Object number1953.1.18
Paysage Azteque
Date1950
Artist
Rufino Tamayo
(Mexican, 1899-1991)
CultureMexican, American
MediumColor lithograph on cream wove Arches paper
EditionEdition 35 of 60
DimensionsImage: 13 3/4 × 20 5/8 in. (35 × 52.4 cm)
Sheet: 15 1/4 × 22 7/16 in. (38.8 × 57 cm)
Sheet: 15 1/4 × 22 7/16 in. (38.8 × 57 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd (Blanchette Hooker, class of 1931)
Period20th c
Classification(s)
SignedOn recto, signed lower left margin in pencil: R Tamayo
InscribedOn recto, by artist, lower right margin in pencil: XXXV / LX; by unidentified hand lower left corner: K6636 "PAYSAGE AZTEQUE"
MarkingsOn recto, blindstamped lower left corner [with two stars and enclosed by a circle]: GUILDE / DE LA / GRAVURE
Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryA Taste for the Modern: Gifts from Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, Edna Bryner Schwab, and Virginia Herrick Deknatel, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, June 24 - September 4, 2011Label TextUnlike his contemporaries in Mexican Muralism - José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siquieros - Rufino Tamayo insisted on creating personal rather than political art. He drew particular inspiration from the culture of Mexico before European contact, which was accessible to Tamayo through his work at Mexico City's Museo Nacional de Arqeuología. By studying Indigenous sculptures and ceramics, he became familiar with their forms, themes, and symbols, incorporating this imagery into his paintings and prints. With superimposed colors as a hallmark of his style, Tamayo layers fuchsia and black to create dynamic, geometric forms with the tree on the left, the human on the right, and the two birds flying above. The abstracted human figure in the right foreground dominated the print, suggesting its importance within the landscape. "I don't really look for inspiration," Tamayo once said, "but I consider that nature gives me the elements from which I depart in my work, particularly man. Man is the essence of my work."
- Ruby Funfrock '24, 2023 Ford Scholar
DescriptionA black and fuchsia colored depiction of a human figure made of abstract shapes with two birds flying overhead, a tree at left, and a sun in the sky.
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