🔥 Important Vintage Mexican Modern Soviet Lithograph, SIGNED Leopoldo MENDEZ 42 For Sale

This is an exceedingly rare andImportant Vintage Mexican Modern Soviet Lithograph on paper, by the esteemed 20th century Mexican Modernist printmaker, Leopoldo Mendez (1902 - 1969.) This artwork promotes the leadership of USSR military commander, and Marshall of the Soviet Union, Semyon Timoshenko (1895 - 1970,) one of the most prominent Red Army military commanders following World War II. This piece was created by Leopoldo Mendez, co-founder of Taller de Grafica Popular,who is considered by many Mexican academics and art historians to be the most important Mexican printmaker of the 20th century and the artistic heir of Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852 - 1913.) This piece depicts the portrait of Timoshenko on the right, and a red star and bold red lettering which reads: \"MARISCAL S. TIMOSHENKO.\" Additionally, this piece is hand-signed by the artist in graphite in the lower right corner: \"Mendez.\" Approximately 21 x 27 1/4 inches (including frame.) Actual artwork is approximately 19 x 25 inches. Good condition for 80+ years of age, and storage. Considering the ephemeral nature of this piece, and the Pre-McCarthy Era Communist subject matter of this artwork, it\'s a miracle it exists at all. There is some moderate soiling and discoloration to the top edge, small creases throughout, and speckles of light soiling and edge wear in a few areas (please see photos carefully.) I believe that this lithograph is an Artist Proof or prototype print by Mendez, because it does not contain the additional bold red writing of \"Sun Triunfos Son Los Nuestros,\" that is apparent on all other known copies of this artwork (see photo 24,) and the fact that it is hand-signed, (no other hand signed version of this print is known to exist.) Very similar Timoshenko prints are housed in the collections of the Yale University Art Gallery, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA,) the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the British Museum, London, and the New Mexico Museum of Art, among others. Priced to Sell. Original art prints by Leopoldo Mendez are in the permanent collections of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA,) National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Mexico, Portland Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Harvard Art Museums, the British Museum, Brooklyn Museum, N.Y., National Gallery of Art, Princeton University Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, etc. Acquired in Los Angeles County, California. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks!
About the Artist:
Leopoldo MendezBorn:1902
Died:1969Known for:PaintingLEOPOLDO MÉNDEZ

Leopoldo Méndez is considered the finest printmaker in the history of Mexico. In 1937 Méndez, Luis Arenal, and Pablo O’Higgins founded theTaller de Gráfica Popular(Peoples’ Graphic Workshop) in Mexico City, which was active through the 1960s and produced thirty-five major portfolios of woodcuts, linocuts, and lithographs. The TGP was grounded in a belief in art’s capacity for social protest and the betterment of the nation’s people.

Méndez was born in Mexico City, one of eight children, to a shoemaker father and a farm worker mother who was of indigenous Nahua heritage. His parents died before he turned two years old and he was raised primarily by his aunt. He became interested in drawing in primary school and he later related that he had competed with another boy in his class to be the best at drawing battleships. His father’s family had been activists—his paternal grandfather died in a battle during the French intervention in Mexico and his father resisted the Porforio Diaz regime, resulting in the burning of his store. Méndez became politically active, supporting the goals of the Mexican revolution but working quietly and mostly anonymously, opposing the concept of making art for profit due to his belief that the true value of art was its social utility. An artist whose whole life was influenced by the early violence and moral promises of his country’s revolution, Méndez continually worked in collaboration with other artists to express his belief in the revolution’s vision.

Leopoldo Méndez(June 30, 1902 – February 8, 1969) was one of Mexico\'s most importantgraphic artistsand one of thatcountry\'s most important artistsfrom the 20th century. Méndez\'s work mostly focused on engraving for illustrations and other print work generally connected to his political and social activism. His most influential work was connected to organizations such as theLigadeEscritoresy ArtistasRevolucionariosand the Taller de Grafica Popularcreating propaganda related to the ideals of theMexican Revolutionand against the rise ofFascismin the 1930s. Despite his importance in 20th-century artistic and political circles, Méndez was a relatively obscure figure during his lifetime. The reasons for this generally relate to the fact that he believed in working collaboratively and anonymously for the good of society rather than for monetary gain and because the socialist and communist themes of his work fell out of favor with later generations. He has received posthumous recognition with a major biography, and scholarship considers him to be the heir to graphic artistJosé Guadalupe Posada.

