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.

Rufino Tamayo News

Artnet News Pro

Here Are the 15 Most Expensive Lots Sold at Auction Around the World in September 2023

by Artnet News
Here Are the 15 Most Expensive Lots Sold at Auction Around the World in September 2023
Auctions

Led by a $157 Million Modigliani, Sotheby's Otherwise Tepid Impressionist Sale Makes $318 Million

by Eileen Kinsella
Led by a $157 Million Modigliani, Sotheby's Otherwise Tepid Impressionist Sale Makes $318 Million
Auctions

Seven Records Fall at First Half of Christie's Latin American Sale

by Henri Neuendorf
Seven Records Fall at First Half of Christie's Latin American Sale

Rufino Tamayo Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Rufino Tamayo (5,666 results)
Rider of the Apocalypse Chapter XII, 1959, 1959

Rufino Tamayo

Rider of the Apocalypse Chapter XII, 1959, 1959

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Femme souriante (Mujer sonriente), 1969, 1969

Rufino Tamayo

Femme souriante (Mujer sonriente), 1969, 1969

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

La coqueta, 1989, de la serie Tamayo 90..., 1989

Rufino Tamayo

La coqueta, 1989, de la serie Tamayo 90..., 1989

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Cabeza en Verde, from Rufino Tamayo 15..., 1973

Rufino Tamayo

Cabeza en Verde, from Rufino Tamayo 15..., 1973

Sale Date: January 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Mujer, from Rufino Tamayo 15 litografias, 1964

Rufino Tamayo

Mujer, from Rufino Tamayo 15 litografias, 1964

Sale Date: January 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Head, 1964

Rufino Tamayo

Head, 1964

Sale Date: January 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Mujer, 1959

Rufino Tamayo

Mujer, 1959

Sale Date: January 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Cabeza, 1959

Rufino Tamayo

Cabeza, 1959

Sale Date: January 25, 2023

Auction Closed

Mujer Sonriente (from the Tamayo 90..., 1989

Rufino Tamayo

Mujer Sonriente (from the Tamayo 90..., 1989

Sale Date: January 11, 2023

Auction Closed

Rufino Tamayo 15 Aguafuertes (15 Etchings):..., 1979

Rufino Tamayo

Rufino Tamayo 15 Aguafuertes (15 Etchings):..., 1979

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Rufino Tamayo 15 Aguafuertes (15 Etchings):..., 1979

Rufino Tamayo

Rufino Tamayo 15 Aguafuertes (15 Etchings):..., 1979

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Rufino Tamayo 15 Aguafuertes (15 Etchings):..., 1979

Rufino Tamayo

Rufino Tamayo 15 Aguafuertes (15 Etchings):..., 1979

Sale Date: January 19, 2023

Auction Closed

Hombre con sombrero from RUFINO TAMAYO 15..., 1975

Rufino Tamayo

Hombre con sombrero from RUFINO TAMAYO 15..., 1975

Sale Date: January 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Nocturno from RUFINO TAMAYO 15 AGUAFUERTES..., 1975

Rufino Tamayo

Nocturno from RUFINO TAMAYO 15 AGUAFUERTES..., 1975

Sale Date: January 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Woman with Mauve Stockings, 1969

Rufino Tamayo

Woman with Mauve Stockings, 1969

Sale Date: December 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Juglar, 1979

Rufino Tamayo

Juglar, 1979

Sale Date: December 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Mujer con sandía, 1950

Rufino Tamayo

Mujer con sandía, 1950

Sale Date: December 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Mujer India, 1960

Rufino Tamayo

Mujer India, 1960

Sale Date: December 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Torse de femme, 1969

Rufino Tamayo

Torse de femme, 1969

Sale Date: December 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Cabeza de Mujer, 1973

Rufino Tamayo

Cabeza de Mujer, 1973

Sale Date: December 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Cabeza en Gris, 1973

Rufino Tamayo

Cabeza en Gris, 1973

Sale Date: December 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Salomé, 1984

Rufino Tamayo

Salomé, 1984

Sale Date: December 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Mujer en Negro, 1973

Rufino Tamayo

Mujer en Negro, 1973

Sale Date: December 21, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1934

Rufino Tamayo

Untitled, 1934

Sale Date: December 15, 2022

Auction Closed

English (US)

©2024 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. All rights reserved.