Leopoldo Mndez

The first major overview of the works and career of Leopoldo Mndezone of the most distinguished printmakers of the twentieth century and a contemporary and countryman of Diego Rivera, Jos Clemente Orozco, and Jos Guadalupe Posadacontains over 150 illustrations Winner, A Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Book Leopoldo Mndez (1902-1969) was one of the most distinguished printmakers of the twentieth century, as well as one of Mexico's most accomplished artists. A politically motivated artist who strongly opposed injustice, fascism, and war, Mndez helped form and actively participated in significant political and artistic groups, including the Estridentistas in the 1920s and the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR) and the Taller de Grfica Popular (TGP) in the 1930s. To champion Mexican art and artists, Mndez also founded and directed the Fondo Editorial de la Plstica Mexicana, a highly respected art book publishing company. Leopoldo Mndez is the first book-length work in English on this major Mexican artist. Profusely illustrated with over one hundred and fifty images, it examines the whole sweep of Mndez's artistic career. Deborah Caplow situates Mndez within both Mexican and international art of the twentieth century, tracing the lines of connection and influence between Mndez and such contemporaries as David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, Jos Clemente Orozco, and printmaker Jos Guadalupe Posada. Caplow focuses on the period in the 1930s when Mndez and his fellow artists in LEAR and TGP played a key role in the development of a Mexican political art movement and a modern Mexican cultural identity. She also describes how Mndez created a body of powerful anti-Fascist images before and during World War II and subsequently collaborated with artists from Mexico and around the world on political printmaking, in addition to publishing books and creating prints for films by the eminent Mexican cinematographer, Gabriel Figueroa.