Gamboa, Fernando, 1909-1990

Fernando Gamboa was an art historian and director of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. An early collector of Posada’s work, Gamboa contributed to several exhibits, including the important 1944 show held at the Art Institute of Chicago.

José Guadalupe Posada’s work is internationally recognized today. Yet, in his time he was considered a mere artisan, a commercial illustrator producing images on short deadlines for the Mexican equivalent of the American or English penny press. After his death in 1913, he was largely unknown. His work was rediscovered a decade later by Jean Charlot and the artists of the Mexican Renaissance, who recognized a predecessor in Posada and acknowledged him as "the artist of the Mexican people." Like the muralists of the 1920s-1940s, Posada worked in a narrative style that was intelligible to the great masses of Mexico’s people. From his viewpoint as a member of the urban, working class, Posada created a portrait of his life and times as one of great originality, force, and humor.

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