Tamayo: The New York Years

The Smithsonian American Art Museum will open a major exhibition on Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) on November 3, 2017. Tamayo: The New York Years, is the first exhibition to examine how Tamayo's experiences in the United States shaped his art and, conversely, how he contributed to the post-war reformulation of modern art that coalesced in New York during the mid-twentieth century. Tamayo developed many of his ideas during his intermittent fifteen-year residence in New York City between the late 1920s and 1949. During that period, he drew inspiration from Pre-Columbian and Mexican folk art and from the transatlantic modern art that he encountered in New York. The exhibition is organized by E. Carmen Ramos, curator of Latino Art. A catalogue written by Ramos will accompany the show. In conjunction with the exhibition, SAAM will organize a scholarly symposium to be held on November 3, 2017, featuring new and innovative scholarship that expands out from Tamayo's story to consider other key exchanges and influences between Mexican and US artists, including Chicano and Latino artists, during the twentieth century.