1992 PAINTING EL DIA de LOS MUERTOS Press Photo by [CARLOS CORTEZ]

Chicago: Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, 1992. 8 x 10” Black and white press photo dated, October 23, 1992. Newspaper clipping taped to verso from the Museum section: “El Dia de los Mertos,” a celebration of the Day of the Dead,” at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum. Carlos Cortez (August 13, 1923 – January 19, 2005) was a graphic artist, photographer, muralist, and political activist. Cortez spent 18 months in a US prison as a conscientious objector during the World War II, refusing to "shoot at fellow draftees." He joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1947, identifying himself as an anarcho-syndicalist, writing articles and drawing cartoons for the union newspaper, the Industrial Worker, for several decades.As an accomplished artist and a highly influential political artist, Cortez is perhaps best known for his wood and linoleum-cut graphics. His work is represented in the collections of several museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago holds the largest, most complete collection of Carlos Cortez's work.