Skeleton playing the guitar, from a broaside entitled 'De este famoso hipodromo en la pista, no faltara ni un solo periodista', published by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo.
ca. 1889–1895
Medium
Zincograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 7/8 × 13/16 in. (2.3 × 2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jean Charlot, 1930
Accession Number
30.82.32
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the whimsical yet macabre world of José Guadalupe Posada this tiny zincograph depicts a skeleton gleefully strumming a guitar plucked from a satirical broadside titled *De este famoso hipod en la pista, noara ni un solo periodista ("From this famous hippodrome on the track, not a single journalist will be missing"), published by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo around 9–1895. Posada, a pioneering Mexican printmaker, masterfully used skeletons—or *calaveras*—to poke fun at everyday life, politics, and society, blending humor with reminders of mortality in the tradition of Mexico's Day of the Dead fest...
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...