JOSÉ GUADALUPE POSADA: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE AND WORKS - ART - 2024

José Guadalupe Posada (1852 - 1913) was a Mexican plastic artist, famous for his engravings in which he represented popular themes. He used his art for social criticism and had a great influence on the young people who carried forward the movement for the renaissance of muralism.

In the work of this Mexican, it was kept in a historical record of the most important events in the country during the time. The satire that he was able to do was admired by many graphic artists after him, since it was based on folklore.

Luisalvaz, from Wikimedia Commons

In his work, he used skulls and skeletons, in addition to other typical elements of Mexican popular culture, constantly. That was one of the bases for his compatriots to seek an art that looked inward and connected with the roots of the people.

The cartoonists also borrowed much from Posada's work, which was sometimes attacked for its style and for portraying the social and political realities of the country.

José Guadalupe Posada moved away from the artistic domes to represent the sentiment of the people. His work was reflected in songbooks, newspapers, stories and flyers that toured the streets of Mexico.

Many of the images that represent Mexican popular culture today, such as La Catrina, are related to the work of Posada, who lived on the brink of the great social outbreak of the Mexican Revolution.

Guadalupe Posada, via Wikimedia Commons

During his last years he dedicated himself to working in the press, that is why his work is also considered a chronicle of Mexican life.

José Guadalupe Posada died in poverty at the age of 61, without mourners. It was deposited for seven years in a tomb and later its remains were transferred to a common grave in which the bones were intermingled as in one of the artist's own works.

Biography

Early years

José Guadalupe Posada was born on February 2, 1852, in San Marcos, Aguascalientes, Mexico. He was the son of Germán Posada, a small farmer, and Petra Aguilar. He had seven siblings, his family was of indigenous descent.

The year Posada was born, cholera ravaged the village of San Marcos. There was also a political crisis; in those times one of the local generals, José Blancarte, took up arms and Aguascalientes followed him.

José Guadalupe Posada's concern in his early years was to help his father with the sowing to help the home economically, since the difficulties were not few.

Later, the young man went to work with his uncle Manuel, who was a potter. There he got his first approaches to art, especially, he was interested in the simple ornaments that were made in those pieces.

One of his brothers named Cirilo, was a school teacher and was probably the one who provided basic instruction to José Guadalupe Posada in his early years.

Posada had helped monitor his brother's students since he was 12 years old. In those moments she amused herself drawing while the students copied their homework.

Thus he had his first approach with what would be his profession, imitating the drawings that the decks had, as well as the images of the saints and, above all, the flyers of the Great Circus Rea, which visited his town at that time and marveled at it. forever.

Artistic beginnings

José Guadalupe Posada entered the Municipal Academy of Drawing of Aguascalientes, directed by Antonio Varela. There he learned quickly, so in a short time he already mastered the technique with great skill.

Some sources assure that Posada worked in the lithographic workshop of Mr. Trinidad Pedroza. There he began as an apprentice and collaborated with the Sunday weekly El Jicote. Before turning 20 years old, Posada would have already been recognized for his illustrations in that publication.

However, other sources seem to suggest that this was practically impossible, since José Guadalupe Posada was too young to have worked with Pedroza at that time.

Most likely, he trained at the time when several printing presses were installed in the city, such as José María Chávez's, Ortigoza's, and others that operated in Aguascalientes.

What is known about this period is that before he was 20 years old he had already begun his training in lithography and engraving, which in the future made him one of the most important Mexicans in that particular, with worldwide recognition and an inspiration for the new generation of artists.

Guanajuato

Those who claim that José Guadalupe Posada worked together with Pedroza also claim that in the 1870s they met in León, Guanajuato. There they went back to work together, on that occasion, away from politics.

In that workshop Posada remained in charge after Pedroza's return to Aguascalientes in 1873. From then on, José Guadalupe's fame grew rapidly. His works reached as far as Mexico City and there the name of Posada began to stand out.

