Remembering Jose Guadalupe Posada

November 16th 2016

In case readers have ever wondered about the origins of the "iconic" skull or skeleton figures that are so often used as emblems of Mexico or Mexican culture, I will tell you a bit about the man credited with first creating them. He was an engraver and print maker named Jose Guadalupe Posada.  He was born in Aguascalientes  ("Hot Waters") in Mexico's North and lived and worked in Mexico City for most of his creative life. His main period of productivity was during the two decades preceding the Mexican Revolution (which, as we all know, started in 1910.)

This was a time when printed broadsheets bearing corrido ballads, poetry about current events, accounts of the exploits of outlaws, etc., were peddled on the streets for centavos to keep people informed and entertained.  Posada's imagery was prominently featured on many of these, frequently making use of the symbolism of the calavera, a word for skull which has a secondary meaning of a wild or roguish person.

Perhaps he sensed the approaching demise of the long-standing political and cultural elite, for the major theme of Posada's "calavera" (skull) figures was the futility of all human endeavor and the inevitability of death without regard to privilege or earthly possessions.  Thus, political figures, the clergy, the wealthy,  or simply common Mexican "types" were portrayed as skeletons pursuing their ordinary activities as if unaware of their fated mortality.  The dark humor of this became popular and soon spread to the folk arts such as papel picado (paper cuttings), pastry and candy-making,  ceramics, and paper mache. Today these crafts and Posada's imagery are strongly associated with the celebration of the Day of the Dead, El Dia de los Muertos,  which takes place on the first and second of November each year.

Perhaps the most famous Posada calavera image  is the one known as "La Catrina." A catrin or catrina is a vain and amibtious person of low social class who attempts to convey an appearance of glamour or wealth, as a household servant might  by dressing up in her mistress's cast-off clothing. La Catrina is portrayed in her image wearing a showy hat with ostrich plumes, ostentatious earrings, and sometime even a feather boa. To me, her fleshless face bears an expression of exuberance and voraciousness as she cavorts through life.  But to what end?

The most famous Posada calavera, "La Catrina"

Indeed. the vanity of ambition is an underlying theme to much of the traditional humor and folk wisdom of Mexico. It is this force of nature, among other great challenges, that is defied by valiant families of Mexican immigrants in their cruzando la frontera to aspire to a better life por el otro lado.

There are myriad calaveras-related images viewable online, and they're fun to look at. I encourage you to explore!  Perhaps I'll post a few more besides the one that heads this blog, which depicts a "fandango" or dancing party of eskeletos.  Mas luego.