In general there is little written about the artist\'s personal life as he kept this separate from his career. In addition, there are few published photographs of the artist.

Méndez was born on June 30, 1902, in Mexico City.His background was poor as one of eight children born to a father who was ashoemakerand a mother who was a farm worker ofNahua indigenousbackground from the State of Mexico.His father\'s side of the family was politically active. His paternal grandfather died fighting theFrench Intervention in Mexico.His father worked against thePorfirio Díazregime on the late 19th and early 20th century.His father and uncles worked as vendors in a mining town calledEl Orountil the political strongmen of the area forced them to leave, burning down their store.

However, both his parents had died before Méndez was two years old. During his childhood he lived at his father\'s house, his grandmother\'s house and his Aunt Manuela\'s house, but was primarily raised by his aunt.

Méndez says that he was told that he was ill-tempered and picked fights, especially with his brothers. As a child, he was the familygofer, as well a chaperone for his older sisters, which allowed him to see his neighbors struggling to make a living. Later he used these experiences in his art. He would also be strongly influenced by the Mexican Revolution, as theDecena Trágicahappening when he was only ten years old.

His interest in drawing began in primary school. He competed with another boy in his class as to who could draw better, with the topic being battleships. He also drew portraits ofVenustiano Carranzaboth at school and at home, which was the topic of his first piece of artwork to be sold.

Directly out of primary school, he entered theAcademy of San Carlosin Mexico City. His teachers included Saturninio Herrán, Germán Gedovius, Ignacio Rosas, Francisco de la Torre and Leandro Izaguirre. After three years at the academy, he left to attend the new Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre opened by Alfredo Ramos Martinez in the Chimalistac area in the south of Mexico City. One complaint he had about both schools was that he was never permitted to paint movement, only stationary objects and landscapes without people or animals. He learned to draw movement illustrating periodicals, which he did to earn money to live on.

He developed strong political leanings which influenced not only his art but other aspects of his life. They led to friendships with artists and writers such as withManuel Maples Arce,Germán Cueto,Arqueles Vela,Fermín Revueltas Sánchez,Ramón Alva del Canal,Germán List Arzuoffereand others, forming a group calledLos Estridentistas. It also gave him the opportunity to live in work inXalapa,Veracruzfrom 1925 to 1927, which was a center of this movement. He stated in an interview withElena Poniatowskawhat it was veryBohemianat the time and during this time his politics became more radical, focusing on the ideal of the Mexican Revolution, especiallyEmiliano Zapata. This coincided with the state government under General Jara, but when he fell out of power, Méndez moved back to Mexico City and joined theMexican Communist Party.His time here and other parts of rural Mexico gave him an appreciation of thecountry\'s handcraft and folk art tradition, making him a collector during his life.

Much of his life and work was dedicated to promoting leftist political causes, remaining faithful to the political beliefs of his youth in post-Revolution Mexico to a large degree.In 1930, he founded the Lucha Intellectual Proletaria and traveled to the United States to give presentations.In 1939, he received aGuggenheim Fellowshipand moved to New York where he continued to associate with workers’ groups.One of these beliefs was that artists should work for the people and therefore, his financial situation was always modest. His role in the political activities of many artists and writers of his time was large but he tended to claim little individual credit and to stay in the background.

In 1940s, he was under arrest for a few days afterDavid Alfaro Siqueirosand his group assaultedLeon Trotsky’s house inCoyoacán, kidnapping and killing his secretary. The reason for this was that the attackers left “evidence” to frame theTaller de Gráfica Popular. However, Méndez was released with no charges.

In 1946, he left the Mexican Communist Party, founding thePartido Popularin 1947.He and was a candidate for district representative in Mexico City with this party in the 1953. In 1958, he left the Partido Popular and supportedAdolfo López Mateosfor president.

