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La Danza de la Muerte II (Dance of Death II), from the album Leopoldo Méndez: 25 Prints


Leopoldo Méndez, La Danza de la Muerte II (Dance of Death II), from the album Leopoldo Méndez: 25 Prints, 1945, wood engraving on china paper, Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund, © artist or other rights holder, 45.10.17

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Details
Title

La Danza de la Muerte II (Dance of Death II), from the album Leopoldo Méndez: 25 Prints

Related Titles

album (translated): Leopoldo Méndez: 25 Prints

original language: La Danza de la Muerte II

translated: Dance of Death II

Artist

Leopoldo Méndez (Mexican, 1902-1969)

Related People

print publisher: Leopoldo Méndez (Mexican, 1902-1969)

publisher: La Estampa Mexicana (Mexican, active 20th century)

Date

1945

Medium

wood engraving on china paper

Edition

21/25

Dimensions (H x W x D)

image: 7 7/8 in x 4 5/8 in; sheet: 9 11/16 in x 6 7/8 in

Inscriptions & Markings

numbered: 17, graphite, bottom right corner

numbered; inscription: 45.10.17 MENDEZ, Leopoldo - Dance of Death (II.), graphite [in another hand], bottom left Language: English

signature: Méndez, graphite, lower right

Collection Area

Graphic Arts

Category

Prints

Object Type

intaglio print

Culture

Mexican

Credit Line

Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund

Accession Number

45.10.17

Copyright

© artist or other rights holder

Terms

China paper

deaths

intaglio printing

intaglio prints

wood engraving

Description

In 1944, Leopoldo Méndez produced forty wood engravings to illustrate the book "Incidentes melódicos del mundo irracional" (Melodic Incidents of the Irrational World) with text by Juan de la Cabada, and published by La Estampa Mexicana. The text blends myth and fantasy and draws upon folk songs and stories from the Yucatán Peninsula. Méndez called upon Surrealism, magical realism, and pre-Columbian imagery to illustrate the story of good versus evil as enacted by animal protagonists. The success of the book prompted the publisher to select twenty-five of the wood engravings before text and publish them as "Leopoldo Méndez: 25 Prints" in 1945 in an edition of 25. This image is from that album.

History
Exhibitions

1989 Grafica Popular: 20th Century Mexican Prints Portland Art Museum

2002 Gráfica de Mexico Portland Art Museum

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