1º de mayo . . . Comité Nacional de la Confederación de Trabajadores de México (May 1 . . . National Committee of the Confederation of Mexican Workers) Artist: Leopoldo Méndez (Mexican, 1902–1969)
Publisher: Taller de Gráfica Popular (Mexico City, founded 1937)

1947

Prints and Drawings

By appointment, Duffy Study Room

For this May Day (International Workers’ Day) poster on behalf of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), Leopoldo Méndez modeled the girl and boy after his own children, Andrea and Pablo. Contrasting with the well-cared-for children are others lying or huddled on the sidewalk. The girl and boy appear to be on their way to school; the promotion of literacy was one of the goals championed by the Taller artists. The text reads: “To raise the level of life for the Mexican people is an urgent demand,” and “A united and strong CTM will help Miguel Alemán [president 1946–52] realize this patriotic task.”

Medium

Linocut

Dimensions

sheet: 82.6 × 62.2 cm (32 1/2 × 24 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Monroe E. Price, B.A. 1960, LL.B 1964, and Aimée Brown Price, M.A. 1963, Ph.D. 1972

Accession Number

2010.175.2

Geography

Made in Mexico

Culture

Mexican

Period

20th century

Classification

Prints

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Bibliography
  • Michael Ricker et al., El Taller de Gráfica Popular: Vida y Arte, exh. cat. (Athens, Ga.: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 2015), 171, ill.
  • "Acquisitions," https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Pub_Bull_acquisitions_2011.pdf (accessed March 1, 2012).
  • Deborah Caplow, Leopoldo Méndez: Revolutionary Art and the Mexican Print, 1st (Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 2007), 195, fig. 7.5.
Object copyright
Copyright Leopoldo Mendez / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP
In Copyright
Additional information

Signed

recto, LL, in plate: "LM"; LR under image, in plate: "Grabado de LEOPOLDO MENDEZ - Taller Gráfica Popular" (= Engraved by Leopoldo Mendez - Taller Gráfica Popular);

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