- Title
- Ambassador Lane Wilson “Fixes” the Problem (El embajador Lane Wilson “arregla” el conflicto)
- Date Made
- 1947
- Medium
- Linocut
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 15 3/4 × 10 5/8 in. (40.01 × 26.99 cm); image: 11 3/4 × 8 3/8 in. (29.85 × 21.27 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2003.92.8
- Collecting Area
- Latin American Art
- Curatorial Notes
In this print Leopoldo Méndez employs caricature and political satire to critique Henry Lane Wilson (1857–1932), U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 1910 to 1913, and the country he represented. Wilson’s tenure coincided with the start of the revolution, in which he played an intrusive role. The ambassador opposed President Francisco I. Madero (1873–1913) and supported the attempts to depose him. For Méndez, Ambassador Wilson’s actions were representative of U.S. imperialism and interventions in Mexican affairs. Here, the artist depicts Wilson sitting at a chessboard, holding a pawn resembling General Victoriano Huerta (1850–1916) in his right hand. With his left, Wilson has casually knocked over game pieces representing President Madero and Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919). Two greedy figures with dollar signs in their eyes whisper into Wilson’s ears, representing the economic motives behind his actions.
For more information see the catalogue entry by Rachel Kaplan in Pressing Politics: Revolutionary Graphics from Mexico and Germany, 2022, pp. 58–59.
- 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
