When was josé guadalupe posada born

Posada is credited with greatly influencing budding artists Orozco and Rivera, both young students at the time. Despite his humble yet rebellious nature and the ever-increasing popularity of his work, Posada's financial success was limited. He never became wealthy, and he drank excessively; eventually he succumbed to enteritis, alone and impoverished, in January of His first regular employment in the capital was with La Patria Ilustrada , whose editor was Ireneo Paz, the grandfather of the later famed writer Octavio Paz.

He later joined the staff of a publishing firm owned by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and while at this firm he created a prolific number of book covers and illustrations. Much of his work was also published in sensationalistic broadsides depicting various current events. From the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in until his death in , Posada worked tirelessly in the press. The works he completed in his press during this time allowed him to develop his artistic prowess as a draftsman, engraver and lithographer.

At the time he continued to make satirical illustrations and cartoons featured in the magazine, El Jicote. He played a crucial role for the government during the presidency of Francisco I Madero and during the campaign of Emiliano Zapata. He illustrated stories of crime and passion, along with stories of appearances and miracles.

Posada portrayed and illustrated all kinds of characters in his works; some of them being revolutionaries, politicians, drunks, elegant ladies, bull fighters, workers and a wide array of others.

He also coined the illustration for the famous skulls. They portrayed a wide variety of people, generally used to show the regrets and joys of the people. When Posada began working for Vanegas Arroyo there was already a talented engraver by the name of Manuel Manilla ?

Manilla was senior to Posada at the Vanegas Arroyo house and well established as an engraver. In Posada, Vanegas Arroyo found an illustrator whose images of folk heroes; sensational crimes and disasters supported the story lines and more often than not, stood on their own in such a way that they required no words at all.

During his lifetime the calavera skeleton images created by Posada were perhaps the most popular items he produced and accordingly, he is generally credited with popularizing the calavera images commonly seen today and most frequently around the date of November 2, known as the Day of the Dead in Mexico. The most iconic image of Posada is a calavera image wearing a very fashionable hat decorated with flowers. In both cases the image gives us a message reminding all of us that no matter who we are, rich or poor, that death is something we all have in common.

He died at the age of 60 on January 20, in his home. Born in in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes, Posada lived most of his life in pre-Revolutionary Mexico.

When he was 16, he became an apprentice at a lithography shop, where he produced cartoons about local politics. He also taught lithography at a local secondary school and started a family. But the defining moment of his career came in , when he relocated to Mexico City. There Posada began illustrating popular broadsheets -- so-called hojas volantes , or "flying leaves" -- published by the businessman Antonio Vanegas Arroyo.

In his autobiography, Rivera credits Posada as one of his principal influences. While the praise is undoubtedly sincere, the two men held markedly different ambitions. Posada considered himself an expert technician and draftsman -- blue collar to the bone -- not a member of the fine-arts coterie.