Leopoldo Méndez
Ballad of Don Chapulín (Corrido de Don Chapulín)1940

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Leopoldo Méndez
Mexico, Mexico City, 1902-1969
Publisher: Taller de Gráfica Popular
Mexico, Mexico City, founded 1937
Title: Ballad of Don Chapulín (Corrido de Don Chapulín)
Date Made: 1940
Medium: Lithograph
Dimensions: Sheet: 13 1/8 × 9 in. (33.34 × 22.86 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Jules and Gloria Heller
Accession Number: M.2003.92.5
Classification: Prints
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: The corrido (ballad) was a favorite narrative device in TGP broadsides. Artists combined satirical images with the folk storytelling technique, using humor to address harsh political realities. The Corrido de Don Chapulín warns farmers against exploitation: Don Chapulín (Mr. Grasshopper), a pest that threatens farmers’ crops and livelihood, is a metaphor for the corrupt middleman. The TGP also used corrido broadsides to commemorate the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), creating calaveras (animated skeletons) to illustrate current events. The formats of the corrido and calavera continued graphic traditions popularized by José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913).

Rachel Kaplan, 2023
Provenance: Taller de Gráfica Popular, Mexico City, 1940; Dr. Jules Heller (1919–2007), Scottsdale, Arizona, 1947; LACMA, 2003.