Rafael Tufiño
Encyclopedia
Rafael Tufiño Figueroa was a Puerto Rican
painter, printmaker and cultural figure in Puerto Rico
, known locally as the "Painter of the People". His work is among the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the U.S. Library of Congress, the Galería Nacional
in Puerto Rico, and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico.
, to live with his grandmother. At the age of 12, he began to work in the workshop of Antonio "Tony" Maldonado, where he painted signs and letters.
Tufiño was in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946. Later, he moved to Mexico to study painting and engraving at the San Carlos Academy, where he was exposed to the populist ideas of the Popular Graphics Workshop and the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera
and José Clemente Orozco
. Upon returning to Puerto Rico in 1949, he joined the Graphic Arts Workshop of the Community Education Division (DIVEDCO, for its Spanish acronym), which had been created as part of a government campaign to teach the public about health and literacy.
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, the U.S. Library of Congress, the Galería Nacional
in Puerto Rico, and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico
. During the 1950s, he was part of the "Generación de los Cincuentas" (the Generation of the Fifties), a group of artists who tried to create a new artistic style and aesthetic identity for Puerto Rico.
He also spent time in New York on a Guggenheim fellowship
, and returned to the city in the 1960s, when he encountered a generation of Puerto Rican artists particularly intent on exploring and celebrating their cultural heritage.
Until 1963, he contributed to the Puerto Rico Department of Public Instruction (now the Department of Education
) various paintings, posters, and advertisements to help bring government-sponsored literacy and hygiene programs to poor and illiterate communities in Puerto Rico.
Tufiño dedicated his later life to foster art and related studies in Puerto Rican communities, such as founding a workshop and art cooperative named Taller Boricua in 1970, located in Spanish Harlem, and advocating for the creation of El Museo del Barrio, located on New York's Fifth Avenue at the top of "Museum Mile
".
For his body of work and his dedication towards minority communities, he received a lifetime achievement award by the National Arts Club
in New York City in 2003.
ordered all state flags to fly at half staff and proclaimed 2 days of national mourning.
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
painter, printmaker and cultural figure in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, known locally as the "Painter of the People". His work is among the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the U.S. Library of Congress, the Galería Nacional
Galería Nacional
Galería Nacional located in Old San Juan within the historic colonial section of the capital of Puerto Rico, houses the largest collection of Puerto Rican paintings from the eighteenth century to the 1960s. The museum is located in the restored Saint Aquinas monastery of the Dominican Order...
in Puerto Rico, and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico.
Early life
Rafael Tufiño Figueroa was born on October 30, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York, where he lived with his parents, Gregoria Figueroa and Agustín Tufiño, until he was ten years old. In 1932, he moved to Puerta de Tierra, the neighborhood located just outside Old San JuanOld San Juan, Puerto Rico
Old San Juan is the oldest settlement within Puerto Rico and it is the historic colonial section of San Juan, Puerto Rico.-Location:...
, to live with his grandmother. At the age of 12, he began to work in the workshop of Antonio "Tony" Maldonado, where he painted signs and letters.
Tufiño was in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946. Later, he moved to Mexico to study painting and engraving at the San Carlos Academy, where he was exposed to the populist ideas of the Popular Graphics Workshop and the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
and José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others...
. Upon returning to Puerto Rico in 1949, he joined the Graphic Arts Workshop of the Community Education Division (DIVEDCO, for its Spanish acronym), which had been created as part of a government campaign to teach the public about health and literacy.
Artist work and legacy
Rafael Tufiño's painting included portraits, landscapes and images of Puerto Rico daily life. His work is among the collections of the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, the U.S. Library of Congress, the Galería Nacional
Galería Nacional
Galería Nacional located in Old San Juan within the historic colonial section of the capital of Puerto Rico, houses the largest collection of Puerto Rican paintings from the eighteenth century to the 1960s. The museum is located in the restored Saint Aquinas monastery of the Dominican Order...
in Puerto Rico, and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico
Museum of Art of Puerto Rico
The Museum of Art of Puerto Rico is one of the most prestigious art museums in Puerto Rico.-History:...
. During the 1950s, he was part of the "Generación de los Cincuentas" (the Generation of the Fifties), a group of artists who tried to create a new artistic style and aesthetic identity for Puerto Rico.
He also spent time in New York on a Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, and returned to the city in the 1960s, when he encountered a generation of Puerto Rican artists particularly intent on exploring and celebrating their cultural heritage.
Until 1963, he contributed to the Puerto Rico Department of Public Instruction (now the Department of Education
Puerto Rico Department of Education
The Puerto Rico Department of Education is the department of Puerto Rico's government which manages state-operated schools in the United States commonwealth. The department is the equivalent of a state department of education and only one of two composed of a single school district...
) various paintings, posters, and advertisements to help bring government-sponsored literacy and hygiene programs to poor and illiterate communities in Puerto Rico.
Tufiño dedicated his later life to foster art and related studies in Puerto Rican communities, such as founding a workshop and art cooperative named Taller Boricua in 1970, located in Spanish Harlem, and advocating for the creation of El Museo del Barrio, located on New York's Fifth Avenue at the top of "Museum Mile
Museum Mile, New York City
Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the city of New York, in the United States, running from 82nd to 104th streets on the Upper East Side in a neighborhood known as Carnegie Hill. The "mile", which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world, is...
".
For his body of work and his dedication towards minority communities, he received a lifetime achievement award by the National Arts Club
National Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
in New York City in 2003.
Personal life
Rafael Tufiño had two daughters, Nitza Tufiño and Rima Tufiño, and three sons, Rafael Tufiño Jr., Salvatore Tufiño, and Pablo Tufiño.Death
Tufiño died on March 13, 2008 in Condado, Puerto Rico at the age of 85. Upon hearing his death, the Governor of Puerto RicoGovernor of Puerto Rico
The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
ordered all state flags to fly at half staff and proclaimed 2 days of national mourning.