Florencio Molina Campos (birth name, Florencio de los Ángeles Molina Campos, August 21, 1891 – November 16, 1959) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

illustrator and a painter known for his typical traditional scenes of the

Pampa The Pampas (; from Quechuan languages, Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Buenos Aires Pro ...

. His work represents gauchesco scenes with a bit of humor.

Biography

Molina Campos was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. His first exhibition was at the Central Hall of the Argentine Rural Society, in 1926.

Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Máximo Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear y Pacheco (4 October 1868 – 23 March 1942) served as president of Argentina between from 1922 to 1928. His period of government coincided precisely with the end of the Post-war, postwar world crisis, w ...

, the

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

at that time, named him art teacher of the "Colegio Nacional Avellaneda" after seeing the exhibition. In 1930, the Alpargatas Argentina company, makers of

espadrilles Espadrilles ( or ; ; ; ; ) are casual, rope-soled, flat but sometimes high-heeled shoes. They usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made of esparto rope. The esparto rope sole is the defining characteristic of an e ...

, under the supervision of engineer Luis Pastorino, commissioned 12 illustrations (using

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouach ...

technique) from him for their 1931 calendar. These were so successful that Molina Campos continued to provide the drawings for the next 12 years. In 1942 he exhibited at the Modern Art Museum of San Francisco, which following the exhibition toured the United States. In 1956 he had an exhibition at the Witcomb Gallery in Buenos Aires. Walt Disney Molina Campos

In the late 1940s until the mid-1950s he was engaged as a creative artist consulting for the studio of his long-time friend

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

. Together during their trips to

Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...

they worked on the creation of characters for the 1942 animated film, ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

''. His contribution to the film can be recognized in the style of the animals and trees in the film that reproduces the wild life of Victoria Island on

Nahuel Huapi Lake Nahuel Huapi Lake () is an Andean lake in the lake region of northern Patagonia between the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén, in Argentina. The lake has a northwest-southeast elongated shape and complex geography with several branches, pe ...

, in Argentina's

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

. As an artistic consultant with the Disney studios he also contributed in the creation of inexpensive package films, containing collections of cartoon shorts, and issued them to theaters during this period. The most notable and successful of these were ''

Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Set in Latin America, it is made up of four different segments; Donald Duck ...

'' (1942), its sequel ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action and animated musical propaganda anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the ...

'' (1945), ''

Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy anthology film produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen and released on September 27, 1947, by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is a compilation of two stories: ''Bongo'', narrate ...

'' (1947) and in the original movie poster of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' (1951). In 1946 Molina Campos published ''Vida Gaucha'', a text book for Spanish students in the United States. In 1950 he won the '' Clarín'' Award gold medal in the 5th Argentine Artists Exhibition. He also worked as an actor in the short ''Pampa Mansa'', screened in the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

which he attended as honored guest.Molina Campos y la taba
by Andrés Cáceres on Los Andes, 21 Nov 2004

References

External links

*
Fundación Florencio Molina Campos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molina Campos, Florencio Artists from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine illustrators 1891 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Argentine painters Argentine male painters 20th-century Argentine male artists Walt Disney Animation Studios people