José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913) was one of Mexico’s most influential printmakers and illustrators. He produced an extensive body of imagery, from illustrations for children’s games to sensationalistic news stories that appeared in a variety of inexpensive penny press publications marketed to the country’s growing middle and working-class.

Posada is best known for his popular and satirical representations of calaveras (skeletons) in lively guises. These figures featured prominently on broadsides—cheap illustrated handbills—that were published for the Day of the Dead celebrations every November. Posada’s prints shaped generations of Mexican artists, among them the muralists Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.

This exhibition features a wide range of prints and print media by Posada, fellow illustrator Manuel Manilla, and others, including calaveras, chapbooks, political prints, devotional images, and repre