Admission is Free | Open Wed–Sun
Not Currently On View in Intersections
Object Name: Figure, La Calavera Don Quijote
Artist: Felipe Linares (Mexico, b. 1936)
Place of Origin: Mexico
Date: 1980
Papier-m-ch-
Dimensions: H: 99.1 cm, W: 48.3 cm, D: 55.9 cm (H: 39.0 in, W: 19.0 in, D: 22.0 in)
Credit Line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of Margery Nathanson. X94.12.2.1-16
Beginning as makers of local fiesta props, the Linares family of artists now specializes in one-of-a-kind sculptures sought after by collectors and museums. Some of the family’s most expressive sculptures are inspired by the skeletal figures of the graphic art of José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), regularly published in news broadsheets around the beginning of the twentieth century. In his lively visual commentaries Posada satirized contemporary issues, particularly during the annual Days of the Dead, a time traditionally rife with political and social satire. This particular work was drawn from Posada’s rendering of Miguel de Cervantes’s beloved character Don Quixote, whose wild adventures and unbridled romanticism have long delighted audiences worldwide.
Gallery text, Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives, 2006