Rafael Tufiño (Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A., 1922 – San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2008)
One of the most prominent Puerto Rican plastic artists of the 20th century, he worked in printmaking, painting, drawing, and poster art. Among his most famous works are: La Plena (a mural featuring twelve Puerto Rican plenas by Manuel Jiménez, "Canario"), Camino de Recogido (linocut), Goyita (painting), Danza Negra (linocut), Puerta de Tierra, and his Coffee Series, a work he developed as part of a Guggenheim fellowship he was awarded. His works can be seen in various institutions on the island and abroad.
He worked as a sign painter from the age of 12 and helped decorate the floats used in carnivals while taking drawing classes. Before serving in the United States Army in 1943, he had a workshop and bohemian studio, L'Atelier. After leaving the army, he went to Mexico where he studied printmaking and mural painting at the Academia San Carlos.
Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he worked at the Graphic Workshop of the Community Education Division (DIVEDCO). He organized the Puerto Rican Art Center with José Antonio Torres Martino, Lorenzo Homar, and Félix Rodríguez Báez. In 1970, he returned to New York where he founded Taller Boricua.
He dedicated his last years to promoting art and the study of art in Puerto Rican communities in New York. He was one of the main proponents for the creation of El Museo del Barrio in New York.
Tufiño received numerous awards, including: First Prize in Painting, Ateneo Puertorriqueño (1952), National Culture Award from the ICP (1986), Member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences (1993), Doctor Honoris Causa Artium, School of Plastic Arts (2002), among others.