Art / El Arte de la Revolución Mexicana

Throughout Mexico's history, Art has played an important social role, and the Mexican Revolution was not an exception. This exhibition focuses on art preceding, during the revolution and after the revolution. The heroes of the Mexican Revolution- Emiliano Zapata and Francisco "Pancho" Villa have continued to inspire Mexican, Mexican American generations. The transformation of the heroes in cultural icons has, in turn, helped communities coalesce to achieve equal rights and social justice in their communities. From José Guadalupe Posada through the Mexican Muralist movement, the artists have continually reinterpreted the Mexican Revolution.

José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was a Mexican printmaker and has served as a source of inspiration to the successive generations of Mexican printmakers, graphic artists, and others. There is a separate exhibition, "Illustrating Mexico one page at a time-Print Art of José Guadalupe Posada," the Librarian curated that for the Caribbean and Latin American Studies; Liladhar P. Posada created broadsides and other print objects with themes that were dedicated to the revolution. Below are some select posters that have been used for educational purposes only. The Bancroft Library has an informative book on Posada's revolutionary imprints, "La Revolución Mexicana vista por José Guadalupe Posada; [homenaje en su cincuentenario, 1910-1960] Recopilación y presentación de Jaled Muyaes." In the United States, there are several other important collections of Posada's revolutionary broadsides and other prints. To name a few the Library of Congress, Posada Art Foundation, and Harry Ransom Center at UT Austin.

Muralists, Taller de Gráfica Popular, and others such as contemporary Mexican artists like Artemio Rodriguez have continued to represent the Mexican Revolution through their art. Below are some of the murals and books that provide some idea about the continuing influence of the Mexican Revolution on Mexican art and Mexican artists.

Taller de Gráfica Popular or Popular Graphic Art Workshop or TGP is one of the most influential Mexican art collectives that inspired other artists. It was founded just before World War II in 1937 by Leopoldo Méndez, Luis Arenal, and Pablo O’Higgins. Prior to TGP, there was Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR).

The description of the What May Come exhibition by the Art Institute of Chicago states, "This milieu shaped not only the workshop’s dedication to a collective printmaking model but also its production aimed at both “the people” and discerning collectors, a strategy necessitated by the era’s quickly changing political tides."