Victoria Beer Honors Posada Calaveras for 2024 Day of the Dead Commemorative

Victoria Beer is one of the oldest Mexican beer brands in Mexico. It traces its roots to 1865 in Toluca, Mexico.This year they are honoring Jose Guadalupe Posada with calavera images modeled after those created over 112 years ago by the master print maker himself. We were honored to have been advisors regarding the images. Posada was know to drink tequila and since Victoria Beer dates back to his time, he might very well have had a Victoria.

Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX to Exhibit José Guadalupe Posada- Legendary Printmaker of Mexico

Exhibition Dates: October 21, 2023 - January 7, 2024

 https://arlingtonmuseum.org/posada-legendary-printmaker-of-mexico

This is the first showing of the full new exhibition which includes many cultural and historical elements contained in the imagery created by Posada as exhibited over the last five years in the traveling exhibition José Guadalupe Posada- Legendary Printmaker of Mexico but expands on a variety of themes based upon suggestions and inquiries from curators and attendees alike. See illustrations by Posada recording the attitudes of his time exposing racism, LBGTQ rights and social injustice, plus selected works by contemporary artists influemce by Posada.

California Center for the Arts Posada Exhibition to Run September 18, 2021 to November 21, 2021

This exhibition continues the National Tour of: José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico September 18 - November 21, 2021 The exhibition is represented by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, and created by the Catalina Island Museum, and the Posada Art Foundation. For information contact: https://artcenter.org/museum/future-exhibitions/

JOSE GUADALUPE POSADA: At Albuquerque Museum December 19, 2020 through May 23, 2021

Exhibition Dates: December 19, 2020–May 23, 2021

The exhibition recognizes Posada’s cultural contributions, which reflect the spirit of Mexican identity in his time and ours and imparts a universal perspective extending well beyond the borders of his native Mexico. 

Posada’s art lampooned politicians, recorded vivid images of the Mexican Revolution, inspired Mexico's famed Taller Grafica Popular to use art for social causes, helped the Cuban Revolution succeed, adorned adorned concert tickets for the Grateful Dead and today leaps to life annually as the skeletal images seen during Day of the Dead, so popular now there is even a Disney and Pixar film, Coco, that celebrates the holiday. Yet Posada’s influence is rarely associated with his name, his true story virtually unknown.

Decades after his death, art historians and artists continue to explore and discover Posada’s cultural contributions, reflecting not only the spirit of Mexican identity in his time and ours but imparting a universal perspective extending well beyond the borders of his native Mexico.

The exhibition was organized by the Catalina Island Museum www.catalinamuseum.org, in association with the Posada Art Foundation, www.posada-art-foundation.com, and Landau Traveling Exhibitions, ww.a-r-t.com/posada/

Cal State Univ Dominguez Hills Posada and Art Exhibition

On View NOW!

Legend and Legacy: José Guadalupe Posada and Contemporary Latinx Art

October 7 – December 13, 2019

NOVEMBER 4- Screening of documentary ART and Revolutions--Searching for Posada with lecture about Posada's life and influence by Posada Art Foundation Director and co-producer of the documentary.

Lecture On JG Posada Sept 16, 2018 In Turlock, CA

Director of the Posada Art Foundation, Jim Nikas, will explore the life and artworks of Mexican printmaker and illustrator, José Guadalupe Posada. FREE!

Link for Directions: https://www.heyturlock.com/event/arts-lecture-jim-nikas/

Jose Guadalupe Posada and Needle Point by Eleanor B. Roosevelt

1940s needlepoint by Eleanor B. Roosevelt (not a fan of FDR's New Deal) with an image often assigned to Posada (La Calavera Huertista) but likely NOT by Posada. From the US Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/2010651022/

Very interesting article by Cara Giaimo discussing the "repurposing" of Posada's images.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posada-skeleton-art-legacy

Jose Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico Exhibition

Catalina Island Museum exhibition open from Dec. 23, 2017 to April 8, 2018.

