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The thundering skeleton of the modern bells
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The thundering skeleton of the modern bells

José Guadalupe Posada

1905

Medium

Zincograph and letterpress on orange paper

Tags

Skeletons

Dimensions

Sheet: 15 13/16 × 11 13/16 in. (40.2 × 30 cm)

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Credit

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1946

Classification

Prints

Department

Drawings and Prints

Rights

Public Domain

About José Guadalupe Posada

1852–1913 • Mexican

José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was a Mexican printmaker and engraver who revolutionized popular art and created some of the most iconic images in Mexican culture. Working primarily with publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, he produced over 20,000 images during his career—inexpensive broadsheets sold for a penny on colored paper that made his art accessible to even the poorest workers. He transformed the ancient Mexican calavera (skeleton) tradition, using skeleton imagery year-round for political satire, news reporting, and social commentary rather than reserving it for Day of the Dead celebrations. Despite his enormous productivity and the popularity of his work among common people, Posada never achieved financial success or recognition as a fine artist during his lifetime, dying in poverty and buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. The resurrection of his reputation by Jean Charlot in 1925 established him as a foundational figure in modern Mexican art, profoundly influencing the great Mexican muralists and inspiring generations of social justice artists worldwide.

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