Luisalvaz, from Wikimedia Commons

In 1875 he married María Cruz Vela, a native of the city of Guanajuato. Although it was not found registered in the Civil Registry, the union is recorded in the minute books of the Catholic Church. The godparents were Ciriaco Posada, who was the lithographer's brother, and Guadalupe Aguilera.

The following year, Posada bought the workshop in León from Pedroza. Then, his thriving business and the artist himself, became famous as the best establishment and lithographer in the area, respectively.

In 1884 Posada began to form part of the teaching staff of the Secondary Instruction School as a Lithography teacher. There he taught this art for four years.

Mexico City

In the late 1880s, José Guadalupe Posada moved to the Mexican capital, probably after the floods that hit Guanajuato and other areas of the country during that time.

In Mexico City, Posada began working in Irineo Paz's workshops. His work was reflected in La Patria Ilustrada for approximately two years, until 1890.

At that time he came into contact with other lithographers who enriched Posada's work. Among them were José María Villasana and Daniel Cabrera Rivera.

Guadalupe Posada in front of her workshop, via Wikimedia Commons

Between 1888 and 1890, the Calendar of the Negrito Poeta was adorned by Posada's drawings. Another of his works of the time was the illustration of librettos and comedies.

It is believed that since 1889 Posada had already begun to work independently. He had several workshops in Mexico City, but the one on Calle de Santa Inés stood out among all of them.

There he worked in the sight of the curious who always came to watch him do his art, among them was José Clemente Orozco. For that muralist, Posada's work was fundamental and in relation to that he stated:

"This was the first stimulus that awakened my imagination and prompted me to smear paper with the first dolls, the first revelation of the existence of the art of painting."

Revolution and last years

In the twentieth century, José Guadalupe Posada devoted himself to illustrating many publications of a political nature. He made humorous representations of the grievances that the bourgeoisie committed against the Mexican people, who were mired in poverty.

Until his death he made engravings that were related to the theme of the Mexican Revolution, showing a deep social criticism and at the same time a chronological graphic record of the events that occurred in the country.

National Gallery of Art

According to Jean Charlot, at that time Posada had discovered a way to make acid etchings in relief, by drawing on zinc with a special ink. Then I poured the acid on the work and that dissolved the white areas and left the rest intact.

Then, the Mexican continued working in his workshop and showing from the guts the life of his compatriots during the revolutionary era.

Death

José Guadalupe Posada died on January 20, 1913, he was in very poor conditions. The engraver ended his days in the house he was then living in, located on La Paz Avenue, now known as Ezequiel Montes, in Mexico City.

Since the death of his only son, Posada had devoted himself to a bohemian life and, according to the doctors who examined him after his death, the cause of death was an ethyl coma.

His death did not stir much of a stir. Not even his family knew of the event. Only his friends Roque Casas, Felipe Rodríguez and Jesús García, were in charge of preparing the formalities of the funeral.

Jose Guadalupe Posada

He went quietly to meet Catrina, whom many would call Posada's heroine: death. For seven years she was awarded a free grave in the Pantheon of Dolores; it was later exhumed and deposited in a common grave.

Artistic style

First stage

As for his early years as a lithographer, there are no documents to support the claims that José Guadalupe Posada has worked in some of the places that have been historically indicated, such as Pedroza's workshop.

However, during that time, when Posada was still a young man, his training took place in his hometown of San Marcos, in Aguascalientes.

Later, he was in the city of León. From there his talent as a lithographer and creator of especially commercial and religious images, but also caricatures that became recognized in the capital, opened the doors of Mexico City to Posada.

Jose Guadalupe Posada

Second stage

It began in the 1880s, when José Guadalupe Posada began experimenting with reproductions using metal or wood engraving, an almost artisanal way, but which allowed him to continue in the market.

It received the influence of many political and satirical newspapers that at the time appeared in droves, among them were La Linterna Mágica, Facundo or El Nigromante.

