Jose Guadalupe Posada: (1852--1913) was
a Mexican cartoonist illustrator and artist whose work has influenced
many Latin American artists and cartoonists because of its satirical
acuteness and political engagement. Posada was born
in Aguascalientes, on February 2, 1852. His education in his early years
was drawn from his older brother Cirilo, a country schoolteacher, who
taught him reading, writing, as well as drawing. As a young teenager he
went to work in the workshop of Trinidad Pedroso, who taught
him lithography and engraving. In 1871, before he was out of his teens,
his career began with a job as thepolitical cartoonist for a local
newspaper in Aguascalientes, El Jicote ("The Bumblebee"). After 11
issues the newspaper closed, reputedly because one of Posada's cartoons
had offended a powerful local politician. He then moved to the nearby
city of León, Guanajuato. There he was married to Maria de Jesús Vela on
September 20, 1875. In Leon, a former associate of his from
Aguascalientes assisted him in starting a printing and commercial
illustration shop. They focused on commercial and advertising work, book
illustrations, and the printing of posters and other representations of
historical and religious figures. Included among these figures were
the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Virgin, the Holy Child of Atocha and Saint
Sebastian. In 1883, following his success, he was hired as a teacher of
lithography at the local Preparatory School. The shop flourished
until 1888 when a disastrous flood hit the city. He subsequently moved
to Mexico City. His first regular employment in the capital was with La
Patria Ilustrada, whose editor was Ireneo Paz, the grandfather of the
later famed writer Octavio Paz. He later joined the staff of a
publishing firm owned by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and while at this firm
he created a prolific number of book covers and illustrations. Much of
his work was also published in sensationalistic broadsides depicting
various current events. Posada's best known works are his calaveras,
which often assume various costumes, such as the Calavera de la Catrina,
the "Calavera of the FemaleDandy", which was meant to satirize the life
of the upper classes during the reign of Porfirio Díaz. Most of his
imagery was meant to make a religious or satirical point. Since his
death, however, his images have become associated with the
Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, the "Day of the Dead". Largely
forgotten by the end of his life, Posada's engravings were brought to a
wider audience in the 1920s by the French artist Jean Charlot, who
encountered them while visiting Diego Rivera. While Posada died
in poverty, his images are well known today as examples of folk art.
The muralist José Clemente Orozco knew Posada when he was young, and
credited Posada's work as an influence on his own. Prehispanic music by Antonio Zepeda.
