José Guadalupe Posada Aguilar (2 February 1852 – 20 January 1913) was a Mexican political printmaker who used relief printing to produce popular illustrations.

His work has influenced numerous Latin American artists and cartoonists because of its satirical acuteness and social engagement.

Posada was one of eight children and received his early education from his older brother Cirilo, a country school teacher.

In 1871, before he was out of his teens, his career began with a job as the political cartoonist for a local newspaper in Aguascalientes, El Jicote ("The Bumblebee"), where his first cartoons were published.

While in Leon, Posada opened his own workshop and worked as a lithography teacher at the local secondary school.

He survived the great flood of León on 18 June 1888, of which he published several lithographs representing the tragedy in which more than two hundred and fifty corpses were found and more than 1,400 people were reported missing.

In his broad and varied work, Posada portrayed beliefs, the daily lifestyles of popular groups, the abuses of government, and the exploitation of the common people.

The works he completed in his press during this time allowed him to develop his artistic prowess as a draftsman, engraver and lithographer.

[13] Posada was studied by key figures of Mexican muralism, including Jean Charlot, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco, who created national art.

[11] Though Posada has usually been characterized as someone who utilized traditional craft techniques, he likely used photomechanical processes and deliberately made distressed-looking images in order to appeal to his downscale clientele.

[18] Frida Kahlo spoke "almost reverentially" of Posada and posted some of his prints in her hotel room in New York City in 1933.