Mexican Art comes to Catalina Island for the first time in this exhibition celebrating Mexico’s most prolific artist. José Guadalupe Posada’s images captured all aspects of daily life in Mexico City from 1889-1913, directly influenced artist like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, shaped the Mexican identity and continue to inform contemporary image making today. A wide representation of Posada’s work, including his famous Day of the Dead calaveras and the artist’s original printing plates, make up this first-of-its-kind exhibition. 

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The exhibition will feature text in English and Spanish.

WINNER BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT!

WINNER BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT!
2015 JEROME 89A FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL
http://jeromefilmfestival.com/winners/

http://www.examiner.com/article/jerome-89a-film-festival-awards-robust-selection-of-local-international-films

Richmond Art Center October 23 Film Screening

"Searching for Posada" Lecture at The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA December 14, 2013

 

SPECIAL LECTURE AT THE MEXICAN MUSEUM TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF JOSE GUADALUPE POSADA   Curator Jim Nikas to shed light on the life and death of famed Mexican artist.             In celebration of the life of José Guadalupe Posada, The Mexican Museum is proud to present a special lecture by guest curator Jim Nikas entitled “Dialogos Gráficos and the Search for José Guadalupe Posada” on Saturday, December 14, 2013, 1-2:30 p.m. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Posada, the renowned Mexican artist. The lecture is free and open to the public. While most widely known as the “grandfather of Mexican printmaking,” Posada is also famous for his Day of the Dead calaveras and his imagery’s powerful influence on other noteworthy artists, such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and the Taller de Grafica Popular, an artist's print collective formed in Mexico in 1937 to advance revolutionary social causes. Yet, little is known about the man himself. Was Posada a revolutionary? Did he fight against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz? Did he really create 20,000 images in his lifetime? And how could someone of such talent and influence have been buried in an unmarked mass grave?            Guest lecturer Nikas oversees one of the largest private collections of Posada’s work in the United States and is the producer of the soon-to-be released documentary about Posada’s life, “ART and Revolutions.” His lecture will share new discoveries about the artist’s life and times, and explore and explode many of the myths that continue to permeate Posada’s life history. Nikas will also touch on the significance of The Mexican Museum’s current exhibit of Posada works, “Dialogos Gráficos.” The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

 

 

 

Frida Kahlo and José Guadalupe Posada

Posada's art has influenced many artists over the years. One was Frida Kahlo. The images shown here in this blog posting show striking similarities. Here is a partial quote from an interview of Frida conducted back in 1933.

"I had gone up to the Barbizon-Plaza hotel to interview Frida Kahlo, who was the wife of Diego Rivera, and a great painter herself, a sort of demonic surrealist. That was when Rivera was doing those Rockefeller Center murals. Thumb-tacked all along the walls of the hotel suite were some very odd engravings printed on the cheapest kind of newsprint. "Jose Guadalupe Posada," Kahlo said, almost reverentially. "Mexican. 1852-1913." She told me that she had put the pictures up herself so she could glance at them now and then and keep her sanity while living in New York City. Some were broadsides. "They show sensational happenings that took place in Mexico City--in streets and in markets and in churches and in bedrooms," Kahlo said, "and they were sold on the streets by peddlers for pennies." --from the book Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell (1992).

Perhaps some of the images by Posada of disasters and the demonic elements present in many of the sensational broadsides made an impression on Frida. If she was not already familiar with Posada's images, being married to Diego Rivera may have helped as he had just a few years earlier in 1930 authored the Foreword about Posada in the Monografia Posada published by Francis Toor.  

Museo Posada, Aguascalientes, Mexico

José Guadalupe Posada was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 1852. During the 61 years of his life until his death in 1913 he would great a legacy of artistic genius and ultimately become one of the most influencial artists in the history of Mexico let alone the world.