His political efforts went international starting in the 1940s traveling to theUSSRin 1953. AfterWorld War II, he focused on issues related to world peace. These efforts gained him theInternational Peace Prizefrom theWorld Council of PeaceinViennain 1952.

Méndez continued to work in both art and politics until February 1969 when he fell ill and died while working on a book dedicated to Mexican handcrafts and folk art. He left behind one son, Pablo Méndez.

Méndez\'s career mixed political activism, painting, art education and book design but is best known for his engraving work, creating over 700 during his lifetime.This engraving work started early for book and magazine illustration. In the 1920s, he began with two publications called Irradiador and Horizonte as part of his involvement with a political and artistic movement calledStridentism.In 1929, he began teaching under the Cultural Missions programs of theMexican Secretariat of Public EducationinJaliscoand theState of Mexicowhich included contributing to the El Sembrador and El Maestro Rural magazines. Both were aimed at farm communities and served as a sources of materials for teachers, so the use of graphics along with text was considered fundamental because of high illiteracy.In 1942, he publishedEn el nombre de Cristoa series of seven lithographs about barbarism attributed to theCristerosand the assassination of teachers.Méndez\'s change in political activity often led to a change in the publication he contributed to. For example, in 1946 he left the Mexican Communist Party and joined the Grupo Insurgente José Carlos Mariátegui, initiating collaboration with its official publication called El Insurgente.

His first major body of work was created as a founding member of theLiga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios(LEAR) begun in 1933. The group produced works and exhibited together as well as published its own magazine called Frente a Frente. During this period, Méndez\'s work became militant; believing that only art created to promote the interests of the working class had value. This coincided with much of Mexico\'s politics at the time underLázaro Cárdenas.

Méndez was able to change style of his prints to account for the materials being used and for his intended audience. However, his work is characterized by a distillation of the images into their essential components for impact. These images included pre-Hispanic,RenaissanceandBaroque artof both Europe and Mexico as well as nineteenth century Mexican art andMexican muralism. He generally focused on secular, rather than religious images as well as popular themes taking after the work of José Guadalupe Posada. While his work is mostly realistic, it has incorporated imaginative elements fromCubism,Italian Futurism,Russian Constructivism,German ExpressionismandSurrealism. One influence generally missing from his work is Russian-styleSocial realismdespite his socialist and communist politics.

However, by 1937, Méndez had left LEAR, disappointed with the group\'s lack of activity. He founded a new group that year called theTaller de Gráfica Popularalong withPablo O\'Higgins,Alfredo Zalce,Luis Arenal,Ignacio Aguirre,Isidora Ocampoand others.Like LEAR, its function was political solidly to the left but anti-Trotsky and allied withSilvestre Revueltas,David Alfaro Siqueiros,Lombardo Toledanoand others.It was a collective work center producing paintings and engravings, creating realistic but simple designs with its more abundant engraving work. They considered artistic development inseparable from political development, mostly working with cultural and political institutions of similar views.It was most active during World War II, producing propaganda againstAdolf Hitlerand his allies along with that against capitalism and the U.S. Méndez was central to the Taller, taking part in all its activities, supervising its production and doing most of the relations work with other organizations, such as unions and art galleries.Despite his importance, by 1959, political differences with the more ardent Communists of the Taller marginalized him and he formally resigned in 1961.

Exhibitions

Méndez had limited exhibitions during his career. His first major exhibition was in 1930, when he traveled to Los Angeles as a collaborative effort withCarlos Mérida.In 1945, he had an individual exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, followed by one in 1946 at theInstituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura.

Publications

Méndez\'s greatest volume of work was produced in the latter 1940s, when he worked compulsively and sold it for very low prices. At this time many American museums and private individuals from the U.S., Mexico and Europe purchased his prints.This has resulted in his work scattered among various collections including those ofCarlos Monsiváisand theGraphic Arts Institute of Oaxaca, and of various institutions in Chicago, New York,Prague,MoscowandWarsaw, mostly in graphic arts museums.

Murals

Méndez worked on two notable murals during his career. In 1946, he created one mural with Pablo O\'Higgins calledLa materidad y la asistencia sociallocated at the Clínica No. 1 of theMexican Social Security Institute. He created an engraving mural ofJosé Guadalupe Posadain 1956.

