 1942. This is where he first began signing his drawings as "Oski."
In 1944, he created his only comic strip character, "Amarroto," which means "Miser." This character appeared in Rico Tipo, a very popular funny magazine in Argentina.
Working with César Bruto
A humorist named Carlos Warnes, also known as "César Bruto," asked Oski to draw for his weekly feature called Versos y noticias. This was a funny look at current events. Instead of real photos, Oski drew silly caricatures of the news. His drawings became very popular.
Oski's unique style, with his tall, thin human characters and birds without feathers, started appearing in many popular magazines and in Clarín, a widely read newspaper in Argentina.
Oski's Famous Works
Oski's art was in high demand. He even worked with the famous Irish writer George Bernard Shaw. Oski helped with the Argentine show of Shaw's play, Androcles and the Lion, in 1953.
Animated Films and Satirical Stories
In 1952, a collection of Oski's best drawings was published. He also made an animated film in 1959 called The First Foundation of Buenos Aires. This film was a funny, slapstick look at the Spanish Conquistadores (explorers) and their fights with the native people. At the time, historical events were usually shown very seriously, so Oski's funny take was quite different.
He continued this theme in his funny comic book, The True History of the Indies, published in 1968. Oski also drew for special versions of famous Argentine books. For example, he illustrated a University of Buenos Aires edition of Estanislao del Campo's Fausto, which was a classic story with a gaucho (Argentine cowboy) as the main character.
Moving Abroad and Returning
Because his work was known around the world, Oski moved to Santiago, Chile in 1970. He did this partly to support President Salvador Allende. While in Chile, he drew for Cabrochico Magazine. He returned to Argentina in 1972.
Back in Buenos Aires, Oski contributed to the magazine Satiricón. He illustrated the very popular book True History of Sports in 1973 and published another collection of his work called Oski in His Own Ink.
When Satiricón magazine was closed by the government in 1974, Oski started to avoid drawing about political topics. Instead, he worked with César Bruto again on funny books like The Brutoski Medicinal Handbook.
Later Years and Legacy
As the political situation in Argentina became more difficult in 1975, Oski moved to Barcelona, Spain. He worked there briefly for a publishing company. In 1976, he moved to Rome, Italy, where he drew for some magazines.
His health began to decline, and as the government in Argentina became a little less strict in 1979, he decided to return home. He even contributed to a funny TV show on public television about the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
Oski passed away on October 30, 1979, at the age of 65. Many collections of his work have been published since he died, including El Maestroski in 1989. His unique and funny drawings continue to be remembered.
See also
In Spanish: Oscar Conti para niños
