Leopoldo Méndez and La Estampa Mexicana
Concierto de Locos
1931
Scroll
Physical Qualities
Woodcut, Sheet: 247 x 188 mm. (9 3/4 x 7 3/8 in.)
Image: 148 x 147 mm. (5 13/16 x 5 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Baltimore Museum of Art
Object Number
1941.561.5
In "Fools Concert", reminiscent of popular Mexican religious prints (including Posada’s "Lonely Soul" in the nearby case), Méndez depicts four important members of the Mexican arts community surrounding the figure of God, who holds a triangle (a symbol of the Trinity) over his right eye. Rivera kneels at lower left, wearing only a pre-Columbian cape and pounding on a wooden Aztec drum known as a "teponaztle". To his right sits fellow muralist Siqueiros, who plays a harp fashioned from a communist sickle. The instrument refers to his political affiliation as well as his Old Testament namesake, King David. Ringing a school bell above Siqueiros is the standing figure of Moises Saenz, who held many political appointments in culture and education.
And at upper left Dr. Atl swings noisemakers in both hands; his art and writing, including his 1906 manifesto, inspired a generation of modern Mexican artists to create a distinctively Mexican art based in part on the country’s indigenous culture. Méndez rendered their concert as a cacophonous performance in order to satirize the strong roles that each of these important cultural figures played in the politicized world of modern Mexican art. Made several years later, "Protest" is characteristic of Méndez’s virtuoso ability to use the woodcut medium to create a wide range of tones while adding a sense of movement to his monochromatic images.
With a flick of his knife, he cut lines and other marks that lend energy to the upward thrust of the central figure’s gesture, a reference to the Communist salute and to solidarity among the workers. The figure’s other hand draws attention to the plight of small-scaled figures gathered below, especially the crawling man who is being whipped by an overseer.
Crossing Borders: Mexican Modernist Prints
Reyes Palma, Francisco, Leopoldo Méndez: El Oficio de Grabar, Mexico: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994, ill no. 36.
Signed: 1
Inscribed: RECTO: LR in matrix; 'LM'; signed LR margin (graphite): 'Méndez'; BR Corner (graphite): '5'.
