Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In this letter, Rufino Tamayo hints at the friction experienced by an artist who put his personal goals above the demands of political activism. Tamayo promises to report on the failings of the delegation to the LEAR and apologizes for asking the [...]

In this article, Rufino Tamayo forges ahead in his controversy and confrontation with the so-called Mexican School of painting. He addresses David Alfaro Siqueiros, who had publicly defended José Clemente Orozco. Tamayo ironically refers to [...]

The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, 1947) invited Rufino Tamayo to participate in the Mexican Art Exhibition that would take place in Europe. The Oaxacan painter responded that he could not give them an answer until “he knew [...]

While he was in Paris, Rufino Tamayo received a second invitation to take part in the Mexican Biennial that was being organized by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA).This time, in an attempt to persuade him, Miguel Salas Anzures told him [...]

HOY magazine thought that the long-running controversy between mural painters and abstract painters was old news. The simmering dispute had, however, recently boiled over into an open argument between Tamayo and Siqueiros, so the magazine asked both [...]

Rufino Tamayo believed that Mexican painting was dead because, “the vitality that nourished and strengthened it during its youthful period is now old; this premature aging is a result of painting’s laziness and static condition.” Tamayo [...]

In artistic circles in those days, according to Rufino Tamayo, anything that was not purely Mexican was roundly rejected, and works that reflected our own experience and personal expression were lavishly praised. This had its positive aspects, but it [...]

Rufino Tamayo wrote this letter to the demagogue painters, reminding them that two years earlier he had refused to take part in the Hispanic-American Biennial, and had declared himself to be openly anti-Franco. When he was invited to take part in the [...]

RufinoTamayo suspected that a mafia mob was standing in the way of the free development of Mexican painting. He complained of being the main target of the attacks, especially concerning his performance at the Venice Bienniale. The Italian and French [...]

In the Coloquio III [Symposium III], titled “Mexicanismo y Universalidad” [Mexicanism and Universality], Rufino Tamayo criticizes the “patriotism” of some of his contemporaries, explaining that Mexican art should not be limited to recognition [...]

Rufino Tamayo takes a radical approach questioning the spirit of nationalism in the visual arts, and suggests that artists should focus on more universal values in their work. In this critical piece he reminds us that, at that time, painting enjoyed [...]