1965.24 Rufino Tamayo, The Blue Chair, 1931

Here Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo paints a portrait of a young girl seated atop a large, carved wooden chair. She wears a short colored smock and dangles her legs off to one side. Her dark limbs peek out from the pale pink dress, and a hat covers her brow and shadows her eyes, leaving her identity a mystery. The artist creates a surreal scene, juxtaposing elements of a domestic interior with those of a dreary landscape, with windswept trees, billowing smoke, and a raging fire. Tamayo abstracts these elements, blurring the line between fantasy and reality in his dreamlike portrait.

Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.

Tamayo_Rufino: ULAN: 500024331

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

Oaxaca (state/Mexico): TGN: 7005591

Mexico City (Mexico): TGN: 7007227

oil paint: AAT: 300015050

canvas: AAT: 300014078

painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618

blue (color): AAT: 300129361

chairs (furniture): AAT: 300037772

abstract: AAT: 300108127

abstraction: AAT: 300056508

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

human figures: AAT: 300404114

female: AAT: 300189557

women (female humans): AAT: 300025943

youth (life stages): AAT: 300305226

sitting (seated): AAT: 300263970

portrait: AAT: 300015637

carving (processes): AAT: 300053149

wood (plant material): AAT: 300011914

smock (protective wear): AAT: 300216050

dresses (garments): AAT: 300046159

hats (headgear): AAT: 300046106

caps (headgear): AAT: 300046094

legs (animal or human components): AAT: 300310192

identity: AAT: 300257052

interior spaces: AAT: 300078790

darkness (concepts): AAT: 300056031

landscapes (environments): AAT: 300008626

landscapes (representations): AAT: 300015636

wind (weather phenomena): AAT: 300055395

trees (plants): AAT: 300132410

smoke (material): AAT: 300073252

fires (events): AAT: 300068986

dreams: AAT: 300251611

From 1965: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Mrs. Alex Camp [1], [2], [3]

[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.  

[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from Mrs. Alex Camp (dated November 26, 1965, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.