RUFINO TAMAYO (1891-1991)
Coyote (Arte Prehispánico)
signed and dated 'Tamayo o-72' (lower right)
watercolor and pencil on paper
13 3/16 x 10 1/4 in (33.5 x 26 cm)
Executed in Oaxaca in 1972
Footnotes:
We are grateful to Juan Carlos Pereda for his assistance in cataloguing this work.

Provenance
Galería de Arte Misrachi, Mexico City, no. 80.
Harcourts Gallery, San Francisco, no. RT636X.
Acquired from the above by the present owner on September 2, 1982.

Exhibited
(possibly) Mexico City, Galería del Centro Deportivo Israelita, Tamayo, June 26 - July 12, 1973.


The present work was executed as an illustration to accompany photographs from the book Arte Prehispanico de Mexico: Colección de Rufino Tamayo, which was published by Galería de Arte Misrachi and highlights a selection of pre-Hispanic sculptures from Rufino and Olga Tamayo's personal collection. This collection was a true passion project for the Tamayos, who began collecting pre-Hispanic art and artifacts in the early 1950s, with the objective of building a museum collection they could one day donate to their hometown of Oaxaca. Their plans started coming to fruition in the 1970s, while Tamayo oversaw the restoration of a historic eighteenth-century building for their collection. Coyote (Arte Prehispánico) was executed during this period; looking through Arte Prehispanico, the coyote motif directly corresponds to a photo taken by Manuel Alvarez Bravo (illustration no. 134). The museum finally opened in January 1974 featuring a collection of over one thousand objects of pre-Hispanic art, collected and curated by the Tamayos to celebrate the history and culture of their home.

The sheet is secured to the mount with four clear corner mounts. The left edge has been torn from a book. The upper, right and lower edges are deckled. The sheet is time stained. Light spots of foxing to the margins of the sheet. Former hinging adhesive on the verso. Subject to the foregoing, it is in our opinion that the work appears to be excellent condition.