Street fight between four men
ca. 1880–1910
Medium
Type-metail engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 11/16 × 5 5/16 in. (9.3 × 13.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jean Charlot, 1930
Accession Number
30.82.105
Tags
Art Historical Context
José Guadalupe Posada's *Street Fight Between Four Men*, created around 1880–1910, captures a raw moment of urban brawl in meticulous type-metal engraving—a relief printing technique that allowed for affordable, high-contrast reproductions ideal for Mexico's popular broadsheets. Measuring just 3 11/16 × 5 5/16 inches, this compact print from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department buzzes with dynamic energy: four men locked in fierce combat, their exaggerated poses and stark lines evoking the chaos of street life. Posada, a pioneering Mexican printmaker, mastered this ...
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...