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Deportation to Death (Death Train)

A work made of linocut in black on tan wove paper.
© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico City

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  • A work made of linocut in black on tan wove paper.

Date:

1942

Artist:

Leopoldo Méndez
Mexican, 1902-1969

About this artwork

With more than two dozen illustrations by 11 artists of the Taller de Gráfica Popular, The Black Book of Nazi Terror in Europe (1943) was the group’s most important antifascist collaboration with the European exile community in Mexico. Supported by the government of Manuel Ávila Camacho, this groundbreaking book extensively documented Nazi atrocities through testimonies, statistics, photographs, and illustrations, with contributions by well-known European, American, and Latin American writers and artists. Many of the Taller’s illustrations were also produced as individual prints. Méndez’s Deportation to Death is perhaps the earliest print related to the Holocaust and the death camps. While Méndez’s print focuses on the deportation of Jews from Europe’s ghettos, their humble clothing and pained countenances revealed in expressionistic fashion by the Nazi soldier’s lamp, Mallary’s This Is the New Nazi Order suggests the breadth of the fascist threat by the inclusion of a large crucifix around the neck of one of the hanged men.

Español:El libro negro del terror nazi en Europa (1943) constituyó la colaboración antifascista más importante del Taller de Gráfica Popular con la comunidad europea exiliada en México. En él se incluyeron más de dos docenas de ilustraciones realizadas por once de sus miembros. Con el apoyo del gobierno de Manuel Ávila Camacho, este emblemático libro documenta ampliamente las atrocidades nazis a través de testimonios, estadísticas, fotografías e ilustraciones, y mediante contribuciones de afamados artistas y escritores europeos, estadounidenses y latinoamericanos. Muchas de las ilustraciones del Taller fueron también publicadas como grabados sueltos. Deportación a la muerte de Méndez es quizás el primer grabado sobre el tema del Holocausto y los campos de exterminio. Mientras el grabado de Méndez se concentra en la deportación de los judíos residentes en los guetos europeos, cuyas ropas humildes y rostros sufrientes quedan descubiertos a la manera expresionista bajo la luz de la lámpara del soldado nazi, la pieza Así es el nuevo orden nazi, de Robert Mallary, sugiere el amplio espectro de la amenaza fascista mediante la visualización de un gran crucifijo alrededor del cuello de uno de los hombres ahorcados.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Leopoldo Méndez

Title

Deportation to Death (Death Train)

Place

Mexico (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1942

Medium

Linocut in black on tan wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 35.2 × 51.3 cm (13 7/8 × 20 1/4 in.); Sheet: 41.9 × 58.7 cm (16 1/2 × 23 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment

Reference Number

1943.1362

Copyright

© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico City

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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