Rufino Tamayo

Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico. Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, painting figurative abstraction with surrealist influences.

Rufino Tamayo, along with other muralists such as Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros, represented the twentieth century in their native country of Mexico. After the Mexican Revolution, Tamayo devoted himself to creating a distinct identity in his work. He expressed what he envisioned as traditional Mexico and eschewed the overt political art of such contemporaries as José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, Oswaldo Guayasamín and David Alfaro Siqueiros. He disagreed with these muralists in their belief that the revolution was necessary for the future of Mexico but considered, instead, that the revolution would harm Mexico.

In his painting, Niños Jugando con Fuego (Children Playing with Fire, 1947), Tamayo shows two individuals being burnt by a fire they have created, a symbol of the Mexican people being injured by their own choice and action. Tamayo claimed, "We are in a dangerous situation, and the danger is that man may be absorbed and destroyed by what he has created". Due to his political opinions, he was characterized by some as a "traitor" to the political cause.

Tamayo came to feel that he could not freely express his art; he, therefore, decided in 1926 to leave Mexico and move to New York City. Prior to his departure, Tamayo organized a one-man show of his work in Mexico City where he was noticed for his individuality. He returned to Mexico in 1929 to have another solo show, this time being met with high praise and media coverage.

Tamayo's legacy in the history of art lies in his oeuvre of original graphic prints in which he cultivated every technique. Tamayo's graphic work, produced between 1925 and 1991, includes woodcuts, lithographs, etchings, and "Mixografia" prints. With the help of Mexican printer and engineer Luis Remba, Tamayo expanded the technical and aesthetic possibilities of the graphic arts by developing a new medium which they named Mixografia. This technique is a unique fine art printing process that allows for the production of prints with three-dimensional textures.

It not only registered the texture and volume of Rufino Tamayo's design but also granted the artist freedom to use any combination of solid materials in its creation. Tamayo was delighted with the Mixografia process and created some 80 original Mixographs. One of their most famous Mixografia is titled Dos Personajes Atacados por Perros (Two Characters Attacked by Dogs).

In 1935, he joined the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR). The LEAR was an organization in which Mexican artists could express through painting and writing their responses towards the revolutionary war and governmental policies than are current in Mexico. Although Tamayo did not agree with Siqueiros and Orozco, they were chosen along with four others to represent their art in the first American Artists' Congress in New York. Now married, Rufino and Olga had planned on staying in New York only for the duration of the event; however, they made New York their permanent home for the next decade and a half.

In 1948, Tamayo's first major retrospective was held at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Although his position remained controversial, his popularity was high. During this time, he became acquainted with young American artist Joseph Glasco who was studying at the school of art at San Miguel de Allende and Tamayo moved into Glasco's apartment and studio at one point. Uncomfortable with the continuing political controversy, Tamayo and Olga moved to Paris in 1949 where they remained for the next decade.

Tamayo also enjoyed portraying women in his paintings. His early works included many nudes, a subject that eventually disappeared in his later career. However, he often painted his wife Taide Olga Flores Rivas Zárate showing her struggles through color choices and facial expressions. The shared difficulties of painter and wife can be seen in the portrait Rufino and Olga, circa 1934, where the couple appears broken by life's obstacles.

Tamayo also painted murals, some of which are displayed inside Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes opera house in Mexico City, such as Nacimiento de la nacionalidad (Birth of the Nationality, 1952).

Tamayo was known to have a couple of protégé who he privately taught. Francisco Toledo & Veronica Ruiz de Velasco who were both in the National Museum of Modern Art.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2024