Emiliano Zapata

Sergio Sanchez Santamaria

Sergio Sanchez Santamaria did this portrait of Emiliano Zapata using ink and graphite around 2018. His subject looks the viewer in the eye with an intense stare, his large mustache, and heavy brows accentuating the unwavering visage. Zapata is dressed in a double-breasted jacket and flowing white neck scarf. The texture of his jacket and his face are done using hundreds of individually drawn dots. The background is a field of maize, twisting, and writhing behind the sitter and refers to his support for the farmers. Santamaria signs his drawing with a pencil and adds 5 red block prints.

Emiliano Zapata was a leader of the Mexican Revolution, the main figure of the peasant revolution. Zapata was a dandy and a well-known horseman and bullfighter. He was elected mayor of the tiny town of Anenecuilco in 1909 and began defending his neighbors’ land from greedy landowners. When the legal system failed him, he rounded up some armed peasants and began taking the stolen land back by force. Zapata was among a group opposing President Porfirio Diaz. When Zapata captured Cuautla in May of 1911, Díaz went into exile. Zapata had a falling out the next president and former ally Francisco Madero and wrote his 'Plan of Ayala', which declared Madero a traitor, named Pascual Orozco head of the Revolution, and outlined a plan for true land reform. Zapata fought federal forces in the south and near Mexico City.

Zapata, Venustiano Carranza, Alvaro Obregón, and Pancho Villa formed the "Big Four" opposing General Huerta who had overthrown Madero. Huerta fled in 1914 and the "Big Four" began squabbling among themselves, Zapata aligning himself loosely with Villa. On April 10, 1919, Zapata was double-crossed, ambushed, and killed by Colonel Jesús Guajardo, one of González’ officers who had pretended to want to switch sides.