Printmaker and engraver Ángel Bracho was born to poor parents in Mexico City. He completed only four years of schooling before working a series of menial jobs to help support his family. Nevertheless, his extraordinary natural talent enabled Bracho to pursue part-time evening studies beginning in 1928 at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, continuing as a full-time student from 1929 and 1934. and studying with Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo. Throughout his career, his work reflected his passion for social justice, the dignity of native cultures, and the economic disparities of Mexican society. During his early career, he worked on murals in various public buildings. In 1936, he turned to teaching young artists in far-flung provinces until 1939, when he taught art in Mexico City public schools, helping to create and improve the public art instruction program of the capitol.

Bracho was a founding member of Taller de Gráfica Popular and remained active in its ranks for more than fifty years. In addition to his painted murals, landscapes, and portraits, he produced a body of masterful lithographs and linoleum engravings, many of them dealing with the impact of socioeconomic issues on Mexican society. He received numerous awards and honors throughout his career from institutions and organizations throughout the Americas and Europe.