A girl with two faces
ca. 1880–1910
Medium
Type-metal engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 13/16 × 3 1/4 in. (12.2 × 8.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jean Charlot, 1930
Accession Number
30.82.68
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *A Girl with Two Faces*, a captivating type-metal engraving by the legendary Mexican printmaker José Guadalupeada, created around 1880–1910. This petite sheet, measuring just 4 13/16 × 3 1/4 inches, depicts a girl with dual faces—a whimsical yet eerie motif that plays on themes of duality, perhaps evoking folklore, identity, or human complexity. Posada, a master of popular Mexican graphic art, produced thousands of such images for affordable broadsheets (*hojas volantes*), making art accessible to everyday people during Mexico's turbulent Porfiriato era and lead-up to the Revolution. T...
About the Artist
José Guadalupe Posada · 1852–1913
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 transform...