Benício: History and Key Facts

Benício, pen name of José Luiz Benício da Fonseca ( December 14, 1936 – December 7, 2021) was a Brazilian illustrator and designer.

He began his career in publishing in the 1950s, and his work helped shape the aesthetics of Brazilian cinema, navigating the most turbulent times of the dictatorship. A pianist in his teens, Benício abandoned music to dedicate himself to drawing and illustration. In his 50-year career, he created thousands of pocket booklet covers, over 300 Brazilian film posters, and hundreds of album covers, advertisements, and book illustrations.

Among his most famous works are the poster for the film Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands and the covers for the stories of Giselle, a espiã nua que abalou Paris, about the heroine who used her beauty and seduction to spy for the Allies in occupied Paris during World War II, and her daughter, Brigitte Montfort, the CIA agent known as Baby.

He was known as the "Brazilian pin-up master".

Source and attribution

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