Mexican Folk Art Painter Skeleton Statuette, "Painter Catrin"

With a nod to José Guadalupe Posada's "La Calavera Catrina", Mexico's Jorge Escamilla creates this unique sculpture. Wearing overalls and holding a roller, the hardworking skeletal painter is crafted of clay and steel wire. The original "La Calavera Catrina" was a zinc etching created by the artist José Guadalupe Posada in Mexico around 1910. Posada created the character, a female skeleton with an elegant hat, as a satirical portrait to lampoon Mexican natives who aspired to European style and denied their own heritage. The catrina has since become an emblem of Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration and a popular folk art subject.