Jose Guadalupe Posada Broadsides and Booklets

Jose Guadalupe Posada (1851–1913) was a Mexican lithographer and printmaker best known for his illustrations of calaveras (skulls), which would later become most associated with the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Born in Aguascalientes, Posada began drawing from an early age, and was taught lithography and engraving through an apprenticeship as a teenager. From there, Posada created lithographs for mostly political newspapers until a flood in Leon, Guanajuato in 1882 – which killed 250 people and left more than 1,400 people missing; led Posada to produce lithographs that followed themes regarding death and the social implications following the aftermath of the flood. Posada kept using these aforementioned themes throughout his illustrations while also adding elements of satire. One of his most famous satirical illustrations was “La Calavera Catrina”, an image of an elegantly dressed female skeleton which has become a popular Dia de los Muertos illustration.