Zapatistas

1935

Zapatistas, 1935. José Clemente Orozco (Mexican, 1883–1949), published by Delphic Studios. Lithograph; sheet: 44 x 56.6 cm (17 5/16 x 22 5/16 in.); image: 32.2 x 41.3 cm (12 11/16 x 16 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2002.25 © José Clemente Orozco / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico This print depicts Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919), a leader of the Mexican Revolution who became a symbol of progressive politics in the decades following his assassination. Zapata disavowed his privileged background and fought for workers’ rights. In spite of Zapata's heroic status, José Clemente Orozco’s print presents a disillusioned view of his followers: virtually identical men, they march forward under the eye of leaders as nefarious as those they initially rebelled against. The image suggests the complicated views that artists held about a revolution that fundamentally transformed their worldview and way of life. José Clemente Orozco was one of numerous Mexican muralists to depict Emiliano Zapata around the time this print was made.