The Mexican Printmakers - Part II

Alfredo Zalce, "La revolucion y la libertad de prensa" (Revolution and freedom of the press), 1945.

This was such an impressive print. I was often struck by the complicated nature of the compositions, always in service to the subject, and how the artists played with variations in scale, distance, density, positive and negative space in order to achieve the most impact.

In this detail you can see how vigorous and free the carving is. Even in a minutely-planned image, that vigor gives an energy and immediacy that are palpable. Look at how different each face is, and how the artist has treated the texture of the clothing, hair, hats -- so much variation, so little repetition. Only a master could achieve this, because those aspects, I'm sure, happened directly during the carving, not in the drawing.

 

Ignacio Aguirre, "Las tropas constitutionalistas hacen el primer reparto des tierras" (Constitutionalist troops make the first land distribution),1946.

Another great use of perspective and scale.

Ignacio Aguirre Camacho, "Venustiano Carranza arenga los jefes constitutionalistas" (Venustiano Carranza harangues the constitutionalist chiefs), 1947.

I love the large dark figure of Venusiano contrasted with the multiple figures and flags on the top and right . And the many types of marks used to make the ground interesting, then the composition tied together with the white banner. Such a great use of positive and negative.

Leopoldo Mendez, "Deportacion a la muerte" (Deportation to death), 1942

And finally, another enormously effective print that uses perspective, scale, and light to create maximum impact, drawing attention to the faces of the huddled deportees, but insisting that we also look up the line to the malevolent cloud of black smoke in the distance.

Seeing these images up close felt like taking a master class in printmaking - it was a privilege, and I learned a lot.