Wow. That's the kind of stuff that makes me jealous.Here's the gist of things - one of my favorite artists of all time is a gentleman from Mexico, circa the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, by the name of Jose Guadalupe Pasada. Mr. Pasada was an illustrator, favoring in particular lithography. If you want a general biography, I recommend this one from the Posada Collection at the University of New Mexico - otherwise, let me share some of Posada's work in a style I can only describe as a la BibliOdyssey. In particular however, the art history books tend to remember Mr. Posada for his calaveras:
They're beautiful aren't they? I'm a particular fan of two elements of Posada's work - on the one hand how he demonstrates the universalness of humanity's essential characteristics (our differentiations are artificially and socially constructed, for the most part) and his expressiveness, with particular reference to his use of line and gesture. Sure, his work looks, for lack of a better word, "complete," planned out, not particularly spontaneous, but even amidst that it retains life - the line and form of his works aren't subjected to any sort of iconic tyranny, which is particularly astounding in reference to Pasada's use of traditional Latin and Western iconography. But I do go on.I've got a few links for you. First, there is the Posada Collection at UNM (where I got not only all these wonderful pics but also the link to the biography above). It has a substantial assortment of images which you can search by subject, description, or number, or you can just watch as a slideshow. Be sure to watch the little calavera drag in the page options at the top of the page - he's the most adorable undead being since Casper.
The ghost.
Artchive has four large calaveras as well - most famous among them, the infinitely reproduced La Calavera Catrina. The University of Hawai'i also has a great travelling exhibit, most of the works of which are online at this great site.
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