Rufino Tamayo

Known for: Mexican modernist painting drawing on pre-Columbian sources

Rufino Tamayo occupied an independent position in Mexican art, refusing both the nationalistic muralism of Rivera and Orozco and the influence of European abstraction, instead developing a painting practice that synthesized pre-Columbian and Mexican folk sources with modernist color and form. He donated two major collections to Mexican museums — one in Mexico City and one in Oaxaca, his birthplace. He is among the most widely collected Latin American artists in international museums.