Miguel Covarrubias Satirical Drawings (Pre-War China)

A collection from 1932 of lithographs by the Mexican artist and caricaturist, Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957). Through his style of minimalist line drawings Covarrubias satirizes the political and cultural climate of pre-war China.

Covarrubias, Miguel

José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (November 22, 1904 - February 4, 1957) started his career early getting his first work as an illustrator for the Mexican Secretariat of Public Education and the Secretariat of Communications after that. Best known for his works as a cover artist and cartoonist for magazines such as Vanity Fair, Fortune and The New Yorker, Covarrubias became one of the most influential political and social illustrators of the early 20th Century inspiring the works of contemporaries the likes of Al Hirschfeld. His use of wit and minimalist, linear style to communicate complex messages in simple caricatures (a word he never cared for) would often get him into trouble whether he was portraying a celebrity for Vanity Fair or a world leader for The New Yorker, particularly with the release of his collection of magazine illustrations titled The Prince of Wales and Other Famous Americans.

Being a very active member of the artistic community along with his wife Rosa, they were close friends of Langston Hughes, Eugene O'Neill and Frida Kahlo, among many others and were associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Covarrubias' later work as an ethnologist is equally as sought after today with volumes on the people of the Bali islands and many more cultures often times using satire to show and at the same time dispel stereotypes. Many of his work helped shape the world's understanding of Mesoamerican culture and is still being acquired by museums and galleries today worldwide.