Art history timeline atlas
Mexican Print And Revolutionary Graphic Art
Mexican graphic art made death, politics, satire, news and revolution into images that could circulate cheaply and publicly.
Revolution, Industry And Mass Vision
Historical context
Broadsheets and prints reached audiences beyond elite museums. Posada's calaveras and political images show how humor and mass print can carry sharp social critique.
The medium links nineteenth-century print culture to twentieth-century muralism, protest graphics and public art.
How to look
- Look for speed: steam, newspapers, cameras, crowds, new pigments, new exhibitions and new ways of seeing the city.
- Notice the artist's position toward modern life. Some images chase sensation, some criticize society, and some search for escape, memory or spirituality.
Makers, works, and materials
Date range: c. 1850-1940
Regions: Latin America, Americas
Media: Print, Lithography, Broadsheet, Poster, Newspaper
Movements: Mexican graphic art, Political print, Popular visual culture
Makers to research
- Jose Guadalupe Posada
- Taller de Grafica Popular
- Unknown printmakers
Named works to compare
- Calavera broadsheets
- Political lithographs
- Revolutionary posters
Skeletons in the newspaper
A calavera could be comic, frightening and political at once. The skeleton became a way to speak about class, power, mortality and public life.
Legacy and why it matters
Mexican print culture gives the atlas a Latin American route through popular media, political image-making and public voice.