Mexica Parnassus with Pulqueria Catrinas

The profound skeptical vision that Clemente Orozco had of the bulwarks of civilization is evident not only in his murals, but in his prolific sketches and easel work. Religious dogmas were especially censured by his brush and his one hand, because he only had one hand. The ancient Olympic gods did not escape the biting interpretations the painter made, and he dedicated work on several canvases to questioning, satirizing, western decadence. Parnaso mexica con catrinas de pulquería as this piece in the Blaisten Collection is known, gives an understanding of how Orozco's universal aesthetics work, combining in a huge farce Greek-Latin culture with the vices and excesses of pulque, the alcoholic beverage that gods granted to the ancient Mexican people. Because of its critical view of the pre-Hispanic world, this piece is closer to the Teules series, as well as to the cabaret scenes of the forties.