The José Guadalupe Posada Museum

From Wikipedia:

“José Guadalupe Posada (February 2, 1851 – January 20, 1913) was a Mexican engraver and illustrator.

He was born in the city of Aguascalientes, where he learned the art of lithography and, by 1871, was working for a local newspaper called El Jicote (“The Hornet”). After a few years, he eventually joined the staff of the Mexico City publishing firm of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, creating various book covers and illustrations. Much of his work was also published in sensationalistic broadsides depicting various current events.

Posada’s best known works are his calaveras, or skeletons, which often assume various costumes, such as the Calavera de la Catrina, the ‘Skeleton of the Female Dandy’, which was meant to satirize the life of the upper classes during the reign of Porfirio Díaz. Most of his imagery attempts to make a religious or satirical point. Since his death, however, his images have become associated with the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, the ‘Day of the Dead.’ They draw on medieval art traditions of the danse macabre and Native American motifs.

Largely forgotten by the end of his life, Posada’s engravings were brought to a wider audience in the 1920s by the French artist Jean Charlot, who encountered them while visiting Diego Rivera. While Posada died in poverty, his images are well known today as examples of folk art. The muralist José Clemente Orozco knew Posada when he was young, and credited Posada’s work as an influence on his own.”

From Wikipedia:

“It is fitting that the museum is located in Aguascalientes, Mexico, as it is the birthplace of the great Mexican graphic artist Jose Guadalupe Posada, born in 1852. In fact, on the main highway a large sign and representation of one of Posada’s more famous characters, ‘La Calavera Catrina’, greets visitors.

The complex is formed by a church, a square, a garden, and the museum. The museum is housed in what was the priest’s cloisters and residence, in front of Gardens and a Colonial fountain, and immediately next to the beautiful 18th-century baroque church of El Señor del Encino (‘Our Lord of the Oak’, for a black christ made of oak worshiped in the church), in the Triana historic colonial neighborhood. The museum is not large, but one can spend the day there fascinated by the original, signed printing plates.

The Posada Museum opened in 1972 and is run jointly by the state and federal governments. Unfortunately, as of 2004, there is no bookstore or gift shop to purchase books, other material, or posters.”