Strangling Calaveras

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Strangling Calaveras

1942

Leopoldo Méndez (Mexican, 1902–1969) , and Alfredo Zalce (Mexican, 1908–2003) , and Robert Mallary (American, 1917–1997) Published by Taller de Gráfica Popular, Mexico City

When Stalingrad was under siege by the German army during World War II, the Taller de Gráfica Popular decided to pay tribute to Semyon Timoshenko (1895-1970), the commander of the Soviet troops, by showing him as a victorious calavera (skeleton) galloping over the calavera bodies of dead Nazi soldiers. The opening verses of the celebratory ballad below the image compare Timoshenko's challenge to the battles won by two earlier Mexican generals--José María Morelos (1765-1815) and Ignacio Zaragosa (1829-1862)--during the nation's struggle for independence in the nineteenth century.

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Object Details

Titles:

Strangling Calaveras
Calaveras estranguladoras, Page 1 top: Zalce, Bus Drivers and Shopkeepers, Page 1, top: Zalce, Camioneros y tenderos, Page 1, bottom: Méndez, The Serial Killer Greogorio Cárdenas Hernández, Page 1 bottom: Méndez., El asesino serial Gregorio Cárdenas Hernández, Page 2, left: Zalce, The Common Grave; top: Pharmacists and Physicians; center: Dead from Bad Milk, Page 2, left: Zalce, La fosa común; top: Boticarios y medicinas; center: Muertos por su mala leche, Page 2 bottom: Mallary, The School of Love ... of Money, Page 2 bottom: Mallary, La escuela del amor... al dinero, Page 3, top: Zalce, Para Pétain, Laval y Cia.; center left: Odorica; lower left: Abascal; bottom: Calavera recto-oral; bottom right: Alfonso Junco, Page 3, top: Zalce, Para Pétain, Laval y Cia.; center left: Odorica; lower left: Abascal; bottom: Calavera recto-oral; bottom right: Alfonso Junco, Page 4: Méndez, Ballad of Stalingrad, Page 4: Méndez, Corrido de Stalingrado

Date:

1942

Artists:

Leopoldo Méndez (Mexican, 1902–1969) , and Alfredo Zalce (Mexican, 1908–2003) , and Robert Mallary (American, 1917–1997) Published by Taller de Gráfica Popular, Mexico City

Medium:

Ten linocuts (four-page newspaper)

Dimensions:

Sheet: 18 3/4 x 13 1/2 inches (47.6 x 34.3 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Gift of R. Sturgis and Marion B. F. Ingersoll, 1943

Accession Number:

1943-35-22a

Geography:

Made in Mexico, North and Central America

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