Rafael Ríos Rey

Rafael Ríos Rey
Born Rafael Ríos Reyes[1]
28 July 1911[2]
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died April 1980
San Juan, Puerto Rico[2]
Nationality Puerto Rican
Known for Muralist, Painter, Draftsman
Patron(s) Puerto Rico Iron Works
Capitol of Puerto Rico
Ponce YMCA
Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña

Rafael Ríos Rey[note 1] (28 July 1911 - April 1980) was a Puerto Rican muralist. He is credited with being the first Puerto Rican muralist whose work received international recognition.[3]

Early years

Ríos Rey was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 28 July 1911 in a family of artists. His father was Octavio Ríos De Jesús (1886-1933) who was an scenographer for Russian dancer Ana Pavlova from 1918 to 1921.[2] Ríos Rey studied art under Miguel Pou with such other disciples as Olga Albizu, Horacio Castaign, and Luis Quero Chiesa.[4][5]

Career

In 1934 Rios Rey studied mural painting under the migrant Spanish mural artist Ismael D'Alzina.[3] In 1936 Rios Rey traveled to New York City where he was exposed to the American muralist movement and the main expositors of Mexican muralism such as Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Sequeiros.[3] He returned to Puerto Rico in 1937 where he established his painting studio. In 1950, Rios Rey traveled to Mexico where he studied metal engraving with Carlos Alvarado Lang, scenography with Antonio López Mancera, mosaic with Jorge Best Benganzo and mural painting with José Chávez Morado.[3]

Style and characteristics

Ríos Rey works the subject of the farm worker, the landscape of the island of Puerto Rico and the many industries and infrastructure building projects that embodied the life of the Puerto Rican people in the first half of the twentieth century.[3]

Ríos Rey is the one Puerto Rican muralist that produced the largest number of murals in Puerto Rico - over eighty.[1] His murals can be seen today at the Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño, Cervecería India, Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín, Little Rock School of Medicine, Ponce YMCA Building, and Puerto Rico Iron Works, in addition to many private residential locations.[3]

He also designed theatrical and operatic scenes in Puerto Rico and New York City. He painted numerous murals for hotels, banks, and public buildings. In addition he did art work for books. His works embodied the life of the poor jibaro countrymen on one end and the industrialization that took place in Puerto Rico in the 1950s at the other end.[6]

Murals

Outstanding murals by Rios Rey are:

Last years and death

Rios Rey died in San Juan, Puerto Rico in April 1980.

Honors and legacy

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Ríos and the second or maternal family name is Rey.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Masters, Merry Mac (June 18, 2002). "Rafael Ríos Rey es el pionero del arte muralístico en Puerto Rico". La Jornada (in Spanish). Mexico, DF.
  2. 1 2 3 "Dan honroso tributo a Rafael Ríos Rey". La Perla del Sur (in Spanish). Ponce, Puerto Rico. July 27, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Monge, Jaime (July 15, 2010). "Recinto Sur street-1913: Rafael Ríos Rey-1961". Puerto Rico Tour Guide Society (in Spanish).
  4. ↑ "Pou Becerra , Miguel". Coleccion Reyes-Veray.
  5. ↑ Grupo Editorial EPRL (17 January 2010). "Miguel Pou y Becerra". Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades.
  6. ↑ Benítez, Mariana García (2012). "Arte en Puerto Rico: Rafael Ríos Rey, muralista de Puerto Rico". Galenus: Revista para los medicos de Puerto Rico (11).
  7. ↑ Curbelo, Silvia Álvarez (1998). "Nueva Soberanía". Puerto Rico -- arte e identidad (in Spanish). La Editorial, UPR. ISBN 9780847702237.
  8. ↑ "Edificio Empresas Ferre: Rafael Rios Rey 1911-1980, A Puerto Rican Muralist (June 2012)" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. 2013. p. 4.
  9. ↑ Avilés, Ileana López (January 26, 2013). "Un monumento para cada pueblo". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish).
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