A poster showing a seated Mexican blowing a trumpet with a human head representing the falsity of the press (fake news) with the title 'The laughter of the public—away with your nonsense'
This is a satire on the Mexican press. A small man with a moustache labelled ‘gachupines’ sits on the ground blowing the mouthpiece of a horn. ‘Gachupín’, a word with negative connotations, is used in Mexico to describe foreign immigrants, especially Spaniards living in Mexico. He blows a horn labelled ‘prensa libre’ (‘free press’), yet the rhyme in the bottom left-hand corner of the print suggests that the press was anything but free. Since it is the gachupines who blow into the horn, it is implied that they control the content of the so-called free press.
The titles of various Mexican daily newspapers, all of them pro-Franco, are inscribed on the neck of the pipe. The head acting as the trumpet represents the editor Miguel Ordorica, whose name is emblazoned across his forehead. He wears a swastika earring to demonstrate his support for Fascism. Spitting from his mouth are the words ‘provocación’ (‘provocation’), ‘calumnia’ (‘slander’), ‘insultos’ (‘insults’), ‘mentiras’ (‘lies’).
The titles of various Mexican daily newspapers, all of them pro-Franco, are inscribed on the neck of the pipe. The head acting as the trumpet represents the editor Miguel Ordorica, whose name is emblazoned across his forehead. He wears a swastika earring to demonstrate his support for Fascism. Spitting from his mouth are the words ‘provocación’ (‘provocation’), ‘calumnia’ (‘slander’), ‘insultos’ (‘insults’), ‘mentiras’ (‘lies’).
Artwork Details
- Title: A poster showing a seated Mexican blowing a trumpet with a human head representing the falsity of the press (fake news) with the title 'The laughter of the public—away with your nonsense'
- Artist: José Chávez Morado (Mexican, 1909–2002)
- Publisher: Taller de Gráfica Popular, Mexico City
- Date: 1939
- Medium: Lithograph on orange paper
- Dimensions: Sheet: 26 3/16 in. × 17 in. (66.5 × 43.2 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1946
- Object Number: 46.46.502
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Multiple artists/makers
1947
Multiple artists/makers
1947
Multiple artists/makers
1939
José Chávez Morado
Taller de Gráfica Popular, Mexico City
1939
Multiple artists/makers
1939
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