Manuel Rodrigues

The Portuguese designer Manuel Rodrigues started his career at the National Secretariat of Information (SNI), even before completing his training at the School of Applied Arts António Arroio in Lisboa. As early as 1940, he was part of the team that designed the “Exhibition of the Portuguese World”. From 1951, he himself took over the artistic direction of exhibitions, such as the exhibition “Portugal Today”, which was held in Brazil in 1954 on the occasion of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the founding of São Paulo.

In the course of time, Rodrigues designed the Portuguese stands at several international exhibitions and received various awards for his work. On the occasion of the visits of Queen Elizabeth II of England and the Emperor of Ethiopia, he was responsible for the decoration of the streets of Lisboa.

In 1962, Rodrigues founded the advertising agency “Estúdio MR” and developed advertising campaigns for the companies Tofa (cafés), Mobil (gas stations) and Fábrica Simões e Compª (textiles). He also designed stamps for the Portuguese Post Office (motif: Red Cross).

In several projects, he cooperated with architect Conceição Silva (1922-1982), for example decorating the massive anchoring of the bridge over the river Tagus and the surrounding greens. Rodrigues died in September 1965 at the age of only 41 from the consequences of a car accident. The gouache Portugal and the Olympic Games may have been a poster design.