Medium: 3-layer reduction linocut
Image Size: 14.25 x 12 inches
Year: 2018
Edition size: 5
About the print:
Tiburcio Vásquez (April 11, 1835 – March 19, 1875) was a Californio bandido who was active in California from 1854 to 1874. The Vasquez Rocks, 40 miles (64 km) north of Los Angeles, were one of his many hideouts and are named after him.
Vásquez's legacy has been subject to much debate over the ensuing decades since his execution. For quite a long time after his death, popular culture tended to regard Vásquez as a mere dangerous bandit of the Southwest. The Chicano Civil Rights Movement has prompted a more nuanced perspective on Vásquez as a victim of injustice and resistance fighter against Anglo-American discrimination.
Chicano scholars and artists used Vásquez's story as an example of the persistent anti-Californio discrimination following the Mexican-American War. To this day, many continue to visit and pay respects to Vásquez's grave. He was buried in Santa Clara Mission Cemetery in Santa Clara, California.
With his upper-class Californio background, Vásquez is thought to have been one of several sources for the bandit-hero character Zorro.