Political art

His political graphics work waned after 1950 as political art was becoming devalued and his work less collected.However, he had begun to create engravings for theMexican cinema, with a series for the filmRío EscondidobyEmilio Fernández, then others such asPueblerina(1948),Un día en la vida(1949),El rebozo de Soledad(1949), Memorias de un mexicano(1950),La rebelión de los colgados(1953) andLa rosa blanca(1959).For the film MacariobyRoberto Gavaldón, he designed the images of God, death and the Devil.

Fondo Editorial de la Plástica Mexicana

In 1958/1959 Méndez left theTaller de la Gráfica Populardue to ideological differences and founded a new publishing concern called the Fondo Editorial de la Plástica Mexicana along withManuel Álvarez Bravo,Carlos Pellicer,Rafael Carrillo AzpeitiaandRicardo J. Zevada.The first book published by the organization wasLa pintura mural de la Revolución Mexicana, followed byLos maestros europeo de la Galería de San Carlos de MéxicoandJosé Guadalupe Posada, ilustrador de la vida mexicana.It became a major art book publishing company producing several high-quality books aboutMexican artwhile he directed it. When he died, he was working on a book aboutMexican handcrafts and folk art.

The last major organization that Méndez founded during his lifetime was theAcademia de Artes de Mexicoin 1968.

Legacy

Méndez was part of a generation of artists that emerged in the 1920s and played an important role in the culture and politics of Mexico after the Mexican Revolution. However, he has been a relatively obscure figure since during his career for two reasons. One was that he remained faithful to the idea that artists should work collaboratively andanonymouslyso he did not seek fame like others from his generation did. A second reason is that his socialist ideas, his association with theUSSRandJoseph Stalinmake him seem less relevant to the generations that followed him.During his lifetime, his only formal recognitions included one of his books,Incidentes melódicos del mundo irracional, receiving a local prize in 1944, the first Premio Nacional de Grabado in Mexico City in 1946 and the International Prize of Peace as a member of the Taller de la Gráfica Popular in 1952.In 1962, theMuseo Nacional de Arte Modernoexhibited a retrospective of his work. He was also honored at theInstituto Nacional de Bellas Artesthe same year.

Since his death, he has received some recognition. Mexican academic research generally ranks him as high as other artists of the 20th century such asDiego RiveraandJosé Clemente Orozco, but little documentation of his life exists. In 1971,David Alfaro Siqueirosincluded a portrait of Méndez along with another engraving great José Guadalupe Posada at hisPolyforum Cultural Siqueirosin Mexico City.Another early homage was an exhibition of his work at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in the 1970s.In 2002, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, writer Carlos Monsivais sponsored a conference on Méndez\'s work at the Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL). The same museum held a retrospective of his work in 2003.

The Taller de la Gráfic Popular also organized an exhibition in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth.In 2012, the Museo de Artes Gráficas inSaltilloheld a retrospective of his work.However, there remains no museum dedicated to his work and the only formal catalog was created by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1977.

Despite his obscurity, he is generally regarded as one of Mexico\'s most important graphic artists and one of the most important artists of the first half of the 20th century. Mexican academia also considers him to be the heir of José Guadalupe Posada, who he admired greatly.

LEOPOLDO MÉNDEZ
Date of birth1902Date of death1969

Leopoldo Méndez led and co-founded Mexico’s most famous printmaking collective, theTallerde Gráfica Popular (TGP)(the Popular Graphic Arts Workshop). A virtuosic printmaker himself, Méndez used his artwork to further the causes of agrarian reforms, Indigenous rights, and anti-fascism. He and the other members of the TGP initiated a tradition of activist printmaking that continues in Mexico to this day.

Méndez was born and studied art in Mexico City. In 1933, he joined the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists), with whom he developed a philosophy of art as a means of activism and liberation for the people of Mexico. Soon after, in 1937, Méndez founded the Taller de Gráfica Popular, a collective of artists who made everything from ephemeral prints to high-quality illustrated books in service of leftist political reform. Méndez remained with the TGP until 1961, after which he devoted himself to publishing books on Mexican printmaking and folk art, as well as supporting leftist movements around the world, until his death in 1969.

