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Artists›José Luis Cuevas

José Luis Cuevas

José Luis Cuevas

Artist

WA-00026719

Printmaking

Representation

None documented

7

Institutional Exhibitions

80

Works in Collection

206

Assets Indexed

0

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

60%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (1)

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

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No image

Mexican Art

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1978

No image

Tamarind: Homage to Lithography

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1969

No image

The Artist as His Subject

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

No image

The Artist as His Subject

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

No image

Contemporary Painters and Sculptors as Printmakers

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

100 Drawings from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1960–1961

No image

Drawings Recently Acquired for the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1957

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/1325
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

José Luis Cuevas was a Mexican painter, printmaker, and draftsman whose expressive figuration emerged in postwar Latin America as a direct challenge to abstraction's dominance. Working primarily in ink, charcoal, and oil, he developed a gestural approach to the human form marked by psychological intensity and formal distortion. His practice centered on drawing as a primary medium, treating it as a complete artistic statement rather than preparatory work. Cuevas became a defining voice for figurative art's continued relevance in the mid-twentieth century.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Printmaking

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (80)

2004 · lithograph

Image: 53.3 x 38.1 cm (21 x 15 in.); Sheet: 53.3 x 38.1 cm (21 x 15 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Plate (page 51) from Metamorphosis

1984 · Etching, aquatint, and lithograph from an illustrated book with five etchings (three with aquatint and lithograph, one with aquatint and roulette, one with lithograph)

plate: 7 1/8 × 5 5/16" (18.1 × 13.5 cm); page: 10 1/4 × 8 1/16" (26 × 20.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 41) from Metamorphosis

1984 · Etching and lithograph from an illustrated book with five etchings (three with aquatint and lithograph, one with aquatint and roulette, one with lithograph)

plate: 7 1/8 × 5 5/16" (18.1 × 13.5 cm); page: 10 1/4 × 8 1/16" (26 × 20.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 21) from Metamorphosis

1984 · Etching, aquatint, and lithograph from an illustrated book with five etchings (three with aquatint and lithograph, one with aquatint and roulette, one with lithograph)

plate: 7 1/8 × 5 5/16" (18.1 × 13.5 cm); page: 10 1/4 × 8 1/16" (26 × 20.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 15) from Metamorphosis

1984 · Etching, aquatint, and lithograph from an illustrated book with five etchings (three with aquatint and lithograph, one with aquatint and roulette, one with lithograph)

plate: 7 1/8 × 5 5/16" (18.1 × 13.5 cm); page: 10 1/4 × 8 1/16" (26 × 20.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1984 · Illustrated book with five etchings (three with aquatint and lithograph, one with aquatint and roulette, one with lithograph)

page (each): 10 1/4 × 8 1/16" (26 × 20.4 cm); overall (closed): 10 3/4 × 8 1/4 × 11/16" (27.3 × 21 × 1.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 2) from Metamorphosis

1984 · Etching and aquatint with roulette from an illustrated book with five etchings (three with aquatint and lithograph, one with aquatint and roulette, one with lithograph)

plate: 7 1/8 × 5 5/16" (18.1 × 13.5 cm); page: 10 1/4 × 8 1/16" (26 × 20.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Walter Raleigh's Secret (El Secreto de Walter Raleigh)

1973 · Lithograph and screenprint

composition and sheet: 22 7/16 × 28 1/8" (57 × 71.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

A Certificate of Authenticity

A Certificate of Authenticity

1973 · Cut-and-pasted paper, watercolor, and ink on wood, on linen-covered mount

17 1/4 x 14 1/8" (43.8 x 35.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled from Cuevas' Comedies

Untitled from Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Two double-sided screenprints from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition (irreg.): 22 5/16 x 20 11/16" (56.7 x 52.5 cm); sheet: 22 5/16 x 30 1/8" (56.7 x 76.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Giantess in Matisse's Atelier from Cuevas' Comedies

The Giantess in Matisse's Atelier from Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Lithograph from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition (irreg.): 29 5/8 x 22 1/16" (75.2 x 56 cm); sheet (slightly irreg.): 30 5/16 x 22 7/16" (77 x 57 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Magician's Message from Cuevas' Comedies

The Magician's Message from Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Screenprint with collage additions and five lithographs from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition and sheet: dimensions vary

Museum of Modern Art

Recollections from Cuevas' Comedies

Recollections from Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Lithograph and embossing from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition (irreg.): 21 3/16 x 26 15/16" (53.8 x 68.5 cm); sheet (slightly irreg.): 22 7/16 x 30 5/16" (57 x 77 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Tatooed Acrobat from Cuevas' Comedies

The Tatooed Acrobat from Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Lithograph, screenprint, and embossing from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition (irreg.): 30 1/16 x 22 7/16" (76.3 x 57 cm); sheet (slightly irreg.): 30 1/4 x 22 1/2" (76.8 x 57.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Interior from Cuevas' Comedies

Interior from Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Lithograph from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition (irreg.): 22 5/16 x 29 15/16" (56.6 x 76 cm); sheet (slightly irreg.): 22 13/16 x 29 15/16" (57.9 x 76 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Cuevas' Comedies

Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition and sheet (see child records): dimensions vary

Museum of Modern Art

The Giants from Cuevas' Comedies (Los Gigantes del Comedias de Cuevas)

The Giants from Cuevas' Comedies (Los Gigantes del Comedias de Cuevas)

1971 · Screenprinted folder and lithograph on five sheets from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

Various composition and sheet dimensions.

Museum of Modern Art

Title page from Cuevas' Comedies

Title page from Cuevas' Comedies

1971 · Screenprint from a portfolio of ten lithographs (one with screenprint and embossing, one with embossing) and five screenprints (two double-sided, one with collage additions)

composition (irreg.): 22 5/16 x 20 11/16" (56.7 x 52.5 cm); sheet: 22 5/16 x 30 1/8" (56.7 x 76.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Borgia from Crime by Cuevas

1968 · One from a portfolio of 12 lithographs

composition and sheet: 21 15/16 × 29 15/16" (55.7 × 76 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Table of contents from Crime by Cuevas

1968 · One from a portfolio of 12 lithographs

composition (irreg.): 19 7/8 × 10 1/2" (50.5 × 26.7 cm); sheet: 29 7/8 × 21 15/16" (75.9 × 55.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

L'Amour fou from Crime by Cuevas

1968 · One from a portfolio of 12 lithographs

composition and sheet: 21 15/16 × 29 15/16" (55.7 × 76 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Van Gogh's Criminal Obsessions from Crime by Cuevas

1968 · One from a portfolio of 12 lithographs

composition and sheet: 21 7/8 × 29 7/8" (55.6 × 75.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Crime by Cuevas

Crime by Cuevas

1968 · Portfolio of 12 lithographs

composition (see child records): dimensions vary; sheet (orientation varies, each approx.): 21 15/16 × 29 15/16" (55.7 × 76 cm) or 29 15/16 × 21 15/16" (76 × 55.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

History of Crime from Crime by Cuevas

1968 · One from a portfolio of 12 lithographs

composition: 21 1/4 × 29 3/16" (54 × 74.1 cm); sheet: 21 15/16 × 29 15/16" (55.7 × 76 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 80 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

80 published of 205 catalogued · 160 with image

MoMA
79 publishedof 158 catalogued114 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
1 published
+ 1 more source · 46 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 1)

1 entries · 1 sources

Soldier
2004 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Relationships

2

Collections2

Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago