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Artists›Rafael Tufiño

Rafael Tufiño

Rafael Tufiño

Artist

WA-00029817

PrintmakingRealismSocial Realism

Representation

None documented

1

Institutional Exhibitions

28

Works in Collection

54

Assets Indexed

0

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ7282343 ULAN500118447

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

The Artist as His Subject

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

Source Registry (2)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/5965
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Artsy (bulk)https://www.artsy.net/artist/rafael-tufino
Tier 1 · Institutional85%

About

Why this artist matters now

Rafael Tufiño was a Puerto Rican printmaker and painter whose woodcuts and lithographs documented the social and political life of working-class San Juan from the 1940s onward. His bold graphic style employed simplified forms and high-contrast imagery to depict street scenes, labor, and everyday dignity within urban Puerto Rico. A founding figure in the post-war Puerto Rican art movement, Tufiño combined modernist reduction with social realism, creating work that functioned as both aesthetic object and historical record. His prints circulated widely across the Caribbean and Latin America as vehicles for cultural identity during a period of rapid industrialization and colonial transition.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Realism

Medium

Printmaking

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (28)

9no Festival de Teatro de Ponce

9no Festival de Teatro de Ponce

1975 · Screenprint in blue and gray inks on cream wove paper

63.5 × 45.8 cm (25 × 18 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

III Fiesta Música Puertorriqueña

III Fiesta Música Puertorriqueña

1968 · Color screenprint on cream laid paper

69.9 × 51.2 cm (27 1/2 × 20 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

La Carreta

1968 · Silkscreen

31 x 21" (78.7 x 53.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

4to Festival Internacional de Teatro

4to Festival Internacional de Teatro

1968 · Silkscreen

26 1/2 x 19" (67.3 x 48.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Fiesta de la Música

Fiesta de la Música

1968 · Silkscreen

27 × 19 1/2" (68.6 × 49.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Exposición y venta de arte al aire libre

Exposición y venta de arte al aire libre

1967 · Silkscreen

27 5/8 × 20" (70.2 × 50.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Festival de Teatro Internacional

Festival de Teatro Internacional

1966 · Color screenprint on cream laid paper

80.1 × 57.2 cm (31 1/2 × 22 1/2 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Feria del Libro

Feria del Libro

1966 · Color screenprint on cream laid paper

75.6 × 50.5 cm (29 3/4 × 19 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

M.R. Warrek, Exposición de Esculturas

M.R. Warrek, Exposición de Esculturas

1965 · Silkscreen

30 x 20 1/4" (76.2 x 51.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Tefo

1963 · Woodcut

composition: 15 1/16 x 4" (38.2 x 10.2 cm); sheet: 23 7/8 x 9" (60.7 x 22.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Galería Colibri

1963 · Woodcut

composition 19 5/16 x 21 1/2" (49 x 54.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

The Bottle (La Botella)

The Bottle (La Botella)

1963 · Screenprint

composition: 24 3/16 x 18 7/8" (61.5 x 48cm); sheet: 36 1/8 x 24" (91.8 x 61cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Primer Centenario de Luís Muñoz Rivera

Primer Centenario de Luís Muñoz Rivera

1959 · Screenprint in blue inks on cream wove paper

72.4 × 50.8 cm (28 1/2 × 20 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Temporal (The Storm) (double page in-text plate, folios 23 verso and 24) from Plenas

Temporal (The Storm) (double page in-text plate, folios 23 verso and 24) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 11 3/8 × 18 3/16" (28.9 × 46.2 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Santa María (Saint Mary) (double page in-text plate, folios 15 verso and 16) from Plenas

Santa María (Saint Mary) (double page in-text plate, folios 15 verso and 16) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 11 5/16 × 18 1/4" (28.8 × 46.3 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vignette (folio 19) from Plenas

Vignette (folio 19) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 3 3/16 × 3 9/16" (8.1 × 9.1 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vignette (folio 15) from Plenas

Vignette (folio 15) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 3 3/4 × 2 1/16" (9.5 × 5.3 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Cortaron a Elena (They Cut Elena) (double page in-text plate, folios 19 verso and 20) from Plenas

Cortaron a Elena (They Cut Elena) (double page in-text plate, folios 19 verso and 20) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 10 13/16 × 17 1/2" (27.5 × 44.4 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vignette (folio 23) from Plenas

Vignette (folio 23) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 4 3/16 × 3 7/16" (10.7 × 8.8 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vignette (folio 25) from Plenas

Vignette (folio 25) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 4 3/4 × 3 1/16" (12.1 × 7.7 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Fuego Fuego Fuego (Fire Fire Fire) (double page in-text plate, folios 27 verso and 28) from Plenas

Fuego Fuego Fuego (Fire Fire Fire) (double page in-text plate, folios 27 verso and 28) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 11 1/4 × 17 13/16" (28.5 × 45.2 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Isidora (double page in-text plate, folios 25 verso and 26) from Plenas

Isidora (double page in-text plate, folios 25 verso and 26) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 11 7/16 × 17 13/16" (29 × 45.2 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vignette (folio 27) from Plenas

Vignette (folio 27) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 4 1/8 × 3 1/4" (10.5 × 8.2 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Que Bonita Es (How Beautiful She Is) (double page in-text plate, folios 7 verso and 8) from Plenas

Que Bonita Es (How Beautiful She Is) (double page in-text plate, folios 7 verso and 8) from Plenas

1954 · One from an illustrated book with twenty-five linoleum cuts (including cover)

composition (irreg.): 11 1/8 × 18 1/8" (28.3 × 46 cm); page (each): 12 13/16 × 10 1/16" (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 28 artworks →

Artwork sources (2)

28 published of 51 catalogued · 50 with image

MoMA
23 publishedof 46 catalogued45 img
Art Institute Chicago
5 published5 img

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

9no Festival de Teatro de Ponce (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

9no Festival de Teatro de Ponce (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

4

Movements2

Realism Social Realism

Collections2

Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Group Exhibition The Artist as His Subject

New York · 1967