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Turistas y Aztecas / José Clemente Orozco

Essay/Description

This is a reference image scanned from an older transparency.

Gallery Label

Costumed dancers perform the exotic for foreign spectators sporting finery and binoculars. Orozco exaggerates the scale of the figures on each side of the composition and separates the foreigners from the dancers with shading. By representing both groups as caricatures, the artist makes a statement about wealth inequality as well as the rise of tourism in Mexico during this period.

Danzantes ataviados bailan lo exótico ante espectadores extranjeros luciendo galas y binoculares. Orozco exagera la magnitud de las figuras a cada lado de la composición, y separa a los extranjeros de los danzantes con sombreado. Al representar a los dos grupos como caricaturas, el artista extiende una opinión acerca de la desigualdad económica, y también el auge del turismo, en México durante este periodo.

From the exhibition: Mexican Modernism: Revolution & Reckoning, August 29, 2019 - August 30, 2020.
Alison Rossi, Director of Learning and Community Engagement, 2019.

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Title(s): 
Turistas y Aztecas; Tourists and Aztecs; Leones y Aztecas
Creator(s): 
José Clemente Orozco (Artist)
Culture: 
Mexican
Date: 
1935
Materials/Techniques: 
lithograph on watermarked paper
Classification: 
Object Type: 
Accession No: 
14.156
Previous Number(s): 
1447.156; 17615
Department: 
Not On View

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