Profesor Ildefonso Vargas

Date: 1939

Medium: Lithograph

Dimensions (cm.): 28.8 x 20.3

Alternate titles: Que viva

Published edition:

1.  In portfolio En nombre de Cristo... han asesinado más de 200 maestros. Editorial Gráfica Popular, Mexico City, 1939

2. Unknown number of impressions outside the edition printed on loose sheets.

Contemporary publication: 

1. See published edition, above

2. Revista 1946, enero 1946

References: Academia de Artes 1935; Exposición de Homenaje 360, Prignitz 399 

Commentary: The newspaper article to the left of Profesor Ildefonso Vargas explains that the Cristeros killed Profesor Vargas in Cuahuigtic, Chignahuapam, Puebla on the 12th of July 1938. In the print, the murderer attacks the barefoot, blindfolded teacher from behind; he stabs him in the back with a crazed expression on his face, and he “rides” him, his boots slung over the teacher’s shoulders, forcing the teacher to write part of the Cristero slogan, words “Que Viva”. The teacher’s foreshortened hand is greatly enlarged, and the incomplete sentence he is writing holds the double meaning of “Que Viva Cristo Rey,” or Que Viva México.” The attacker’s contorted features, his jacket and vest, and pork-pie hat connect him visually with the fascist thugs in other of Méndez’s prints. Orozco’s influence can be seen in the loose style of the lithograph and the distorted appearance of the faces and bodies of both men. (Deborah Caplow)

Catalogue record number: 242