More from the Posada Museum

 As I explained in the previous post, José Guadalupe Posada was an engraver and printer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  He died forgotten and penniless in 1913, but his work was an inspiration to later generations of Mexican artists.

Here are some more of his illustrations at the "Museo Salón Posada".

Judging by the lurid stories that he illustrated, it would appear that Posada sometimes worked for tabloid newspapers that were the 19th century equivalent of the "National Enquirer".

"Scandalous event - A Man Married to Five Women"

"Terrifying example of a woman who killed her husband and her sister-in-law in the town of Incunixtli."

From the illustration, it would seem that the murderess took lessons from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in which poison is poured into the King's ear while sleeping.

"The Terrible Consequences of Drunkenness! 

Horrifying Crimes.  A man murders his wife and son!"

"Corridos" are Mexican narrative ballads which often told of current events.  Posada did many illustrations for the printed lyrics of "corridos".

A cautionary ballad about a woman who committed suicide

A "corrido" in praise of some of the popular bullfighters of the time

A ballad about a woman with 100 husbands

A song about that newfangled, and dangerous, contraption called the bicycle

President Porfirio Díaz inaugurated the first electric streetcar.

Judging by Posada's drawing, it's even more dangerous than bicycles.

Not all of Posada's pictures would be considered politically correct today.  The biggest scandal of 1901 was a police raid on a party where 41 homosexuals, many dressed in drag, were dancing.  Posada illustrated a "corrido" mocking the 41.

(It is often rumored that there were actually 42 men at the party.  The 42nd was the son-in-law of President Porfirio Díaz.)

Another "corrido" tells of the 41 men being shipped off to Yucatán to do hard labor.

Posada did this illustration for a "corrido" that says that Arab, Russian and Jewish shopkeepers should go back where they came from.

These cover illustrations are for collections of recipes called "Kitchen in the Pocket".   Notice that in the second one, the word for "kitchen" ("cocina") is mispelled with an S instead of a C.

The turkey will surely be the day's dinner, served with the "mole" that the servant is preparing.

Most of Posada's career was during the dictatorship of President Porfirio Díaz. Posada did a number of flattering portraits of Díaz, although he also did some critical caricatures.

At the end of his life, Posada saw the beginning of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 in which Díaz was forced into exile, and Francisco Madero was elected President in a fair election.

These ballads sing the praises of the new President.

Not all of the historical figures that today are considered heroes of the Revolution were looked upon with favor at the time.  The army of Emiliano Zapata is portrayed as a bunch of deplorable bandits after an attack on a train from Cuernavaca.

 President Madero and his Vice President Pino Suárez were murdered in a counter-revolutionary coup d'état, which set off a wave of violence that was to continue for years.

Posada's most important contribution to Mexican culture was his use of the "calavera" (skull) in his satirical cartoons.

A woman soldier of the Revolution portrayed as a "calavera"

"The Skull of the Twentieth Century"

And of all his images of skeletons, his most famous is the image of the "Calavera de los Fifis".

"Fifi" is a derogatory term for people of the upper class.  Posada was satirizing the upper class women who dressed in the latest fashions from France.  However, rich or poor, we all eventually meet the same end.

The image is also known as "la Catrina" (fashionable woman), and the "catrina" has become an integral part of the celebration of the Day of the Dead.