Manuel Tovar Siles (born 10 August 1875 in Granada[1] - 10 April 1935) was a Spanish cartoonist and caricaturist. In addition to "Tovar", he also signed with the pseudonym "Don Hermógenes".[1]
Biography
Manuel Tovar was self-taught and was influenced by the artist Ramón Cilla. Despite some early collaborations for magazines in Valencia and Barcelona,[1] he soon moved to Madrid.[1] Tovar drew caricature portraits, political satire, and costumbrismo. He also worked in oil and watercolor painting, though he was less well known in those techniques.[1] His illustrations were published in periodicals like Madrid Cómico, Gedeón, La Correspondencia de Españan, El Liberal, ABC, El Sol, La Voz, La Esfera, Blanco y Negro, Nuevo Mundo, Mundo Gráfico, Buen Humor, El Imparcial, La Hoja de Parra, Gutiérrez, La Risa, ¡Oiga usted...!, Heraldo de Madrid, España Nueva, La Bandera Federal and Don Quijote, .
Personal life
He married Concepción Rodríguez and had two children, Manuel and Conchita.[1] Tovar is buried in the cemetery of La Almudena.[1]
Legacy
Tovar was described by Mariano Sánchez de Palacios as "one of the most representative figures of the journalistic Madrid of the first quarter-century". The newspaper La Libertad tagged him as "the most popular cartoonist in Madrid".[1]