The Art Institute of Chicago houses one of the largest North American collections of Méndez’s work and hosted a 1945 exhibition,Prints and Drawings by Leopoldo Méndez, of works acquired from the artist. Méndez createdWhat May Come, a woodblock print commenting on the future of Mexico and the brewing World War II, specifically for that exhibition.

Leopoldo Méndez, muralist, printmaker, painter, political activist, teacher, and administrator, was born in Mexico City on 30 June 1902, the youngest of eight children. At the age of fifteen, Méndez became the youngest student to have enrolled in the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with Saturnine Herran, Leandro Izaguirre, Ignacio Rosas, German Gedovius, and Francisco de la Torre. Following his graduation, he continued his studies at Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre (the open-air painting school founded by Alfredo Ramos Martinez) until 1922.

To keep himself financially afloat while creating his art, Méndez designed book jackets, taught drawing and printmaking in elementary and technical schools, and contributed drawings and prints to journals and liberal publications. In 1930, he made his first trip to the United States with a group of friends; while there, he was invited to illustrate a limited edition of Heinrich Heine\'sThe Gods in Exile.

Méndez was one of the founders of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR), but he is perhaps most well-known as the leader and co-founder of the Taller de Gráfica Popular, a cooperative printmaking workshop dedicated to serving the needs of the Mexican people.

Méndez joined the Stridentists, a group of artists, writers and musicians whose goals were not unlike those of Dadaists and Futurists. He became known internationally for his art and activism, and received many awards for his accomplishments in both fields. Among these were a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 1938 for travel and study in the U.S.; appointment to the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace, held in Poland in 1948; the Premio Internacional de la Paz del Consejo Mundial de Partidarios de la Paz in 1952 which was presented in Vienna the following year; and in 1960 he received the José Guadalupe Posada Prize in Printmaking at theSecond Interamerican Biennial of Painting, Printmaking, and Sculpturesponsored by the City of México.

The work of Leopoldo Méndez is represented in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; the Kemper Art Museum, Kansas City, Missouri; the British Museum, London; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Wisconsin; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the La Salle University Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; the Portland Art Museum, Oregon; the Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey; the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence; the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas; the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma; the Library of Congress and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Leopoldo Méndez died in Mexico City on February 8, 1969.

Leopoldo Mendez, muralist, printmaker, painter, political activist, teacher, administrator, father and husband, was born in Mexico City on June 30, 1902, the youngest of eight children. At age fifteen, Mendez became the youngest student to have enrolled in the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with Saturnine Herran, Leandro Izaguirre, Ignacio Rosas, German Gedovius, and Francisco de la Torre. Following his graduation, he continued his studies at Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre (the plein-air Impressionist school founded by Alfredo Ramos Martinez, until 1922.

One of the founders of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas (LEAR),Mendez is perhaps most well-known as the leader and co-founder of the Taller de Grafica Popular,a cooperative printmaking workshop dedicated to serving the needs of the Mexican people. He joined the Stridentists,a group of artists, writers and musicians whose goals were not unlike those of Dadaists and Futurists. He became known internationally for his art and activism, and received many awards and appointments for his works and accomplishments in both fields. Among these include the Guggenheim Fellowship for travel and study in the U.S.; the International Peace Prize in Vienna; was appointed from Mexico to the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace in Poland; and the Posada Prize for Printmaking at the Second InterAmerican Biennial of Painting, Printmaking, and Sculpture, among others.

