Retrato de Porfirio Barba-Jacob

Date: 1944

Medium: Scratchboard engraving

Dimensions (cm.): Information to be added

Alternate titles: Unknown

Published edition: Unknown

Contemporary publication: Unknown

References: Exposición de Homenaje 436; Méndez INBA 32

Commentary: This is a portrait of Colombian-born writer Porfirio Barba-Jacob (pseudonym for Miguel Ángel Osorio Benítez (1883-1942)), made as an illustration for a book of his poems published after his death. Openly gay before his time, Barba-Jacob was an eccentric figure who moved from one Latin American country to another, including stays in Mexico from 1908 to 1914 and again from 1931 to 1942. (Deborah Caplow)

Cataloging note: The caption for this illustration in the book of poems states: “Grabado en madera, de Leopoldo Méndez.” However, Méndez [1949?] gives the medium as “Scratch-Board.”

Catalogue record number: 367