Existing comment:
New York, New York
When Tamayo arrived in New York in 1926, the city was becoming a destination for artists from Latin America and Europe. He settled in Greenwich Village, the city's creative hub, and befriended Reginald Marsh, Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and other artists who were experimenting with subjects tied to their local milieu. Tamayo visited the city's galleries and museums to absorb an expansive range of modern European art. Seeing how modern artists drew on non-Western art reinforced Tamayo's interest in pre-Columbian and Mexican folk art. As Americans grew more fascinated with Mexican art and culture in the 1920s, Tamayo and other Mexican artists found an interested audience. The muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros in particular became very influential in the United States. They painted murals in various cities, and socially concerned artists eagerly followed their careers. Tamayo's first trip to New York was stimulating but emotionally and financially challenging. He was forced to go back to Mexico in 1928 because of an illness, returning briefly to New York in 1930, when the Great Depression made it again impossible to stay. |