A skeleton serving alcohol, from a broadside enitled 'Medicinas de Patente de mas Fama'
ca. 1880–1910
Medium
Zincograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (3.8 × 3.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jean Charlot, 1930
Accession Number
30.82.38
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the whimsical yet macabre zincograph *A Skeleton Serving Alcohol*, from theside *Medicinas de Patente de mas Fama* (Famous Patent Medicines), Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada the spirit of 19th-century satire. Created around 1880–1910, this tiny 1.5 x 1.5-inch print depicts a grinning skeleton pouring liquor, poking fun at the era's dubious patent medicines peddled as cures-all. Posada, a master of affordable broadsides, used these mass-produced sheets to critique society, blending humor with stark reminders of mortality. Zincography, Posada's preferred technique, involved etching ...
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...