Federico Tormo Monzó. Ink drawing "Mestalla 2- Cartagena 0". 1950. Football. Hand signed. 18x23 cm.
Excellent Valencian cartoonist and caricaturist.
Federico Tormo Monzó was born in Pinoso on April 15, 1890 and died in Valencia on September 12, 1971. He moved from his hometown to Valencia at the age of 17, and settled there, having D. Ricardo Verde as his teacher. Although he won first prize for posters advertising the July Fair in 1927, and also won other prizes in Granada, his first steps in the city of Turia were as a cartoonist in the sports section of the newspaper “Las Provincias”, between 1931 and 1935, with series dedicated to caricatures of renowned footballers and boxers, directors of Valencian clubs, journalists, and practitioners of other popular sports, such as greyhound racing. He stood out for his skill with the pencil when taking notes on sporting events, which were published periodically. On occasions he signed his drawings with the pseudonym “Motor”, which appears in some of his caricatures.
But he did not only cultivate sports themes, as he also stood out for his drawings related to bullfighting, caricaturing bullfighters of the stature of Marcial Lalanda, Félix
Rodríguez, Vicente Barrera or Domingo Ortega. Valencian cultural figures, such as musicians and writers, were also portrayed by Tormo Monzó with his particular stroke.
After the Civil War, the artist continued drawing, but alternating the art of caricature with that of painting, capturing the landscape of the cities he visited, such as Granada, Bilbao and Zaragoza, as well as Valencia.
The countless individual exhibitions he held throughout his life stand out, both in the city of Turia and in other parts of the country, and he has various paintings distributed abroad, one of which is in the private collection of Winston Churchill.
The painter's line is followed by his only pupil, José Agustí García, who knew his Artwork and shared his studio for more than 25 years.
