Jose Ignacio Aguirre

Associated American Artists: An important American publisher, The Associated American Artists (A.A.A.), of New York was founded in the mid 1930's. It was to become a major forces in the promotion of original graphic art (fine art prints), throughout the United States and other countries. The firm would also include original paintings, watercolors, and other media as part of their inventory in later years. The A.A.A. commissioned original graphic art from such great masters as Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, Reginald Marsh and other major artists from around the world. The A.A.A. is known to have commissioned lithographs from such Latin American artists as Eduardo Kingman, Ignacio Aguirre, Francisco Dosamantes, Luis Arenal, Mariana Yampolsky, Leopoldo Mendez, Alfredo Zalce and others. A fine example is the portfolio entitled, Mexican People published by them in 1946. It contained 12 original lithographs by Mexican artists of the Taller de Grafica Popular (TGP), in Mexico City. That set included works by Angel Bracho, Francisco Mora, Raul Anguiano, Pablo O'Higgins, Isidoro O'Campo, Alfredo Zalce, Fernando Castro Pacheco, Leopoldo Mendez and Arturo Garcia.

The Associated American Artists label that was included with another of this original lithograph read; "Mexican Girl, A limited Edition Signed Original Lithograph by Ignacio Aguirre". (1947), Edition of 250. Among other things, it stated that Jose Ignacio Aguirre had not begun to paint until 1930 and since then, he had had several one man exhibitions in Mexico and in New York. It also mentioned that Aguirre was a member of the Taller de Grafica Popular (Art Workshop of Mexico) and that his frescos were displayed in the Library of the Aviacion Militar (Military Aviation) in Mexico City. The label compared his art to that of Orozco and Siqueiros.

There seems to be some confusion with the attribution for the correct title for certain lithographs published between 1946 and 1947 by the Associated American Artists of New York. During those years, the A.A.A. published a collection of original lithographs by various Latin American artists dealing with portrayals of indigenous people and their culture. Some of these works were published under titles that differed from earlier or later editions printed from the same plates, stones or blocks. We are not always sure why they made these changes, however, there may have been circumstances where it was financially advantageous to publish an edition in different languages. From a marketing perspective, it just makes sense, a title (in English) for their English speaking customers and a title (in Spanish) for the Latin American customers and so on. Remember, we are talking about the Associated American Artists and at the time, they were one of the best firms when it came to marketing their product (ART), and selling it to the broadest audiences. Note the differences below.

Our first example is this original lithograph which was published under the title of Mexican Girl for the 1947 edition published by the Associated American Artists in New York, however, this same lithograph was given the title, Mujer en la Cola del Carbon (Woman in the Coal Line-up) by the (TGP), Taller de Grafica Popular.

A few of the institutions that list s of this original Jose Ignacio Aguirre lithograph are as follows; the 'Museum of Fine Arts', San Francisco lists their as Mexican Girl, 1947, published by Associated American Artists, New York, Collections #1963.30.13373, (image available), the 'Dallas Museum of Art' lists their as Woman in the Coal Line-up (Mujer en la Cola del Carbon), 1947, published by Associated American Artists, Inc., Object Number: 1947.22, (image available), the 'Cleveland Museum of Art' has theirs listed as Mexican Girl, Number: 1966.389, the 'Williams College Museum of Art' is listing one as Mexican Girl, 1947, Object Number: 99.16.1 (image available), the 'National Gallery of Australia' has their listed as Mujer en la Cola del Carbon, 1946, edition 250, Accession No. NGA95.80, (no image) and another is listed as "Mujer en la Cola del Carbon" (Woman in a Coal Queue), Ref: TGPdoce, 41, dated 1946, original lithograph published by the Associated American Artists, New York, signed "Ign Aguirre" (image available).

The next example where the title was changed is the Francisco Dosamantes lithograph published in 1947 by the Associated American Artists under the title, "Mexican Marketplace", however, s printed in 1940 are listed under the title, "Fishwives". For further information, please see "Mexican Marketplace" by Francisco Dosamantes also published under the title of "Fishwives".

Our Third example is an original lithograph by Luis Arenal entitled, "Mujer de Taxco" published in 1947 by the Associated American Artists. It was also published that same year with a different title, "Cabeza de Mujer". For further information, please view the following, Luis Arenal's "Mujer de Taxco" (Woman of Taxco), also listed under the title of "Cabeza de Mujer" (Head of a Woman).

There are many reliable and educational books written by eminent authors on the subject of printmaking in most good libraries and university institutions. They can provide the information needed in order to authenticate and or evaluate a work of art. The brochures the Associated American Artists sent out to their customers are very useful and informative. The Archives of American Art have documented the records for Associated American Artists dating from 1934 to 1981.

One more valuable source of information is the Catalogue of Works from the Taller de Grafica Popular (TGP). It provides extensive and helpful information for the works published by artists of the TGP. This source lists a set of 12 Illustrated Post Cards (12 Tarjetas Postales T.G.P.) with pictures by artists from the ’Taller de Grafica Popular’. The images used for those postcards were smaller copies of the original works created by the Mexican artists. Mujer en la Cola del Carbon, series #3, 1948, Portfolios y Ediciones, Litografia, size (10.7 cm x 7 cm) Catalog # 7538 Source Info: Prignitz 772. Note: The bottom of the front cover reads; “Editado por ‘La Estampa Mexicana’-1948. Dir: Apartado Postal 8367, Mexico, D. F. The artist, title, medium and date, are included on the inside of the postcard packet. To represent the art of Jose Ignacio Aguirre, one of the post cards in that set displayed an image of this original lithograph and listed it as, Mujer en la Cola del Carbon. Their version states the lithograph was published in 1946, possibly an earlier or a typo on the date.

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