The woodcutter

ca. 1926–27

Not on view

Tamayo is one of Mexico’s most famous artists. During the 1920s and 1930s Tamayo participated in some of the artists’ groups that emerged after the Revolution. This print reveal his characteristic approach to printmaking in which he cut deeply into the block to maximize the effect of the grain, highlighting the woodcut technique. The date of The Woodcutter is uncertain: it may have been made in 1930 or earlier, in the 1920s, when Tamayo was in New York.

Artwork Details

Title: The woodcutter
Artist: Rufino Tamayo (Mexican, Oaxaca 1899–1991 Mexico City)
Date: ca. 1926–27
Medium: Woodcut
Dimensions: Sheet: 15 15/16 × 12 13/16 in. (40.5 × 32.5 cm)
Image: 10 1/16 × 9 13/16 in. (25.5 × 25 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Carl Zigrosser, 1930
Object Number: 30.95.4
Rights and Reproduction: © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Rufino Tamayo

In the same medium

From the same time and place

'Cancionero Mexicano' (Mexican Songs) published under the imprint 'Mexican Folkways', Rufino Tamayo Mexican, Photomechanical letterpress and reproductions of vignettes by Tamayo, woodcut on cover — 'Cancionero Mexicano' (Mexican Songs) published under the imprint 'Mexican Folkways'
Rufino Tamayo
Author Frances Toor
Publisher Frances Toor
1931

Teponaztli, Wood, Mexico — Teponaztli
Mexico
20th century

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Francesco Colonna Italian, Printed book with woodcut illustrations — Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Multiple artists/makers
December 1499

Children's Games, Rufino Tamayo Mexican, Oil on canvas — Children's Games
Rufino Tamayo
1959

International exhibition of surrealism, André Breton French — International exhibition of surrealism
Editor André Breton
Translator José Vázquez Amaral
Publisher Galeria de Arte Mexicano
1940

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