"Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949) was one of the three great Mexican muralists, along with Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, all of whom worked in the United States and had great influence on artists here. During his self-imposed exile in New York City (1927-34), Orozco painted two important murals - at the New School for Social Research in 1930-31 and a portable work for the Museum of Modern Art in 1940.

He also made nineteen lithographs and produced countless drawings and easel paintings covering both Mexican and New York themes, turning his anti-imperialist eye on the Mexican Revolution and peasant life as well as on the Gringo reality and alienating metropolitan world he encountered in New York. His bold, expressionistic work from this period has never before been analyzed this probingly.".

"The New York years represented a crossroads for Orozco as his revolutionary hope gave way to a pessimistic critique of modern society - while at the same time he vastly expanded his artistic vision. These years were critical in Orozco's career as he found expression for his developing vision of a complex and turbulent world."--BOOK JACKET.