Conmemoraciones - José Guadalupe Posada, más allá del mito (01/02/2023)

José Guadalupe Posada, engraver, illustrator, and a remarkable master of graphic arts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not only created the skulls that have made him famous (La Catrina being the most renowned), but also around twenty thousand images that recreated events from daily life, political vicissitudes, historical and entertainment events, as well as sensationalist news stories, through drawings, caricatures, colorful flyers, advertisements, posters, book covers, songbooks, cookbooks, and devotional books. The work of this prolific artist is dazzling. Born in Aguascalientes in 1852, he worked tirelessly throughout his life and died in poverty 20 days before the Ten Tragic Days, on January 20, 1913, his absence going largely unnoticed. However, around 1920, the French artist Jean Charlot, who lived for many years in Mexico, discovered Posada's work, which was still circulating in the streets, bookstores, and newspapers, and was amazed by his talent. Charlot promoted his work, recognizing the Aguascalientes native as a great illustrator and engraver. In 1930, a monograph on Posada was published, revealing that around 1870 he had begun working at the printing press of the famous publisher José Trinidad Pedroza, who taught him the art of lithography. Around that time, Posada created his first caricatures, which were published in the newspaper El Jicote. Later, in Mexico City, Posada worked for many publishers, resulting in the diversity and vast scope of his work. Among them were Ireneo Paz, grandfather of Octavio Paz, Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Francisco Montes de Oca, and Rafael Reyes Espíndola. Posada was known in journalistic and publishing circles, but he was never considered in artistic circles, nor reviewed by critics, and his work was never exhibited in a museum. When he died, his remains ended up in a common grave in the Dolores Civil Cemetery. Some consider Posada's work a decisive influence on painters like Diego Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros, and all those belonging to the Mexican School of Painting, as well as on graphic artists and engravers, such as Leopoldo Méndez—who always considered him one of his great masters—and on caricaturists. In 1947, the first exhibition of José Guadalupe Posada's work was held at the Palace of Fine Arts, and shortly afterward, Diego Rivera took one of Posada's skulls and included it in his mural Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Central Park. The intention was to pay homage to Posada, so Rivera placed the master engraver's iconic Calavera Garbancera at the center of this mural and named her La Catrina, as she is known throughout Mexico today. There, La Catrina takes Posada by the arm and holds Diego's hand (portrayed as a child). This depiction of Posada's death became popular worldwide, something the artist never imagined. Posada, whose work is exhibited in various national and international museums, captured the daily life of Mexicans, with all its contradictions, in a dazzling body of work that remains vibrant 110 years after his death. Follow us on:   / canaloncetv     / canaloncetv     / canaloncetv     / canaloncetv   https://canalonce.mx/