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Lot Essay
We are grateful to art historian Juan Carlos Pereda for his assistance cataloguing this work.
Mujer con sandía, a gouache on paper from 1939, depicts iconic motifs from the artist's oeuvre: a primivitized depiction of an isolated female figure, in this case a dark-skinned indigenous woman with rebozo wrapped around her head, and the artist's signature watermelon slice. A study in geometric forms, the work highlights the sharp spikes of the maguey, which echo the stylized lines of the rebozo folds, the architectonic qualities of the figure's mask-like face, and the pointed ends of the watermelon. Thus, the work is an example of Tamayo's strategic synthesis of Mexican content, primitivism, and modernist forms to create a unique vanguard, and comes from a pivotal moment in his career.
Although from the 1920s Tamayo had traveled regularly between New York and Mexico, by 1936 he took up more permanent residence in New York City, where he navigated the stylistic currents of the day, specifically forging connections between the indigenismo of Mexico and the black primitivism of the School of Paris. In New York, his depictions of natives and folk life offered an alternative to what was perceived as the dogmatism of the Muralists, and U.S. viewers appreciated his imagery for its "intuitive" and "authentic" nature. His ethnicity, as a mestizo from Oaxaca, and his pronounced indigenous features, distinguished him from most fellow Mexican artists and granted him special status among the international avant-garde, where currents of primitivism held sway. By 1938, he was represented by the esteemed Valentine Gallery, which featured Mujer con sandía in 1940. Following this year, Tamayo became known for such totemic, isolated figures with impassive mask-like faces. While the later spare compositions moved increasingly away from overt Mexican content, Mujer con sandía represents that key moment of Tamayo's transition from direct challenges to the Mexican School to an increased universalism and active participation in the international avant-garde.
Anna Indych-López
Associate Professor of Latin American Art History
The City College of New York and The Graduate Center, CUNY
Mujer con sandía, a gouache on paper from 1939, depicts iconic motifs from the artist's oeuvre: a primivitized depiction of an isolated female figure, in this case a dark-skinned indigenous woman with rebozo wrapped around her head, and the artist's signature watermelon slice. A study in geometric forms, the work highlights the sharp spikes of the maguey, which echo the stylized lines of the rebozo folds, the architectonic qualities of the figure's mask-like face, and the pointed ends of the watermelon. Thus, the work is an example of Tamayo's strategic synthesis of Mexican content, primitivism, and modernist forms to create a unique vanguard, and comes from a pivotal moment in his career.
Although from the 1920s Tamayo had traveled regularly between New York and Mexico, by 1936 he took up more permanent residence in New York City, where he navigated the stylistic currents of the day, specifically forging connections between the indigenismo of Mexico and the black primitivism of the School of Paris. In New York, his depictions of natives and folk life offered an alternative to what was perceived as the dogmatism of the Muralists, and U.S. viewers appreciated his imagery for its "intuitive" and "authentic" nature. His ethnicity, as a mestizo from Oaxaca, and his pronounced indigenous features, distinguished him from most fellow Mexican artists and granted him special status among the international avant-garde, where currents of primitivism held sway. By 1938, he was represented by the esteemed Valentine Gallery, which featured Mujer con sandía in 1940. Following this year, Tamayo became known for such totemic, isolated figures with impassive mask-like faces. While the later spare compositions moved increasingly away from overt Mexican content, Mujer con sandía represents that key moment of Tamayo's transition from direct challenges to the Mexican School to an increased universalism and active participation in the international avant-garde.
Anna Indych-López
Associate Professor of Latin American Art History
The City College of New York and The Graduate Center, CUNY