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Lot Essay
In 1936 Rufino and Olga Tamayo left Mexico for New York. For the next fifteen years they would only return to Mexico on vacation. These years in New York were essential for Tamayo's development and consolidation of his distinct style. Of the many experiences in New York that were to imprint the artist, the most significant was assuredly the landmark Picasso show of 1940. Cubism would thus forth have a profound influence on the work he produced as he rapidly moved away from his surrealist influenced compositions, and incorporated the structural and thematic refrains of the Cubism. Though Tamayo was already a recognized Mexican artist, this sojourn would not only establish his international reputation but allow for real sophistication to develop in his work.
Tamayo was never a member, nor peer, of the Mexican Muralist movement. His move away from Mexico facilitated a break with the overwhelming influence and confines imposed by an environment focused on the Muralist credo. Tamayo was not interested in being a catalyst for state-building through his art; he was interested in achieving an enlightenment in his own work. The 1940's represent what many consider the seminal years of his prolific production, a time when he synthesized Mexican, Cubist and pre-Columbian themes in taught, emotionally provocative works.
Cazadores de mariposas or The Butterfly Hunters is an exquisite example of Tamayo's fully matured style of the late 1940s. Here the consolidation of technique and color theory are unmistakably his own. The theme is likewise unmistakable; Tamayo's fascination with flight and nature is well recorded both in his work and by those writing about it. The aerial theme was repeated throughout the 1940s and 50s and strongly alludes to his exultation of nature and technology. Birds, and in this case butterflies, held immense significance for the artist. They were flying messengers from the cosmos, harbingers of good fortune or disaster. In this painting these messengers are undeniably optimistic. Dancing tauntingly across the canvas, their yellow wings break the rich green and red tones of the composition. Technology is represented by the robot like figuration of the hunters themselves; their bodies broken into planes and stiff movements, unable to capture the teasing butterflies. The painting captures the optimistic spirit of the time; a moment when the world had emerged from the shadow of war and into an age of tremendous growth and peace.
Tamayo was never a member, nor peer, of the Mexican Muralist movement. His move away from Mexico facilitated a break with the overwhelming influence and confines imposed by an environment focused on the Muralist credo. Tamayo was not interested in being a catalyst for state-building through his art; he was interested in achieving an enlightenment in his own work. The 1940's represent what many consider the seminal years of his prolific production, a time when he synthesized Mexican, Cubist and pre-Columbian themes in taught, emotionally provocative works.
Cazadores de mariposas or The Butterfly Hunters is an exquisite example of Tamayo's fully matured style of the late 1940s. Here the consolidation of technique and color theory are unmistakably his own. The theme is likewise unmistakable; Tamayo's fascination with flight and nature is well recorded both in his work and by those writing about it. The aerial theme was repeated throughout the 1940s and 50s and strongly alludes to his exultation of nature and technology. Birds, and in this case butterflies, held immense significance for the artist. They were flying messengers from the cosmos, harbingers of good fortune or disaster. In this painting these messengers are undeniably optimistic. Dancing tauntingly across the canvas, their yellow wings break the rich green and red tones of the composition. Technology is represented by the robot like figuration of the hunters themselves; their bodies broken into planes and stiff movements, unable to capture the teasing butterflies. The painting captures the optimistic spirit of the time; a moment when the world had emerged from the shadow of war and into an age of tremendous growth and peace.