La Catrina, the grinning skeleton with the elegant, floppy chapeau, is, without a doubt, the most famous creation of Mexican cartoonist, illustrator, artist and satirist José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), whose work was so prolific that even today no one knows exactly how many obras he produced. But if you’d like an overview of his work – and at the same time an insight into life in Mexico during the tumultuous days of the Revolution – the place to visit is the Posada Museum in Aguascalientes.
Posada, who was born in the city of Aguascalientes, first did his engravings on wood and in 1895 introduced the technique of etching on blocks of zinc. Mostly he did cartoons which were accompanied by verses or popular news items. The papers he worked for were penny publications, the precursors of today’s supermarket tabloids, and he illustrated countless tales of murder and mayhem as well as graphic reports of catastrophes and dire predictions of cataclysms.
Posada’s first well-known representation of people portrayed as skeletons was his etching of a bony Don Quixote, published in 1905. From then on the calavera became his trademark. Calavera literally means “skull” but in most cases his calaveras were complete skeletons. In 1912, near the end of his career, Posada drew his most famous calavera, La Catrina. Guides at the Posada Museum take pains to point out that, originally, Catrina was in no way related to the Day of the Dead, nor a mystical symbol of the inevitability of Death, so predominant in pre-Hispanic Mexico.
In reality, Posada’s Catrina poked fun at Mexico City’s high society during the Porfiriato, when French fashions were all the rage. Even the servants and garbanceras – ladies selling chick peas in the street – wanted to look catrín (fancy) and, one way or another would borrow something French-looking to wear in public, whitening their dark skin with powder, in imitation of Porfirio Díaz himself, who went to lengths to hide his mestizo origins.
During all of his life, Posada worked for someone else, illustrating verses or stories written by other people. “Posada does not want to reform or change society: he wants to depict it,” said Nobel Prize-winning author Octavio Paz. Nevertheless, he did such a good job at it, that Diego Rivera included Posada among the 150 most emblematic Mexicans in his 1948 mural “Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda,” where we see La Catrina holding hands with Posada and Rivera himself as a young boy.
Sad to say, José Guadalupe Posada died penniless in 1913 and was buried in a dirt-cheap grave. Ironically, seven years later the grave was dug up and Posada’s remains were thrown into the cemetery’s “calaveras del montón,” the very “heap of bones” which had appeared so often in his drawings.
Without a doubt, Diego Rivera would have agreed that the Posada Museum – with its collection of 3,000 pieces – is well worth a visit. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The entrance fee is ten pesos, free on Sunday. You can get there from Guadalajara in about three hours.
How to get there
Take toll road 80 northeast past Tepatitlán toward Lagos de Moreno and León. After approximately 150 kilometers, turn left onto toll road 45 which will lead you straight into Aguascalientes. Set your trip odometer at zero as you pass the Siglo XXI ring road. After 3.5 kilometers watch for Calle Profra. Vicenta Trujillo and turn right. After 230 meters, turn right on to Dr Jesús Díaz de León. You’ll find the museum 100 meters further on, on your right, at the north end of beautiful Jardín del Encino. The address is Calle Vicente Trujillo 222.