Rafael Tufiño Figueroa (October 30, 1922 – March 13, 2008) was a Puerto Rican painter, printmaker and cultural figure in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, known locally as the "Painter of the People".

Early life

Rafael Tufiño Figueroa was born on October 30, 1922, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 Juan Old San Juan () is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the San Juan Islet, islet of San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Old San Juan, Ballajá, Catedral, Old San Juan, ...

, 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 served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1943 to 1946. Some of his first documented drawings date from his tenure in Panama while serving with the Army Signal Corps in Panama. Taking advantage of the GI Bill, he then moved to Mexico to study painting and engraving at the San Carlos Academy, where he was exposed to the populist ideas of the Taller de Gráfica Popular ( Spanish: "People's Graphic 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.

Artwork and legacy

Rafael Tufiño's painting included portraits, landscapes and images of Puerto Rico daily life. During the 1950s, he was part of the "''Generación de los Cincuentas''" (the Generation of the Fifties), a group of artists who worked to create a new artistic style and aesthetic identity for Puerto Rico. He also spent time in New York on a

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1954, 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 taking part in founding an artist workshop / 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.

Personal life

Rafael Tufiño had two daughters, Nitza Tufiño and Rima Tufiño, and three sons, Rafael Tufiño II, Salvatore Tufiño,and Pablo Tufiño, as well as eight grandchildren.

Death and legacy

Tufiño died on March 13, 2008, in Condado, Puerto Rico at the age of 85 after a battle with lung cancer. Upon hearing his death, the Governor of Puerto Rico ordered all state flags to fly at half mast and proclaimed 2 days of national mourning. His work is among the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

, the Galería Nacional, and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico.

References

External links