Rufino Tamayo - Influences

Influences

There are many artists whom Tamayo was influenced by; but he was probably most influenced by his relationship with María Izquierdo, a Mexican artist herself, with whom he lived for a time. Her influence helped guide Tamayo to be very precise with his color choices. He made sure to use colors which show Mexico as it really is. He argued that, "Mexicans are not a gay race but a tragic one..." He was not willing to show a side of Mexico that is not real. By using colors that show how broken people in Mexico really are, he suggests that Mexicans do need help to move on from their tragic history. Even if people who are full of pride, such as other muralists, believe that Mexicans will gain something out of this war.

Other influences came from Tamayo's cultural heritage. One can say that Tamayo was one of the few artists of his era who enjoyed Mexico’s ethnic differences. He enjoyed the fusion of Spanish-Mexican-Indian blood and that is shown in some of his art pieces. In his art piece, Lion and Horse (1942), Tamayo used pre-Columbian ceramics, showing his gratitude towards all of the ethnic groups in Mexico. It is clear, however, that Tamayo was one of the few who enjoyed all of the different ethnic groups in México. Tamayo had a lot of pride towards his Mexican culture because his culture is what had created him, and by traveling to other countries, his love for Mexico became greater.

Another influence came from the disregard that people had towards Mexican artists. For example, according to Jose Carlos Ramirez,"Tamayo's work did not have much value". Mostly because people did not think Mexican artists could actually create art. Under the Díaz regime, artists who were of Mexican origin were ignored by society. This had a big impact on Tamayo because Mexican artists were not being recognized and no one believed that they actually had the skills to surpass those artists who were of European descent.