Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Zapato y sapos [Shoe and Toads]
Zapato y sapos [Shoe and Toads]

Zapato y sapos [Shoe and Toads]

Primary (Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico, 1940–2019)
NationalityMexican, North America
Date1972
MediumAcrylic on paper on masonite
DimensionsOverall: 22 1/16 × 29 1/2 in. (56 × 75 cm)
Framed: 23 3/4 × 31 3/8 × 1 5/8 in. (60.3 × 79.7 × 4.1 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Barbara Duncan, 1977.115
Rights Statement
Collection AreaLatin American Art
Object number1977.115
On View
On view
Locations
  • exhibition  BMA, Gallery, C4
Label Text
Francisco Toledo studied art in both Mexico and Europe, becoming a major figure in Latin American art. His exquisite craftsmanship paralleled his imaginative subjects, often inspired by childhood experiences in Veracruz and Oaxaca in a family with Zapotec ancestry. Toledo’s father and great aunt were shoemakers by trade, so shoes appear often in his art. Here, an oversized foot wearing a brogue appears planted dangerously close to a pregnant frog, a scene that may refer to an event from Toledo’s childhood in Juchitán, State of Oaxaca. When a nearby river occasionally flooded, the town was invaded by so many frogs that people were forced to sweep them back toward the water.  
Exhibitions