Rufino Tamayo Mexican, 1899-1991

Dos Cabezas was produced during Tamayo’s most productive part of his career. It was during this time the artist was dividing his time between New York, Mexico City, and Paris. Tamayo, a Mexican artist, drew inspiration from both his pre-Columbian heritage and European Modernism, including Surrealism, to create a unique style that blended figurative abstraction with surrealist influences.

Here in Dos Cabezas, Tamaya creates a dreamlike image of two friends, however there are three heads suggesting a layered meaning. Perhaps the artist was exploring the concept of “like mindedness”. Surrealism investigates the potential that the subconscious mind can transcend traditional reality. Here, in Dos Cabezas, Tamayo juxtaposes the imagery of two heads with peculiar eyes while intimating the presence of another spirit between them. Tamayo may have been exploring the subconscious to create his own unique visual language with his frenzied marks that are both subtle in color but intense in character.

Along with the three great muralists of the time – Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros - Tamayo brought international attention to the Mexican art scene during the second half of the 20th century.

The first exhibition of Tamayo’s work in the United States was held in the Weyhe Gallery in New York in 1926. Ten years later the artist moved to New York where he contributed to the city´s dynamic cultural scene of postwar art. While living in the city he had contact with European modernism and was greatly inspired by Pablo Picasso’s work. He incorporated elements from the early New York School of painters and shared common interests with younger American artists including Jackson Pollock and Adolph Gottlieb. In 1938 he taught in the Dalton School of Art in New York and belonged to the Works in Progress Administration project for a short time.

In 1964, he returned permanently to Mexico City. A decade later, he established the Museo de Arte Prehispánico de México Rufino Tamayo in Oaxaca, to display his collection. He also founded a contemporary art museum, the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, which includes an extensive collection of work by modern and contemporary international artists. By the time of his death in 1991, he had become the spokesman for Mexican art in the international art world and left an extensive oeuvre that remains highly significant for its innovative blend of modernist movements and Mexican themes.