Catedral de La Habana, c. 1950 by Leopoldo Mendez, Mexico

Catedral de La Habana, c. 1950
by Leopoldo Mendez (1902-1969), Mexico
offset Lithograph
16" high x 20" wide, paper size
hand signed in pencil on the lower right corner
Excellent condition

Leopoldo Méndez is widely considered the finest printmaker in the history of Mexico. In 1937, Méndez, Luis Arenal, and Pablo O’Higgins founded the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP). Established in Mexico City, the TGP (The People’s Print Workshop) was active through the 1960s, creating thirty-five major portfolios of woodcuts, linocuts and lithographs, and a total output of over 4,000 prints.

Mendez worked quietly. Preferring to be relatively anonymous during his life, Méndez did not gain immediate recognition. It was only after his death that art historians and museum curators began to realize the importance of his contributions. He now ranks among the greatest of twentieth-century Mexican artists, keeping good company with artists such as José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siquieros, and Diego Rivera.

The Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP) was a collective center for the creation of sociopolitical art. Sharing the post-revolutionary idealism of the Mexican muralists, the TGP aimed to reach a broad audience, primarily through the dissemination of inexpensive wood- and linoleum-block prints. The group’s declaration of principles announced, “The TGP believes that, in order to serve the people, art must reflect the social reality of the times and have unity in content and form.”