José Guadalupe Posada

José Guadalupe Posada Aguilar (1852-1913) stands as the singular most influential Mexican graphic artist of the turn of the twentieth century. Operating primarily as a political printmaker and illustrator for the popular press, Posada mastered the difficult medium of relief printing to produce illustrations that were simultaneously accessible to the masses and acutely cutting in their social critique.

Posada’s innovation lay not just in his technical dexterity but in his profound sociological engagement. His imagery often deployed skulls, bones, and calaveras (skeletons) not as symbols of morbid dread but as tools of biting political and cultural satire, lending a powerful visual language to the era’s ubiquitous broadsides. This satirical acuteness, combined with the technical quality and immediacy of his work, cemented his profound influence on generations of subsequent Latin American artists and cartoonists.

His output was prolific, documenting everything from sensational news stories, such as The Hanging in the Plaza of Mixcalco, the year 1864, to popular ballads and corridos, including the Ballad of Macario Romero (Corrido: Macario Romero). Whether depicting a dramatic historical figure like A revolutionary soldier on horseback with a rifle (Heraclio Bernal) or illustrating widespread anxieties through works like A skeleton holding a bone and leaping over a pile of skulls, Posada ensured his commentary penetrated every segment of Mexican society.

The enduring power of his art is perhaps best exemplified by La Calavera Catrina, a figure that began as sharp social commentary on the vanity of the wealthy but has transcended its origins to become a celebrated icon of Mexican identity. It is a subtle observation that the artist who skewered the vanities of the elite achieved international immortality by cloaking those same vanities in bone. Recognizing his significance, major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago hold comprehensive collections of José Guadalupe Posada prints. Many of these museum-quality reproductions are now in the public domain, ensuring this essential visual history remains widely available for study as downloadable artwork.