Leopoldo Méndez, revolutionary art, and the Mexican print: in service of the people

By Caplow, Deborah

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Washington, 1999

This dissertation situates the Mexican printmaker, Leopoldo Mendez (1902--1969), as a leading member of the Mexican art world of the twentieth century, revealing his central role in Mexican art and politics. His significance is demonstrated through analysis of his extensive body of politically motivated prints and his participation in a number of important art movements and organizations. Mendez came to maturity in the dynamic artistic environment of post-Revolutionary Mexico. In the 1920s he participated in the Stridentist Movement, a group of Futurist and Dadaist-inspired avant-garde writers and artists, and produced prints with revolutionary themes. In the late 1920s Mendez committed himself to leftist political action and refined his graphic skills. Mendez\'s participation in the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR), from 1933 to 1937, led him to develop a graphic idiom based on Mexican and international sources. Mendez was the first to adapt the style and motifs of Jose Guadalupe Posada to political printmaking, publishing satirical prints in LEAR\'s journal Frente a Frente. In LEAR Mendez evolved a new model of artistic practice based on the collective method and the production of prints and murals for the proletariat. In 1937 Mendez was a founder of the Taller de Grafica Popular (Popular Graphics Workshop, TGP), a collective printmaking workshop. Under Mendez\'s leadership the Taller created ephemeral political prints, portfolios of prints, illustrated books, and, from the late 1930s to 1945, powerful anti-fascist and anti-Nazi images. The TGP became an international art center in the 1940s and 1950s. In the late 1950s, Mendez turned to publishing fine art books that reproduced the paintings of the Mexican muralists, prints by Posada and folk art.This dissertation demonstrates that Mendez deserves to be considered a major figure in the history of twentieth-century art because of the high quality of his work and his leadership in the creation of modern Mexican art.

Pawnshop prints turn out to be by artist Leopoldo Méndez6 fine works by Mexican artist bought on Skid Row hung in office for decades in obscurity - until nowByAlexandra Early and Carl T. HallUpdatedJuly 8, 2014 10:58 a.m.For three decades, six black-and-white prints hanging in our South of Market headquarters of the Pacific Media Workers Guild attracted lots of dust and rarely more than casual interest.

The prints clearly were done well. Full of swirling background lines and full of action, they showed scenes of an apparent political execution and violent revolt. They were signed in pencil, \"Méndez,\" and dated 1950.

All we knew was the union legend: A Chronicle copy editor and Guild officer, the late Rex Adkins, had spied the old linoleum cuts through the window of a Skid Row pawnshop in the early \'80s when returning to the office from lunch. He decided to buy them, probably paying more for the sandwich than the art.

Then one day last year, someone in the office broke a frame on one of the prints. Experts at Frames on 3rd said it would be impossible to match the old frame style, meaning all six would need to be reframed. They also warned us the prints were in pretty bad shape, discolored and mildewed, and would require work to stop further deterioration.

So we decided to investigate whether the acquisitions were worth saving. After some research, we discovered that Adkins had a pretty good eye.

It turns out the artist was Leopoldo Mendez,a lesser-known but highly influential contemporary of Diego Rivera. He was a leading figure in Mexico\'s popular art movement, an artistic and cultural renaissance that unfolded after the country\'s revolution a century ago.

Powerful compositions

\"Méndez has always been one of my favorites,\" said David de la Torre, director of the Mexican Museum in Fort Mason, noting the technical skill and powerful compositions Méndez displayed. Next week, the museum will host a panel on the Guild\'s prints and of Méndez\'s art.

Born in 1902, Méndez made posters, prints and murals that depicted the lives and hardships of everyday Mexicans. He helped create two well-known collectives in Mexico, the People\'s Graphic Art Workshop and the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists.

Noah Arthur Bardach, a Los Angeles historian of Mexican and political art, focused much of his doctoral dissertation on Méndez, and said he deserves to be remembered as one of the key creators of contemporary Latin American street art and printmaking.

Famous colleagues

Méndez never achieved the fame of associates such as Rivera, Frida Kahlo,David Alfaro Siqueiros, or Jose Clemente Orozco,partly because of his dedication to social causes and disdain for the commodification of art. In keeping with that stance, Guild officers decided to restore the Méndez prints and not sell them. The prints will be displayed in the union\'s conference room.

Kathryn Hobart and colleague Lisa Costa at Hobart Associates Inc. art appraisers in San Francisco estimated the prints\' value at $2,000 each, perhaps $2,500 for one particularly powerful and better-known image of a hero staring down his executioners, gun barrels jutting right up toward his face.

