Eminent Cartoonist Mario Miranda (85) passes away at Goa

Agencies

Panaji, 11 December 2011:  Acclaimed cartoonist Mario Miranda, who made Goan landscapes and people come alive on canvas, died at his ancestral home in Loutolim early on Sunday after a long illness, family sources said. He was 85.

 

“He had been ailing for long and he passed away peacefully in his sleep,” his grieving widow Habiba told the media.

 

Miranda is survived by his wife and two sons. Lautolim is 35 km from Panaji.

 

Mario had been ill with multiple complications for few years and had not been very active on the art scene though he occasionally made sketches for some publications.

 

 

 

Mario de Miranda has been described as a significant social cartoonist, as a reluctant political cartoonist, as India’s only outdoor cartoonist or comic artist, and as the country’s greatest visual chronicler. It is also said that Mario would have described himself as a visual diarist who took recourse to images where others would have opted for words. 

 

 

Mario de Miranda has not formally studied Art and began his career as a Cartoonist for the Times of India Group in 1953. He later moved into illustration and fine art. He has illustrated numerous books including Inside Goa by Manohar Malgonkar, A family in Goa and The Open Eyes by Dom Moraes. Amount his own books are Goa with Love, A little World of Humor, Sketch book, Germany in Wintertime, Impression of Paris and Mario de Miranda He has been invited to sketch and exhibit in many Countries including U.S.A., Japan, Germany, Spain and France. He is also the recipient of many National and International honours. He lives in Goa with his wife Habiba and has two sons Rishaad and Raul.