| Mexican artist Date of Birth: Country: Mexico |
Rufino Tamayo, a Mexican artist and one of the leaders of Latin American avant-garde, was born on August 26, , in Oaxaca, to a family of Zapotec Indians. After moving to Mexico City in , he studied at the National School of Fine Arts from to and later worked as an educator. In , he became a professor at the same school.
From to , Tamayo led the department of ethnographic drawing at the National Archaeological Museum in Mexico City. He frequently traveled to the United States, primarily New York, starting from , as well as to Western Europe from onwards.
Tamayo merged the influences of European art avant-garde, particularly from artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, with ancient national motifs. He distanced himself from the left-leaning politicization that dominated the biographies of his compatriots and colleagues, such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros.
In his early works, Tamayo's paintings predominantly featured portraits, nudes, landscapes, and still lifes. However, from the s onwards, the themes of his paintings became more complex, incorporating an increasing number of mythical "ciphers" and symbols of Art, Life, and Death. These themes were executed in somber earth tones and bright, "cosmic" flickering tones. Even relatively simple portrait and still life motifs were mysteriously mythologized.
Some of Tamayo's notable works of unique neo-symbolism include "Animals" (, Museum of Modern Art, New York), "Sleeping Musicians" (, Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City), and "Adoration of the Indian Race" (, private collection, Mexico City).
Although Tamayo's paintings are usually small in size, they resemble fragments of mural painting, which naturally led the artist to explore monumental and decorative art. His frescoes and panels include "Music and Singing" (National Conservatory, ), "Revolution" (National Museum of Anthropology, ; both in Mexico City), "Nature, Art, and Man" (Smith College Library, Northampton, USA, ), "The Birth of Our Nation" and "Mexico Today" (Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City, –), and "Prometheus Bringing Fire to Mankind" (UNESCO building in Paris, –).
Tamayo also worked with printmaking, book illustration, and set design throughout his career. He passed away on June 24, , in Mexico City.