\"Aesthetically, they are wonderful prints,\" Hobart said. \"The strength of the images lies as much in their powerful political message as in the artistic skill of the printmaker.\"

Interest in these particular pieces also is enhanced because they play a curious role in international cinematic history that can be traced from Mexico City to Moscow and the former Yugoslavia during the Tito era.

Méndez and his associates often collaborated with filmmakers and street organizers, who would show films and produce posters to attract big crowds. Five of the Guild\'s Méndezes appear in the opening and closing credits of \"Un Día de Vida\" (\"One Day of Life\"), a 1950 film by Emilio Fernandez. The black-and-white movie tells the story of a dissident army officer sentenced to death for protesting military complicity in the assassination of Emiliano Zapata, a revolutionary hero and land reformer.

The film is difficult to find today but retains a cult following in Eastern Europe, where it was extremely popular in the 1950s and 1960s. As Slovenian writer and director Miha Mazzini explained, Mexico became a preferred source of cinema during that period because, Mazzini said, \"it was far away, the chances of Mexican tanks appearing on Yugoslav borders were slight, and, best of all, in Mexican films they always talked about revolution in the highest terms.\"

Mazzini said \"Un Día de Vida\" led to what he calls a \"Yu-Mex\" craze, which included Yugoslavians holding Mexican-themed parties and Yugoslavian singers specializing in Mexican ranchera music.

In the Bay Area, the tradition of Mexican political art personified by Méndez lives on in the work of such local artists as Juan Fuentes and Favianna Rodriguezand collectives like Dignidad Rebelde, Design Action Collective and the San Francisco Print Collective.

They produce prints, posters and murals supporting immigrant and women\'s rights, tenant struggles and union organizing, and share Méndez\'s belief that creating works of social utility is more important than achieving personal celebrity.

Inspirational figure

\"Exhibiting in a gallery doesn\'t mean success,\" Rodriguez said. \"Success means making something people will put up and use.\"

To San Francisco printmaker Fuentes, former director of Mission Gráfica, a collective located in the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Méndez is an inspirational figure.

\"He has influenced so many artists in the Chicano movement,\" Fuentes said. \"His approach and his imagery was always so right on target in terms of what was going on politically in Mexico. I strive to have the kind of impact that Méndez had.\"

-- A panel discussion on Leopoldo Méndez will be held July 8, 7 p.m. at the Mexican Museum, Fort Mason Center.Free to the public.

Leopoldo Méndez’s Revolution: Social Activism through Graphic ArtBy Elizabeth Ventura

Born on June 30, 1902, in Mexico City, Leopoldo Méndez would become one of Mexico’s most significant and beloved graphic artists of the twentieth century. Méndez was one of eight children in a poor household. At a young age, Méndez used art as a means to bring joy to the Mexican community and attended the Academy of San Carlos located in Mexico City. After Mexico’s revolution started in 1910, the community witnessed a great divide between the rich and the poor, along with discrimination against indigenous populations. Artist Leopoldo Méndez wanted to close this gap by highlighting these issues through graphic art, murals, and wood engravings. In the 1930s, Méndez became politically active and promoted revolutionary ideas such as workers’ rights in his graphic art and founded the League of Revolutionary Artists and Writers in 1933 and the Taller de Gráfica Popular in 1937.

The childhood of Méndez is pivotal to the artist’s relationship with anti-fascist and revolutionary ideas. The youngest of eight children in a working-class home, Méndez also faced the struggle of his mother dying during his infancy. Méndez lived with his extended family under poverty conditions. In 1918, Méndez enrolled in the Academia de San Carlos. Leandro Izaguirre and Saturnino Herrán, two artists that painted cruel depictions of colonization, taught and inspired Méndez to use artwork as a means to bring social injustices to light. It is claimed that “while Méndez would soon reject the techniques and elitist attitudes associated with the academy, Izaguirre’s and Herrán’s sympathetic depictions of their subjects set important precedents on which he and others would build.” [1] Although Méndez strayed from the academy’s elitist teachings, the artist would forever strive to connect his artwork to larger social themes surrounding indigenous and working-class members of the Mexican community.

