Casateniente
Date: 1935
Medium: Wood engraving
Dimensions (cm.): 11.1 x 15.1 (published edition)
Variants: The right edge of the image is cut off in the 1943 published edition. Compare the image in the volante.
Alternate titles: El Sr. Rodríguez y Mr. Smith; Lanzamiento; Al arriero y las mulas
Published edition:
Number of impressions unknown.
Reprinted in 1943 in portfolio 25 Prints of Leopoldo Méndez: 100 impressions in numbered portfolios, 50 of them on China paper (described as “special imported chinese stock”), plus 3 impressions in unnumbered portfolios. Each impression signed in graphite, lower right, and annotated 4, lower right corner of sheet. Sheet dimensions 24.4 x 19.2 cm.
Contemporary publication: Volante: LEAR Hoja Popular no. 1
References: Méndez INBA 38.
Commentary: At the beginning of 1935, LEAR began to produce a series of large-scale graphic posters that publicized political controversies, directed toward the working classes. They were posted on walls and distributed during meetings and demonstrations. In March 1935, Méndez made this woodblock print, Hoja popular No. 1 (People’s Broadsheet, No. 1), also called El arriero y las mulas, and Casateniente. The poster presents a corrido, “Al arriero y a las mulas” (“To the Mule-drivers and the Mules”) with Méndez’s illustration.
In this print Méndez again emulated the graphic style of Posada, with the sketchy faces and simple composition. As in Posada’s broadsheets, the song takes up most of the space, with the small image at the top showing the theme of the corrido – the brutal eviction of a poor family by two thugs, one with a swastika on his hat, the other with a dollar/peso sign on his. The man with the swastika raises his right leg in a goose step; he has the letters “ARM” on his jacket showing that he is a member of the fascist Alianza Revolucionaria Mexicanista; his face resembles that of the ARM leader Nicolás Rodríguez. The words of the corrido connect the ARM with both the Nazis and American gangsters, in particular Al Capone: “…In the school of Al Capone, he perfected his training…” According to Reyes Palma, the ARM and other right-wing organizations often attacked left-wing groups, creating a climate of fear strong enough that LEAR decided to maintain armed guards in its headquarters. (Deborah Caplow)
Cataloging note: An impression at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is inscribed "Méndez y O'Higgins" in graphite in what may be Pablo O'Higgins's hand. The nature of O'Higgins' involvement with this print, if any, is unknown.
Catalogue record number: 2