Here are close to three hundred of Posada’s best engravings，all done for the printer and publisher A．Vanegas Arroyo in Mexico City．Posada worked in two techniques-- engraving on type metal with a many-pointed burin and，later，relief etching on zinc．The broadsides he illustrated commemorated all sorts of occasions--disasters，political events．crimes and miracles--or they glorified great popular heroes like Zapata．Posada was known for his calaveras-skeletons that cavorted，ate and drank，rode bicycles and horses、wielded swords and daggers，or were revolutionaries，streetcleaners，dishwashers and almost anything else.This was traditional art for All Souls’ Day the Mexiean Day of the Dead．but in Posada’s hands it became extremely versatile，sometimes an instrument of social and political satire，sometimes a sympathetic portrait of a revolutionary，sometimes a comic，cartoon-like memento mori...

Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913)was Mexico’s most illustrious graphic artist．For over forty years he worked tirelessly as an incorruptible and truly popular artist，illustrating cookbooks and fortune-telling books，collections of songs and riddles，periodicals and newspapers、children’s books and novels，and most of all the famous broadsides that were distributed throughout the country．After his death he was venerated by the artists of the new generation--Rivera，Orozco and many others，who realized that he had both saved and renewed the art of engraving in Mexieo，and who incorporated much of his imagery into their own work．

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

Calaveras

Disasters

National Events

Religion and Miracles

Don Chepito Marihuano

Chapbook Covers

Chapbook Illustrations

Everyday Life

Miscellaneous

Commentary on the Illustrations

Brief Bibliography