Rufino Tamayo

(Mexican, 1899–1991)

Rufino Tamayo was a Mexican painter and printmaker known for his large-scale murals and vivid use of color. Like his peers Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco, Tamayo helped bring international attention to Mexican art. Influenced by his pre-Columbian heritage as well as Cubism and Surrealism, Tamayo portrayed vernacular subjects like watermelons and animals in a unique formal vocabulary. “Art is a means of expression that must be understood by everybody, everywhere,” he stated. “It grows out of the earth, the textures of our lives, and our experience.” Born on August 26, 1899 in Oaxaca, Mexico, Tamayo left the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts after a year and began to teach himself. He moved to New York in the 1930s after having a falling out with the politically driven Rivera and Siqueiros in his home county. Eventually returning to Mexico in 1959, he founded the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City and the Museo Rufino Tamayo in his birthplace of Oaxaca during the early 1980s. The artist continued to produce some of his most compelling works including Moon and Sun (1990) right up until his death on June 24, 1991 in Mexico City, Mexico at the age of 91. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, among others.

Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction

Trovador, 1945
Sold price: 7,209,000 USD

Rufino Tamayo Artworks

Rufino Tamayo (5,666 results)

Figure in Red, 1989

Rufino Tamayo

Figure in Red, 1989

Sale Date: March 14, 2023

Auction Closed

La Familia Jugando, 1983

Rufino Tamayo

La Familia Jugando, 1983

Sale Date: March 8, 2023

Auction Closed

El Perro Mueve la Cola, 1974

Rufino Tamayo

El Perro Mueve la Cola, 1974

Sale Date: March 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Hombre sacando la lengua, 1967

Rufino Tamayo

Hombre sacando la lengua, 1967

Sale Date: March 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Mujer tras un vidrio, 1973

Rufino Tamayo

Mujer tras un vidrio, 1973

Sale Date: March 9, 2023

Auction Closed

„Hombre, luna y estrellas“, 1950

Rufino Tamayo

„Hombre, luna y estrellas“, 1950

Sale Date: March 5, 2023

Auction Closed

Personaje en la Ventana ( Personage at the..., 1980

Rufino Tamayo

Personaje en la Ventana ( Personage at the..., 1980

Sale Date: February 28, 2023

Auction Closed

La Negresse (from the Mujers portfolio), 1969

Rufino Tamayo

La Negresse (from the Mujers portfolio), 1969

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

El Ermitaño (from the Tamayo 90 Aniversario..., 1989

Rufino Tamayo

El Ermitaño (from the Tamayo 90 Aniversario..., 1989

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Hombre con baston, 1980

Rufino Tamayo

Hombre con baston, 1980

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Afiche (Mujer), 1969

Rufino Tamayo

Afiche (Mujer), 1969

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Dos hermanos, 1987

Rufino Tamayo

Dos hermanos, 1987

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Protesta, 1983

Rufino Tamayo

Protesta, 1983

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Dos Figuras), 1989

Rufino Tamayo

Untitled (Dos Figuras), 1989

Sale Date: February 9, 2023

Auction Closed

Aztec Landscape, 1951

Rufino Tamayo

Aztec Landscape, 1951

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Tete, 1950

Rufino Tamayo

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Chacal, from The Mexican Masters Suite, 1973

Rufino Tamayo

Chacal, from The Mexican Masters Suite, 1973

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Tete, 1964

Rufino Tamayo

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Man at the Door, 1964

Rufino Tamayo

Man at the Door, 1964

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1964

Rufino Tamayo

Untitled, 1964

Sale Date: February 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Watermelon, 1975

After Rufino Tamayo

Watermelon, 1975

Sale Date: February 2, 2023

Auction Closed

Sandias, 1955

Rufino Tamayo

Sandias, 1955

Sale Date: February 4, 2023

Auction Closed

Niña a la puerta (Pereda 74), 1960, 1960

Rufino Tamayo

Niña a la puerta (Pereda 74), 1960, 1960

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

La Négresse, from Mujeres (Pereda 109), 1969, 1969

Rufino Tamayo

La Négresse, from Mujeres (Pereda 109), 1969, 1969

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

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