After the assassination of Cuban communist exile Julio Mella in 1929, Méndez joined the Communist Party of Mexico. Méndez founded The Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, translated to the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists. Méndez promoted anti-fascist artwork and influenced artists to create a collection of revolutionary artwork to grasp the attention of Mexican intellectuals. Other artists from the Academia de San Carlos, such as Pablo O’Higgins, joined this group to create artwork that criticized imperialism, capitalism, and warfare. These artists wanted artwork to stretch beyond entertainment purposes, and to mirror Mexico’s discontent community. Furthermore, “Artists from Mexico and other countries created global partnerships, and they also worked with high-level bureaucrats to produce images that illustrated the dangers of fascism through books and posters.” [2] Although Méndez eventually left LEAR to create the Taller de Gráfica Popular, it is evident that this group pushed working class interests into the forefront, cemented a political relationship with the arts, and revolutionized the meaning of artwork relative to the working-class community.

One of Méndez’s most significant contributions to Mexico’s art community is his founding of the Taller de Gráfica Popular in 1937, alongside Luis Arenal and Pablo O’Higgins. He oversaw the acquisition of lithographic equipment and resources for the community of artists, and led the board of the publishing center, known as La Estampa Mexicana [3]. La Estampa Mexicana published lyrics, poems, and posters that favored left-wing politicians worldwide, and criticized fascist leaders. His leadership in the TGP allowed the community of artists to flourish and print anti-fascist rhetoric across Mexico. It is believed that without Méndez, the TGP would not have lasted up until the present day. The TGP has become a beacon in Mexico’s community post-revolution, and “in order to emphasize the need for continued socialist reform, artists at the TGP produced powerful genre scenes that drew attention to those suffering from homelessness, hunger and illness.” [4] Under the leadership of Méndez, the TGP advocated for artwork to mirror the social reality of Mexico and the suffering working class. Méndez helped graphic art and muralism rise across Mexico, as many artists collaborated on large street murals. He specialized in political graphic art and wood engravings and oversaw the production of prints under the TGP. Key issues the TGP reflected in its artwork included “Mexico’s divided heritage and fragmented history, the poverty and oppression of the Native American populations, human rights for the popular classes, defending the land rights of the lower classes, and civil liberties for labour movements.” [5] Méndez did not receive much attention throughout his lifetime for his artwork, as he believed the work of artists should not be done for fame nor fortune.

The Taller de Gráfica Popular went beyond working-class issues, aiding in political issues domestically and internationally. The community’s connection to the Partido Comunista Mexicano, translated to the Mexican Communist Party, also aided in the rise of feminism across Mexico. Artists and leaders of the TGP such as Elizabeth Catlett and Mercedes Quevedo influenced the founding of the National Union of Mexican Women in 1964 to unite women of all social classes [6]. The work of Méndez and the Taller de Gráfica Popular expanded beyond Mexico especially during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939, and World War II from 1939 to 1945. Méndez supported the side of Republican Spain and condemned the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. In 1949, the Congress of Peace was held in Mexico City, in which “the TGP collaborated with works that activated the political imaginary of realism in negotiation with the USSR’s rhetoric of nuclear disarmament and the Dove of Peace.” [7] The TGP favored the socialist USSR over Nazi Germany and criticized fascist political leaders like Hitler and Mussolini. Méndez’s own socialist ideas would create hesitancy to showcase his work across the United States, however, the artist did have a successful exhibit in Chicago in 1945. The exhibit strayed from highlighting the artist’s ties to socialism due to growing tensions of the Cold War and enabled American audiences to view Mexico’s connection of artwork and social realities. The Taller de Gráfica Popular continues to operate in Mexico City, advocating for indigenous populations and working-class citizens, continuing long after Méndez’s own death in 1969.

Due to his humbled perceptions of artwork as a profession, Méndez did not enjoy much fame nor recognition until after his death. He preferred to work for low wages and strayed from showcasing his artwork in large-scale exhibitions, believing this would dilute his work and true purpose of representing Mexico’s lower class. However, Leopold Méndez’s contributions and leadership to both The Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, and Taller de Gráfica Popular throughout the 1930s to the 1960s enabled small-scale artists across Mexico to unite to create a collection of artwork that ensured the needs of the working-class were represented.