Jose Guadalupe Posada (Aguascalientes, 1852 – Mexico City, 1913) was an extraordinary Mexican painter, engraver, caricaturist and illustrator, recognized for his lithographs and engravings that portray scenes of popular life, social criticism and, above all, death as a symbol of the people.
His artistic legacy made him a fundamental figure of national art and the creator of “La Catrina”one of the most representative images of the Day of the Dead and Mexican folklore.
From a young age, Posada showed a natural talent for drawing and caricature. In his native Aguascalientes He began to train in lithographic art, and at the age of sixteen he entered the workshop of Trinidad Pedrosoa renowned teacher who taught him the basics of engraving. His ability quickly led him to work in the illustrated journalismwhere he published his first cartoons in the newspaper The Jicote (1871), at the age of nineteen.
Shortly afterward he moved to León, Guanajuatowhere he worked as a lithography teacher and combined teaching with the production of religious images and commercial advertisements. However, a great flood that affected the city in 1888 forced him to move to the Mexico Citywhere his career reached its greatest splendor.
In the capital, Posada collaborated with important media of the time such as The Illustrated Homeland, The Ahuizote, The Son of the Ahuizote and Mexico Magazine. Later, he joined the printer Antonio Vanegas Arroyowith whom he produced an enormous number of loose sheets, comics, corridos, legends and popular publications. His direct, humorous and sometimes biting style reflected the life of the Mexican people with great realism and a deep criticism of the powerful.
It is estimated that he made more than 20 thousand engravingsmany of them dedicated to social, political and religious issues. Among his most recognized works are the famous “skulls”skeletal figures that represented people from all social classes.
These images, full of irony and criticism, became a way of expressing injustices, vices and inequalities of Mexico at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.
His most famous creation, the “Garbancera Skull”later known as The Catrinaportrays a skeleton woman with a feather hat and stole, a symbol of those who renounced their indigenous roots to appear to have a European heritage. Decades later, Diego Rivera he took it up again on his mural Dream of a Sunday afternoon in Alameda Centralconsolidating it as an emblem of Mexican identity and the Day of the Dead.
Posada was an artist committed to his time. Through his work he denounced the corruptionsocial inequality and repression of the Porfirista regime. His work deeply influenced later generations and was recognized by great muralists such as Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Leopoldo Mendezwho considered him a precursor of the nationalist movement in Mexican plastic arts.
Despite his enormous talent, José Guadalupe Posada died in poverty in 1913 and was buried in a mass grave. However, his legacy transcended borders and generations: today he is remembered as the artist who immortalized death with smoker, criticism and love for his people. His work continues alive in every skull, in every Day of the Dead celebration and in the essence of Mexican art.
