Leopoldo Mendez

Leopoldo Mendez was a Mexican graphic artist who lived from 1902 to 1969 and is regarded as one of Mexico's most important twentieth century printmakers, described as the heir to the graphic artist Jose Guadalupe Posada. Over his career he created more than 700 engravings focused on political and social activism, helping found the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios in 1933, the Taller de Grafica Popular in 1937, and the Fondo Editorial de la Plastica Mexicana around 1958. His style blended realism with elements of Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Expressionism and Surrealism, generally favoring secular over religious imagery and drawing on pre Hispanic, Renaissance and Mexican muralist traditions; his work includes political engravings addressing fascism and capitalism, the 1946 mural La Maternidad y la Asistencia Social, engravings for Mexican films, and books on Mexican culture and folk traditions. He devoted his career to collaborative, largely anonymous work in the service of working class interests rather than individual recognition, remaining committed to leftist political causes throughout his life.