A largely self-taught artist who produced more than 20,000 prints, his most well-known pieces for the publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo in Mexico City. Most were illustrated broadsides on brightly colored paper and sold by strolling vendors throughout Mexico. Posada influenced the 20th-century Mexican muralists, for whom he was the quintessentially Mexican populist artist. Collection includes newspapers, chapbooks, half-sheet and full-sheet broadsides, all of which are illustrated with Posada's prints.

José Guadalupe Posada was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 1852 and died in Mexico City in 1913. His life span thus encompasses the last half century of the Mexican struggle for independence from colonial powers and the establishment of a liberal government that would sign a democratic Constitution in 1917. It is frequently observed that Posada's work expresses the hopes and fears of the Mexican people during this time of social upheaval, and that Posada's work, prolific, widely disseminated and extremely popular, helped to educate a largely non-literate population about the urgent political issues of the day.

ca. 6 linear feet. (375 prints)

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