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Important Pictographic Map of Mexico City By Noted Artist Emily Edwards

Fine example of one of the iconic images of Mexico City, based upon a painting by artist Emily Edwards commissioned by two private corporations, the Mexican Company of Light and Motor Power and by the Mexican Tramway Company in Mexico City.

Generally considered by modern commentators to be in the style of British map artist MacDonald Gill, Edwards map is considered one of the finest examples of the pictographic map tradition.

Intended in part as a functional representation of the Mexico City Transit and Power System, the map is a remarkable work of historical and cultural value, celebrated in modern times as one of the most important images of post-Revolution Mexico City. While Edwards intended to faithfully represent the tram and lighting system, embellished by historical images of the City, the map also incorporates Mexican cultural traditions, superimposed over an image of Cuauhtémoc, the final Aztec ruler and one of the most iconic Mexican historical images.

Edwards, who was mentored by Diego Rivera during her stay in Mexico City from 1926 to 1936, was a student of Mexican Muralism, and reached great acclaim during her stay in Mexico City. Contemporary reports indicate that she spent over a year researching and painting the original map mural, which was then reproduced and printed for local distribution.

The map is the subject of several scholarly articles, in both English and Spanish, including an article in Imago Mundi examining Emily Edwards's two most famous maps; this map of Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas (1926).

As noted by Alejandrina Escudero La Ciudad Posrevolucionaria en Tres Planos:

Although at first glance it is a colorful artistic map, in it we find a network of cartographic, iconographic and pictorial traditions, as well as the representation of several historical periods of the city and the network of trains and trams.

The map painting received immediate local acclaim in Mexico City. As noted in Excelsior (April 17, 1932--Translated to English):

Under the generous auspices of the powerful company, Miss Emily Edwards projected and edited the most beautiful, original and suggestive of modern maps that of Mexico City and its surroundings which has appeared in modern times.

In his article on the map, Escudero notes:

Emily Edwards map takes the figure of the Mexican hero. The drawings of current scenes (airplane, golf player, children in the classroom and tourists in Xochimilco), executed in a synthetic way, remind us of the illustrator Diego Rivera and the grisallas of his work in Cuernavaca.

Emily Edwards

Emily Edwards was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1888. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1926 she produced an annotated historical map of San Antonio in order to raise funds for the San Antonio Conservation Society, which she founded along with Rena Maverick Green. That same year, Edwards met Diego Rivera and became friend, beginning a year residence (1926-1936) in Mexico.

In 1966, Edwards published the book Painted Walls of Mexico, with photographs of Manuel Alvarez Bravo.

Rarity

The map is rare on the market.  This is the third example we have offered in more than 20 years.