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Rufino Tamayo Woman and Child gouache 1937 Rufino Tamayo was born in 1899, in Oaxaca, Mexico. He studied at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Art in Mexico City until 1920, leaving because his studies were "too academic." After the Academy, Tamayo worked as the Head of Ethnographical Drawing at the National Museum of Archeology in Mexico City. His job was to monitor folk art works for the newly developed tourism industry. The Museum helped develop Tamayo's artist influences through his work with the people of Mexico and exposure to the cultural remains of prehistoric peoples. The year 1926 marked the beginnings of Tamayo's many trips to America. He settled in New York City where he exhibited his paintings. In 1928, Tamayo became ill and returned to Mexico.

Tamayo returned to New York City in the mid-1930s, and in 1935 was enrolled in the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP). The FAP paid him $100 per month to create only one government watercolor per month. Tamayo was briefly with FAP before he was fired on the principle that he was a foreigner and not entitled to assistance. In 1938, he began teaching at Dalton School in New York City, where he worked until 1947. While at Dalton, he began to paint murals throughout the United States. Tamayo died in 1991.

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