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Floating Skulls (Calaveras Flatantes)

Contemporary Art

The Taller de Gráfica Popular (or the People’s Print Workshop) was established in 1937 in Mexico City by artists Raúl Anguiano (1915–2006), Luis Arenal (1908–1985), Leopoldo Méndez (1902–1969), and Pablo O’Higgins (1904–1983) and was open to applicants from all social classes and backgrounds. Elizabeth Catlett and Charles White, two U.S.-based artists featured in this exhibition, made use of the workshop in the 1940s.

The stated purpose of the workshop was to disseminate affordable prints with messages of political empowerment by giving artists the tools to create graphic images. These images have been used to educate the rural working class about the political and cultural gains of the Mexican Revolution, the power of solidarity across causes, and rallying antiimperialist, anti-fascist, and prolabor sentiment, among many other issues.
MEDIUM Relief print
DATES 1976
DIMENSIONS 15 x 11 1/2 in. (38.1 x 29.2 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 2003.41.17
CREDIT LINE Bequest of Richard J. Kempe
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Francisco Luna (Mexican). Floating Skulls (Calaveras Flatantes), 1976. Relief print, 15 x 11 1/2 in. (38.1 x 29.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Richard J. Kempe, 2003.41.17. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2003.41.17_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 2003.41.17_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2018
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RIGHTS STATEMENT © artist or artist's estate
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Francisco Luna (Mexican). <em>Floating Skulls (Calaveras Flatantes)</em>, 1976. Relief print, 15 x 11 1/2 in. (38.1 x 29.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Richard J. Kempe, 2003.41.17. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2003.41.17_PS9.jpg)