Magicians and Revolutionaries: José Clemente Orozco, Sarojini Naidu, and the Fight over Stereotypes.

This article examines Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco’s 1931 fresco series *Call to Revolution and Table of Universal Brotherhood* at the New School for Social Research in New York City, focusing on its global political iconography and complex interplay of esoteric, theosophical, and revolutionary themes. The murals depict revolutionary movements and leaders from India, the Soviet Union, and Mexico, employing simplified, stereotypical imagery as a deliberate political strategy to engage public debate on internationalism and anti-colonial struggles. The work reflects Orozco’s engagement with American cultural and left-wing political discourses of the 1930s, as well as his interactions with Indian nationalist Sarojini Naidu and theosophical influences linked to figures like Annie Besant. The frescoes reveal tensions between universalist aspirations and orientalist stereotypes, illustrating the challenges of representing global solidarity amid prevailing colonial and racial ideologies. [Extracted from the article]