Since his death in 1949, the prestige of the eminent Mexican painter José Clemente Orozco has continued to grow as his artistic stature becomes more measurable. For this reason, if for no other, the early formative years of his career when the stylistic foundations of maturity were laid demand now more than ever careful scrutiny and evaluation. Among the early works of this artist none, in our opinion, is of greater interest and few are of higher quality than a collection of water colors known to students of Orozco as the House of Tears. In spite of their importance, however, these pictures have received only casual treatment from most writers. This essay embodies the earnest hope that our analysis of certain problems involved in the sources and style of House of Tears may at least kindle broader interest in the series as a whole.