During those years he also made boudoir art, that is, intimate portraits. In the series that she called Realism, she showed a half-naked woman in different settings.

Jose Guadalupe Posada

Their skulls, which decorated the leaves with corridos, also began to become popular. In addition to caricature, it was used in the making of portraits and engravings.

Third stage

It was there that José Guadalupe Posada managed to reach the peak of his talents, showing himself as a more mature artist and expert in his technique.

In this period the richest works of the artist were produced, who took as inspiration for his works the events of everyday life, which in that case was the Mexican Revolution.

Jose Guadalupe Posada

It can be said that he was a chronicler of the popular suffering. However, there are differences about the position that the artist expressed with his work.

Myths and realities

Many rumors have arisen around the figure of José Guadalupe Posada, both in the biographical field, as in that of his work and his political positions.

Regarding work, there are certain things that have not been confirmed such as his collaborations with Pedroza in San Marcos or his participation in media such as El Teatro and El Ahuizote.

Posada, José Guadalupe (1852-1913), via Wikimedia Commons

Since Diego Rivera published an article about Posada in the 1930s, the latter was thought to have favored the Mexican Revolution and criticized Porfirio Díaz, although Rafael Barajas, a cartoonist, considered this an incorrect conclusion.

Barajas affirmed that he did relate with his images the time and the suffering of the people during the Mexican Revolution. However, he proposed that on many occasions Posada criticized the Revolution and Zapata, and on the contrary defended Porfirio Díaz.

Plays

- Corrido: Macario Romero (1970).

- Corrido: Appeals to San Antonio (1870).

- Alcoholic Skull (1888).

- Clerical Skull (1895).

- Cycling skulls (1895).

- Oaxacan Skull (1903).

- Jumble of skulls of paper boys (1903).

- The artistic purgatory in which the skulls of artists and craftsmen lie (1904).

- Great Electric Skull (1907).

- Skulls of the heap (1910).

- The Syrup in the Afterlife (1910).

- Skull of the skaters (1910).

- The comet of the centenary of independence (1910).

- Crimes of the Bejarano (1913).

- Fucking Don Chapito Toréro.

- Corrido: The snail.

- The burning.

- Skull of Don Folias and the Negrito.

- Corrido: San Juan de Ulúa.

- The ghost of the cathedral of Mexico.

- The Great Skull of Emiliano Zapata.

- From this famous racetrack on the track, not a single journalist will be missing.

- Rare case! A woman who gave birth to three children and four animals.

- The end of the world is already certain, they will all be skulls. Goodbye, all the living. Now it really was.

- Run: Bicycles.

- Skulls of the intervention.

- Skull of Adelita.

- Corrido: Four Zapatista shot.

- Cuts.

- Skulls of coyotes and waitresses.

- Don Quixote.

- Drain skull. The merit day of all those who retired due to the drain.

- Scream.

- The Catrina.

- Lizard.

- The glorious Madero campaign.

- The 41 fags.

- The seven vices.

- The Sevillian skull.

- Skull by Antonio Vanegas Arrollo.

- The skull of morbid cholera.

- This is Don Quixote the first, the peerless the giant skull.

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Jose Guadalupe Posada. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
2. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). José Guadalupe Posada - Mexican printmaker. Available at: britannica.com.
3. Olea, H. (1963). Survival of the lithographer José Guadalupe Posada. Mexico: Arana.
4. López Mata, R. (2002). The engravings of José Guadalupe Posada, an introduction to the awakening of Mexican popular nationalism - Thesis Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. Mexico.
5. Rodríguez Rangel, V. (2012). Jose Guadalupe Posada. Periódico Munal - National Museum of Art of Mexico, n ° 1, pp. 10.
6. WikiArt.org. (2019). Jose Guadalupe Posada. Available at: wikiart.org.
7. Pérez Bucio, É. (2006). BREAK THE FISGON MYTH ABOUT POSADA. Fund of Economic Culture. Available at: fondodeculturaeconomica.com.