Poster relating to the expropriation of foreign oil interests. A group of figures holding coins they contribute to support the cause and assuage the crisis precipitated by expropriation

Alfredo Zalce|Cooperativa de Artes Gráficas, Mexico City

Ca. 1938 · Linocut and letterpress on pink paper, backed with linen · Drawings and Prints

President Lázaro Cárdenas’s 1938 expropriation of foreign-owned oil companies (seizing local assets and barring outside oil companies from operating in the country) was widely supported but caused financial hardship for Mexicans, because the foreigners had to be compensated. In this poster a group of citizens holding coins gather around a contribution box. The hand in the foreground appears to belong to the viewer, inviting donations. The poster was sponsored by the Committee for Rural Education in collaboration with a related government department. La expropiación de las compañías petroleras de titularidad extranjera ordenada en 1938 por el presidente Lázaro Cárdenas, que conllevó la incautación de sus activos y la prohibición de operar en el país, contó con un amplio respaldo, pero provocó penurias financieras porque hubo que compensar a los propietarios foráneos. En este cartel, un grupo de ciudadanos con monedas en las manos se reúne en torno a un cepillo para realizar donaciones. La mano visible en primer plano parece pertenecer al espectador, al que se invita a contribuir. El cartel fue patrocinado por el Comité Nacional de la Campaña Pro-educación Popular en colaboración con el departamento gubernamental correspondiente.

Artist

Alfredo Zalce|Cooperativa de Artes Gráficas, Mexico City

Date

Ca. 1938

Medium

Linocut and letterpress on pink paper, backed with linen

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1946