Rufino Tamayo

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Biography

Rufino Tamayo (26 August, 1899 - June 24, 1991)

Born in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1899 of Zopotec heritage, Rufino Tamayo is arguably one of the most important Mexican artists of the 20th century.

Tamayo was known for his paintings, drawings and murals as well as his graphic works. Alongside Luis Remba (Mexican printer/engineer), Tamayo created a knew medium printmaking known as mixografia, in which the surface of the prints were highly textured, unlike the relatively flat layers of other techniques of printmaking. 

Although Tamayo was highly active during the Mexican muralist movement, Tamayo was a controversial figure amongst many other Mexican artists of the time for his apolitical stance in his art. Unlike many of his contemporaries, such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco, Tamayo did not feel obligated to create overtly political, revolutionary work. For this, he was ousted by many prominent Mexican artists of his age. As a result he moved to New York with his wife Olga, in 1926. 

Tamayo spent the next couple of decades living between New York and Mexico City, before moving to Paris in 1957. While living and working in Europe, Tamayo was heavily influenced by the European modernists, and began forming a visual language combining elements of European art, such as surrealism and Cubism, with Mexican imagery. 

After living in Paris for a number of years, Tamayo moved back to Mexico City, where he died in 1991. 

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