Art Art 12 Nov 2008 09:14 am
Tamayo
- The painter, Rufino Tamayo, has been an imprtant source of inspiration for me over the years, and I thought I’d share some of his later paintings.
He was a Zapotecan Indian born in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1899. After his mother died, in 1911, he moved to México City where he attended the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas. Tamayo was exposed to pre-Colombian Méxican art while working at the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia..
His contemporaries Siqueiros, Rivera and Orozco advocated a political art form whereas Tamayo’s work focussed on plastic forms integrated with a masterful use of colors and textures. Tamayo in Life Magazine, 1953
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He is one of the best known Latin American
artists with exhibitions in major museums such as the Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes, México, The Philips Collection in Washington, The Guggenheim Museum in New York and The Museum of Modern Art as well as principal art galleries throughout the world.
He died in 1991.
His work reminds me, in some ways, of Matisse’s Moroccan phase in its color choice and strong forms. His work has been compared to de Kooning and Debuffet. I’d certainly agree with the later. I find his artwork abstract yet bodering on the representational. The opposite of someone like Arp, Miro or Mondrian.
Here, for no good reason, are a few of his paintings.
Man Before the Infinite – 1950
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The Great Galaxy – 1978
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Arid Landscape – 1974
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Portrait of the Devil – 1974
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Showdog – 1974
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Woman Behind Glass – 1974
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Empty Fruit Bowl – 1976
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Dancer – 1977
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Ghost At The Door – 1978
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Man (Hombre) – 1980
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Man with Sabre – 1980
on 12 Nov 2008 at 11:45 am 1.stephen said …
these are beautiful. thanks for posting. “showdog” looks a little like chagall, maybe it’s the colors.
on 12 Nov 2008 at 1:05 pm 2.Emmett Goodman said …
Wonderful paintings. I love the colors especially. GREAT GALAXY and PORTRAIT OF THE DEVIL have some real atmosphere to them.
on 12 Nov 2008 at 4:25 pm 3.Sunny Kharbanda said …
Brilliant stuff, thanks for sharing! I also love “Great Galaxy” and “Portrait of the Devil”.
You’re right about the “…abstract bordering on the representational…” aspect. Some of Lou Romano’s paintings have this quality (and atmosphere) as well.