José Guadalupe Posada

Born Feb. 2, 1851, in Aguas-calientes; died Jan. 20, 1913, in Mexico City. Mexican graphic artist.

Posada, who studied graphic arts with M. Manilla, began working in Mexico City at the publishing house of A. Vanegas Arroyo in 1887. He worked for many newspapers, producing more than 15,000 wood engravings. Posada’s prints were permeated by traditional motifs from Mexican folklore and, at the same time, developed the new principles of revolutionary art. These principles included topicality, social incisiveness, and a simple artistic idiom understood by the common people. Posada is considered the founder of 20th-century Mexican graphic arts.