One of Mexico’s most celebrated artists was a printmaker, a common man who died a pauper, his body interred in an unmarked grave.  Yet, José Guadalupe Posada reached his countrymen through perhaps more than 20,000 images documenting nearly every aspect of life. As Mexico modernized in the late 19th century, its capital bustled with published materials to satisfy the growing metropolis and its budding middle class, intelligentsias, and thousands of new residents relocating from the countryside.  Employed by the visionary publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Posada created expressive images reflecting and informing the transitioning culture of Mexico City’s residents, many of whom were illiterate. Posada’s satirical skeletons, or calaveras, have become the most iconic and celebrated of his work.

Posada’s art lampooned politicians, recorded vivid images of the Mexican Revolution, inspired Mexico's famed Taller Grafica Popular to use art for social causes, helped the Cuban Revolution succeed, adorned concert tickets for the Grateful Dead and today leaps to life annually as the skeletal images seen during Day of the Dead, so popular now that even Disney and Pixar are planning a Day of the Dead animation film. Yet Posada’s influence is rarely associated with his name, his true story virtually unknown.

Decades after his death, art historians and artists continue to recognize Posada’s cultural contributions, reflecting not only the spirit of Mexican identity in his time and ours but imparting a universal perspective extending well beyond the borders of his native Mexico.

Posada’s main publisher:
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo (1852-1917)

Underwriting Posada’s legacy was his main editor Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, whose hand directed and crafted the publications displaying and catering to the popular culture of Mexico. Using the inexpensive media of print on paper, the Vanegas Arroyo print shop injected thousands of ideas and images into the hands of many. With an extraordinary ability to have a pulse of daily life in Mexico City, Vanegas Arroyo set the agenda for content to be published. Posada illustrated everything including the news (both sensational and factual) as well as songs, stories and poems – many of which were penned by Vanegas Arroyo himself. Political figures and satirical critiques on contemporary issues were not shied away from and were illustrated with increased vigor as Mexico hurtled toward revolution. Together, Vanegas Arroyo and Posada became a dominate force in shaping Mexican identity and popular culture.

A wide representation of Posada’s work, including his famous Day of the Dead calaveras and the artist’s original printing plates, make up this unique and inspiring exhibition. Bringing together nearly seventy of the artist’s most iconic images, this exhibition is remarkable for its inclusion of rarely exhibited printing plates, many signed in the plate by Posada himself. In addition, the exhibition explores the relatively unknown relationship between the artist and Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, one Mexico City’s most popular publishers with whom Posada worked under, and collaborated with, from 1889 until his death in 1913.

Workshop of JG Posada

A final section of the exhibition is dedicated to the legacy of Posada and the unbelievable sphere of influence his images have been used for to connect events like the Mexican Revolution, artists fighting Nazis and Fascism, Lucha Libre, the Cuban Revolution, the Grateful Dead, Day of the Dead and the art of today’s social movements.

José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico was organized by the Catalina Island Museum in association with the Posada Art Foundation, the largest collection of Posada’s artworks privately held in the United States. The collection was acquired by the Foundation directly from the Vanegas Arroyo family. The texts are presented in English and Spanish. The exhibition is available for presentation through 2026.

This exhibition is generously loaned by the Posada Art Foundation.