Men in a tavern standing around a bar
ca 1890–1910 (reprinted 1964)
Medium
Type-metal engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 1/8 × 7 15/16 in. (18.1 × 20.2 cm) Image: 5 1/16 × 6 5/16 in. (12.8 × 16 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Museum Accession
Accession Number
Ref.Posada1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the lively print *Men in a Tavern Standing Around a Bar*, Mexican artists Manuel Manilla and José Guadalupe Posada capture a quintessential slice of everyday life in late 19th- to early 20th-century Mexico. Created around 1890–1910 using type-metal engraving—a durable relief printing technique that allowed for inexpensive, mass-produced broadsheets—this work exemplifies the duo's mastery of bold, accessible graphic art. Posada, renowned for his satirical calaveras (skeleton imagery) and social commentary, often collaborated with Manilla on popular prints that adorned homes and markets, blen...
About the Artist
Manuel Manilla|José Guadalupe Posada
Manuel Manilla was a Mexican engraver and printmaker active in Mexico City during the late nineteenth century, where he became one of the most prolific popular artists of his era. Working primarily for the publishing house of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Manilla produced hundreds of woodcut and metal engravings that illustrated broadsheets, corridos, and cheap printed literature consumed by a wide urba...