Broadsheet, on recto skeletons riding bicycles entitled 'From this famous hippodrome on the racetrack, not even a single journalist is missing. Death is inexorable and doesn't even respect those that you see here on bicycles'; on verso skeletons buying and selling printed images etc

Broadsheet, on recto skeletons riding bicycles entitled 'From this famous hippodrome on the racetrack, not even a single journalist is missing. Death is inexorable and doesn't even respect those that you see here on bicycles'; on verso skeletons buying and selling printed images etc by José Guadalupe Posada|Antonio Vanegas Arroyo

Medium

Etching on zinc, woodcut, letterpress, relief printing

Dimensions

Sheet: 23 5/8 × 15 3/4 in. (60 × 40 cm)

Classification

Prints

Department

Drawings and Prints

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Credit

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1946

Accession Number

46.46.322

Tags

SkeletonsBicycles

Art Historical Context

This striking broadsheet from around 1895–1900, created by the renowned Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada collaboration with publisher Antonio Van Arroyo, captures the macabre wit of Mexico's popular print tradition. On the recto, skeletons pedal furiously on bicycles at a racetrack, mocking journalists with the caption: "From this famous hippodrome Death is inexorable and doesn't respect those that you see on bicycles." The verso bony figures buying and selling printed images, sly nod to the print trade itself. Measuring 23⅝ × 15¾ inches, it's a masterful example of affordable, mass-pr...

About the Artist

José Guadalupe Posada|Antonio Vanegas Arroyo · 18521913

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...

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