
Victory!
<p>This 1945 poster, which is typical of Bracho’s dense compositional style, celebrates the Allied victory over Nazi Germany; the caption expresses the Taller de Gráfica Popular’s solidarity with “all workers and progressives in Mexico and the world,” in a step toward the “total destruction of fascism.” In Bracho’s hallucinatory image, an Allied bayonet gives the coup de grace to a grotesque caricature of Hitler emblazoned on an Axis helmet. The helmet surmounts a junk heap of history—piled with Nazi and Italian fascist regalia and symbols, as well as weapons of war—about to be engulfed in cleansing flames. Above fly the flags of the Allied forces, dominated by the shining star of the Soviet Red Army. Posters such as this were designed in the Taller de Gráfica Popular workshop but printed commercially for distribution throughout Mexico.</p> <p><strong>Español:</strong><br>Este cartel de 1945, típico del denso estilo de composición de Bracho, celebra la victoria aliada sobre la Alemania nazi. El texto manifiesta la solidaridad del Taller de Gráfica Popular con “todos los trabajadores y hombres progresistas de México y del Mundo [en un esfuerzo hacia] la destrucción total del fascismo". En la alucinante imagen de Bracho, una bayoneta aliada da el toque de gracia a la grotesca caricatura de Hitler estampada sobre un casco del Eje. El casco aparece encima de un montón de desechos históricos, apilado junto con símbolos fascistas nazis e italianos y armas de guerra, y a punto de ser consumido por la llamas purificadoras. Por encima ondean las banderas de las fuerzas aliadas, dominadas por la brillante estrella del Ejercito Rojo soviético. Carteles como éste fueron diseñados por el Taller de Gráfica Popular e impresos comercialmente para su distribución en el país.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1945
- Dimensions
- 80.3 × 60 cm (31 5/8 × 23 5/8 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Ángel Bracho
Artist

Printmaking
Ángel Bracho was a Mexican painter and printmaker active from the 1930s through the early 2000s, working across modernist abstraction and figurative imagery. His practice engaged with both easel painting and graphic design, reflecting the formal innovations of mid-century Mexican art.
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More by Ángel Bracho
The Road to Coamitl (Huichol Region, State of Nayarit), from Mexican People
1946 · Lithograph in black on cream wove paper
Primitive Struggle (Fight for a Bone)
1944 · Color lithograph on ivory wove paper
Comité Central de la Defensa Civil. Daño relativo durante un ataque aéreo (Central Committee of Civil Defense. Relative Damage During an Air Raid)
1941 · Lithograph
Huichol Fiesta
1940 · Lithograph
Nazism, 9th Lecture: Races of the First and Second Class (El Nazismo, 9a conferencia: Razas de 1a y de 2a classe)
1938 · Lithograph and letterpress
Madero
Linoleum cut
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Ángel Bracho
- Year
- 1945
- Dimensions
- 80.3 × 60 cm (31 5/8 × 23 5/8 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1945-100737
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified





