- Title
- Construction Workers (Peones de la construcción)
- Date Made
- 1947
- Medium
- Linocut
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 9 15/16 × 7 15/16 in. (25.24 × 20.16 cm); image: 7 3/4 × 5 3/8 in. (19.69 × 13.65 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2003.92.48
- Collecting Area
- Latin American Art
- Curatorial Notes
The plight of workers—both rural farmers and urban laborers—was a central concern for artists working at the Taller de Gráfica Popular (People’s Print Workshop). Here, Fernando Castro Pacheco focuses on the strenuous labor of construction workers, who carry baskets of materials up a sloping walkway. The figure in the foreground grips the straps of his load, revealing the back-breaking nature of his work. Castro Pacheco deftly exploits the high contrasts of the linocut to emphasize the woven basket, the folds of the worker’s garb, and the strain of muscles in his bent arm and bare feet. The background—divided into stark areas of white and black with a beam hanging dramatically in the upper-right corner—offers a simplified and abstracted depiction of the construction site. The workers who climb the ramp are nearly identical, suggesting the repetitive and mechanical nature of their labor and the parallels between man and machine. The overall result is a bold and dramatic portrayal of the harsh work.
For more information see the catalogue entry by Rachel Kaplan in Pressing Politics: Revolutionary Graphics from Mexico and Germany, 2022, pp. 80–81.
- Provenance
Taller de Gráfica Popular, Mexico City, 1947; Dr. Jules Heller (1919–2007), Scottsdale, Arizona, 1947; LACMA, 2003.
- Selected Bibliography
- Kaplan, Rachel, and Erin Sullivan Maynes. Pressing Politics: Revolutionary Graphics from Mexico and Germany. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2022.
- Selected Exhibition History
- Pressing Politics: Revolutionary Graphics from Mexico and Germany. October 29, 2022 - July 22, 2023
- Pressing Politics: Revolutionary Graphics from Mexico and Germany. October 29, 2022 - July 22, 2023
