INTERVIEW
W/ ARTIST
(video)
MAPR
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
by Dr. Carmen T. Ruiz de Fischler, Ph. D.
- (essay in Spanish)
- (essay in English)
"Rafael
Tufiño: Painter of the People"
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
The Museo
de Arte de Puerto Rico (MAPR) proudly presents Rafael Tufiño: Painter
of the People, the first retrospective of this major Puerto Rican artist
who belonged to the Generation of the Fifties. The exhibition was curated
by Dr. Teresa Tió, sponsored by the Cooperativa de Seguros Múltiples
de Puerto Rico and supported by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.
It is the first exhibition of the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico to travel
outside of Puerto Rico to El Museo del Barrio in New York.
The MAPR pays homage to this outstanding Puerto Rican, one of our foremost
20th Century artists. Tufiño’s works are part of the collections
of major museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, El Museo del
Barrio, the United States Library of Congress, the Museo de Arte de Ponce,
the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, the Museo de Historia,
Antropología y Arte of the University of Puerto Rico and the collection
of the Cooperativa de Seguros Múltiples de Puerto Rico.
During the two years of research and preparation for this exhibition,
Dr. Tió worked with members of the MAPR curatorial staff, gathering
pertinent information on the artist and his oeuvre. We gratefully acknowledge
the collaborative efforts of Mercedes Trelles, Myrna López Mena,
Interim Curator of Collections; Fae Palmer, Assistant Curator; Ishmett
Nazario, Administrative Assistant for the Curatorial Department; and Assistant
Curators Mariel Quiñones, Mariola Legrand and Alejandro Gil de
Lamadrid. In addition, Teresa Brigantti, Registrar; Sol Elena Rivera,
Conservator; John Betancourt, Photographer; María Rosa Martí,
Director of Design and Exhibition, and the MAPR preparers who labored
long hours to make this exhibition possible. Exhibition design and installation
are the work of Humberto Figueroa who was able to expertly accommodate
the many different media and large numbers of pieces a retrospective of
this nature demands. The superbly designed catalog is by Marina Rivón
of Maremar Inc. Continuing our Puerto Rican tradition, the especially
commissioned silkscreen poster will be by Nelson Sambolín. The
Cooperativa de Seguros Múltiples de Puerto Rico and Francisco Toste
of Adelphia sponsored this work of art-poster.
Rafael Tufiño: Painter of the People is a dual homage to the people of Puerto Rico and to one of our greatest living artists, whose work has inspired many succeeding generations of Puerto Rican artists. This exhibition will inspire and educate younger artists who have not had the opportunity to study Tufiño’s prolific artistic production.
Carmen T.
Ruiz de Fischler, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
