A skeleton selling fish from a broadside entitled 'Una Calavera Chusca'
ca. 1880–1910
Medium
Zincograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/4 × 3 9/16 in. (10.8 × 9 cm) Image: 3 1/8 × 2 3/8 in. (8 × 6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Roberto Berdecio, 1960
Accession Number
60.678.57
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the whimsical yet macabre world of Mexican broadside printing, *A Selling Fish* from theside *Una Calaverausca* (ca 1880–191) captures the satirical genius José Guadalupe Posada, often printed with the assistance of José Sanchez. This tiny zincograph—measuring just 4 1/4 × 3 9/16 inches—depicts a grinning skeleton hawking fish at a market stall, blending everyday commerce with the inevitability of death. Zincography, a zinc-plate lithography technique popular in 19th-century Mexico for affordable mass production, allowed Posada's bold black-line illustrations to proliferate on cheap newspri...
About the Artist
José Guadalupe Posada|José Sanchez · 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...