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José Guadalupe Posada

Revolutionary Calavera

c. 1910
Photo-relief etching (drawing style) in black on green wove paper
40 × 30 cm (15.7 × 11.8 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

José Guadalupe Posada was the most prolific and influential broadside illustrator working in late-19th- and early-20th-century Mexico, and the Taller de Gráfica Popular considered him their artistic forebear and a model of the popular, socially concerned artist. Posada illustrated thousands of colorful, eye-catching broadsides—cheap, ephemeral handbills directed at urban working- and middle-class audiences—that addressed current events, social and political scandals, and curiosities. Posada’s posthumous reputation as an artist committed both to Mexican traditions and to popular political causes largely rests on Day of the Dead broadsides such as this one, which celebrates the gleeful, destructive power of the Mexican Revolution in the form of calaveras , the satirical skeleton figures popularized by Posada. The Taller de Gráfica Popular emulated this tradition, leveraging the critical edge, humor, and manic energy embodied by the calavera figure to address contemporary issues. Español: José Guadalupe Posada fue el ilustrador de hojas volantes más prolífico e influyente del México de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX. El Taller de Gráfica Popular lo consideró su precursor ar

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