A visit to the museum and the beautiful state of Aguascalientes provides the visitor with an opportunity to see Posada's original engravings and hundreds of images made while in the employ of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. It is a journey well worth the trip!

http://www.aguascalientes.gob.mx/temas/cultura/espacios/museos/m_posada.aspx

Jose Guadalupe Posada and Sensational Press Images

"Very Interesting News" reads the 1910 headline about the sensational story of Antonio Sanchez who goes berserk with an axe killing his parents, wife and infant son. He then eats his son! The image communicates the horror of the event in no uncertain terms. If Sanchez did devour his son, any question of what it might have looked like is resolved with this image. Although it is unsigned it was likely drawn by Posada and certainly approved by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. We believe it serves as an excellent example of Vanegas Arroyo's sensational practices and also indicative of the collaborative nature of their relationship. Who directed the body parts with bodies strewn about, the bulging eyes and mad look of Sanchez? Then there is the baby being eaten, not chopped up into bits but eaten whole, perhaps while alive! The shear grotesque look and terror of the image helps to reinforce the moralistic aspects of the story line, which ultimately is warning the reader not to gamble. Sanchez loses all he has gambling and when his father refuses to pay his debt, the tragedy ensues. Eventually Sanchez is apprehended, tried, convicted and put to death. His body is then destroyed by natural elements. It seems justice must be served. Posada throws in some diablitios "little devils" perhaps to show how the devil is around to lead us astray. There are many examples of such sensational images in Posada and Vanegas Arroyo's collaborative work. In Posada's day images could be constructed to portray events or emphasize certain points. Now days we have color photographs and film, digital and immediate appearing via Internet or satellite broadcast but the fundamental sensational elements used by Vanegas Arroyo and Posada are the same that we use today.

Monografia: Jose Guadalupe Posada

Published in 1930, the Posada Monografia was the first major publication devoted to Posada's work. The publisher was Francis Toor of Mexican Folkways and it was really a collaboration of many artists of the time.
    In addition to Francis Toor, Paul O'Higgins (aka Pablo Esteban O'Higgins, b. 03/01/1904 - d. 07/16/1983) pulled prints from the original plates that were at the Vanegas Arroyo Publishing house. Blas and his son Arsacio were running the printing house in those days. Diego Rivera wrote a short forward for the publication and Jean Charlot was also involved. This publication helped bring Posada's name into the spotlight and in many ways could be considered the defining work that allowed many people to see for the first time who the artist was that created so many of the images that had appeared in dozens of publications in Mexico from about 1872 and even after Posada's death in 1913.

The Dollar Battles the Peso-- Touché!

This timeless political cartoon was published as a halfsheet broadside by A. Vanegas Arroyo and was used several times by the publishing house as an illustration accompanied by text looking at the battle of the US dollar and the Mexican peso (the peso as far as this illustration goes is winning). Unsigned but attributed to Posada it needs few words, utilizing humor and creative expression to communicate the story. As a testimony to the collaboration of the two men, the cartoon is as relevant today as it was when it appeared over 100 years ago.

Mexican Folkways, Frances Toor, Anita Brenner and Jose Guadalupe Posada

Pictured here is the front cover of Mexican Folkways which was a Mexico City based magazine published from 1925-1937. The magazine was bi-lingual in Spanish and English. Its founder/publisher was Frances Toor(b.1890- d.1956), an American woman and anthropolgist who in 1922 came to study in Mexico City and essentially made Mexico her home. Diego Rivera, became the magazine's art editor in 1926 and in this 1928 edition we see cover art by Rivera but more importantly inside is the first significant article about Jose Guadalupe Posada. It is written by author Anita Brenner (b. 1905 - d. 1974), born in Aguascalientes, Mexico which was also the birthplace of Posada. The article appearing in this edition of Mexican Folkways would later be incorporated into Brenner's 1929 book, Idols Behind Altars. These publications set the stage for the first comprehesive collection of Posada's works, Monografia, that would be published in 1930 by Frances Toor and Mexican Folkways.