The Tamayo Archive safeguards the documentary memory of Rufino Tamayo. The collection was assembled by Olga Tamayo, the painter’s wife, who preserved materials such as newspapers, documents, audio recordings, films, and photographs.

We are currently in the process of classifying, preserving, cataloging, and digitizing the archive; therefore, access is available by appointment only. In the future, the archive will be electronically accessible to the public.

To date, 5,371 personal photographs, 5,215 photographs of artworks, 1,826 newspapers, 35 magazines, and 276 documents have been digitized.

Copyright and Usage Rights

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Copyright is a set of legal regulations that protect the moral and economic rights of creators of artistic works. In other words, the author has the right to decide where and how their works may be used (including reproductions in print, digital, audiovisual publications, and more) and to collect royalties for such use.

Rufino Tamayo’s work is protected under the Federal Copyright Law. If you wish to use an image of one of his works, it is essential to obtain a reproduction permit.

To request a reproduction permit for use in Mexico, please visit:
http://www.rufinotamayo.org.mx/wp/derechos-de-autor/como-solicitar/

Or contact the Copyright Manager directly:
Iliana Sánchez
+52 (55) 4122.8200 Ext. 5311

The core of the Museo Tamayo’s collection includes more than 300 works by 170 artists, which Rufino Tamayo assembled to form the museum. His intention was to offer the Mexican public the opportunity to experience international art of the highest quality representing the entire range of artistic movements since World War II. This original group of artworks, which can be described as belonging to late modernism, includes examples of many of the most preeminent artists of the second half of the twentieth century, such as Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Hepworth, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Julio Le Parc, Roberto Matta, Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Marta Palau, Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, and Joaquín Torres García.

Additionally, since its inauguration the Museo Tamayo has continued to present the most relevant art of our time, and examples of contemporary art in all its formats have continued to be added to the collection. This group of works includes artists such as: Tacita Dean, Yto Barrada, Francis Alÿs, Carlos Amorales, Eduardo Costa, Pierre Huyghe, Jac Leiner, Teresa Margolles, Tania Pérez Córdova, Liliana Porter, and Danh Vo.

The Documentation Center brings together specialized consultation materials in three main areas: the museum’s Collection, its exhibition history, and resources dedicated to the study and promotion of Rufino Tamayo’s life and work.
It safeguards, preserves, organizes, expands, and disseminates a collection of bibliographic, photographic, digital, newspaper, and audiovisual documents related to the exhibitions and artists, ensuring their preservation and accessibility.

The Documentation Center is open to the public by appointment.
Public consultation hours: Monday to Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (by appointment).

The Tamayo Museum is located in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. Rufino Tamayo wanted the museum to be located in this area of great natural beauty and cultural importance. For its construction, the Mexico City government donated a piece of land where the Azteca Golf Club had previously been located, and the artist called on Mexican architects Teodoro González de León and Abraham Zabludovsky to design the building.

The project began in 1972, and for their research the architects visited the best museums in the world. The final design, inspired by the pyramidal structures of pre-Hispanic cultures, is composed of a sequence of stepped platforms, without windows or doors, which rotate at forty-five degrees in relation to the central courtyard. The architects chose to use concrete with crushed marble for both the exterior and the interior. In 1982 their design received the Prize for Science and Arts, in the Fine Arts category.