The Owner of Everything El Dueño de Todo
Date
1948
Creator
Location
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
[I]n El Dueño de Todo, dated to 1948, Méndez portrays a political gangster boss giving orders to a line of overburdened workers, as he rests his feet on a table, relaxing. The large, menacing figure of the owner— defined by heavy, bold, angular lines—is set in the foreground of the scene, while the workers appear as a tiny row of animals in the background. The image clearly supports the labor reforms that President [Lázaro] Cárdenas’s administration was implementing at the time. By citing the oppression of the Mexican people, Méndez levels harsh criticism at the government’s former policies and the landowners. from Costa, Para la Gente: Art, Politics and Cultural Identity of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (Notre Dame, 2009)
![[I]n El Dueño de Todo, dated to 1948, Méndez portrays a political gangster boss giving orders to a line of overburdened workers, as he rests his feet on a table, relaxing. The large, menacing figure of the owner— defined by heavy, bold, angular lines—is set in the foreground of the scene, while the workers appear as a tiny row of animals in the background. The image clearly supports the labor reforms that President [Lázaro] Cárdenas’s administration was implementing at the time. By citing the oppression of the Mexican people, Méndez levels harsh criticism at the government’s former policies and the landowners.
from Costa, Para la Gente: Art, Politics and Cultural Identity of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (Notre Dame, 2009)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fiiif-image.library.nd.edu%2Fiiif%2F2%2F2009.007.028%2F2009_007_028-v0001%2Ffull%2Ffull%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
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