About Me

My photo
Washington, United States
loves: you win if you guessed "pets" and "museums". Also books, art history, travel, British punk, Korean kimchi, bindis, martinis, and other things TBD. I will always make it very clear if a post is sponsored in any way. Drop me a line at thepetmuseum AT gmail.com !

Sunday, May 05, 2019

posada's fat cat dances

www.metmuseum.org Gift of Roberto Berdecio, 1960 (PD)

For Cinco de Mayo I'm bringing you this sprightly wood-engraved scene by Jose Guadalupe Posada.  Here in Mujer bailando con gato (Woman Dancing with a Cat, c. 1900) a dancer steps out in her fine fringed shawl, surrounded by her similarly decked friends.  But why's the cat in a tailcoat?  After doing a little reading on Posada (like here), I think this is his way of lampooning a personage, a fat cat.  You have to admit that cat isn't skinny, and the fancy coat has long been shorthand for identifying bankers, politicos and other possibly-corruptible callings.  Is this poking fun at an official playing at being "man of the people"?  

No comments: