José Guadalupe Posada
Día de Muertos, better known in English-speaking countries as the Day of the Dead, is a Mexican celebration of friends and family who have passed. While Western culture sees death as a time of mourning, Mexicans believe death to be part of the natural cycle. During the Day of the Dead, dead loved ones reawaken and celebrate their spiritual journey with the living. Along with plenty of food and drink, Day of the Dead celebrations prominently feature artistic representations of human skulls known as calaveras. Perhaps the most famous calavera was drawn in 1910 by José Guadalupe Posada.
Born in 1852, Posada lived under a tumultuous Mexican government. He saw the presidency transition from Benito Juárez, a national hero, to dictator Porfirio Díaz, who quickly consolidated power as he took office in 1877. Díaz controlled Mexico until two years before Posada’s death in 1913. Under Díaz, major foreign investment was encouraged. This quickly turned Mexico City into a metropolis, but Díaz’s policies benefited the wealthy, leaving the poor majority to fend for itself. It was this political climate that amplified Posada’s art into a message that resonated throughout all of Mexico.
Jose Posada’s weapon of choice was lithography. It allowed him to cheaply reach his audience through publication in magazines and broadsides, which he did prolifically. Even the illiterate would buy broadsides just to view his work. Lithography, though, came with significant limitations, and in overcoming these limitations Posada would define his style.
The most obvious hurdle that came from printing for the masses was tonal range. In fact, Posada only had access to two colors – the almost beige of newsprint and obsidian black printing ink. Under this constraint Posada thrived. His illustrations are rife with bold contrast – a black horse with a white skeletal rider, a six-legged monstrosity jumping out against the total darkness of night. Posada confidently varied line width to imply shadow, hatching demarcated the portions of his illustrations protected from the blistering Mexican sun that so many of his subjects must have been under.
Another issue he faced was the limited resolution that the lithography process could press onto paper. Rather than be bogged down, Posada embraced the fact, imbuing his drawings with a near cartoon-like quality that would have endeared him to the masses ever more so and further enhanced the potency of his message. The simplicity in his character design made his caricatures even more captivating. All who saw his work could sympathize with his distaste for European encroachment into Mexican culture exhibited in every line of La Calavera Catrina. The clearness in his line was why his political statements were so beloved by the Mexican populace.
That simplicity characteristic of his work may be why La Calavera Catrina lives on today as the quintessential image of the Day of the Dead, but to term him as a plain political cartoonist is to do him injustice. His works have depth; they lack the flatness of a simple cartoon. Despite his national fame, Posada died penniless and unrecognized. His work was forgotten until many years after his death. Although few may know his name, José Posada’s legacy is clear to see in Mexico today.
Works Cited
“Benito Juárez.” Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Walter V. Scholes, 14 July 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benito-Juarez. Accessed 24 November 2020.
“José Guadalupe Posada.” Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 29 January 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Guadalupe-Posada. Accessed 24 November 2020.
Kennedy, Philip. “José Guadalupe Posada: Skulls, Skeletons and Macabre Mischief.” Illustration Chronicles, https://illustrationchronicles.com/Jose-Guadalupe-Posada-Skulls-Skeletons-and-Macabre-Mischief. Accessed 24 November 2020.
“Mexico.” Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Howard F. Cline, Angel Palerm and Others, 20 November 2020, https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico. Accessed 24 November 2020.
“Mexico Timeline.” HISTORY, History.com Editors, 27 January 2020, https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/mexico-timeline. Accessed 2020 November 24.
“Porfirio Díaz.” Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11 September 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Porfirio-Diaz. Accessed 24 November 2020.
