Mexican poet, writer, and diplomat Octavio Paz (1914–1998) was raised in Mexico City. At the age of nineteen Paz published his first book of poetry, and later distinguished himself with the publication of Bajo tu clara sombra y otros poemas, a series of poems reflecting on his visit to Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Paz published volumes of poetry, essays, literary criticism, and prose and also served as an editor for literary publications. His published poetry volumen include No pasaran! (1937), Libertad bajo palabra (1949), ¿Águila o sol? (1951), and Piedra de sol (1957). He also produced volumes of essays and literary criticism including El laberinto de la soledad (1950), El arco y la lira (1956), and Las peras del olmo (1957). El laberinto de la soledad is a collection of nine essays on Mexican identity and history in which Paz depicted Mexicans as stuck between their Pre-Columbian and Spanish identities. Paz also wrote art criticism and poetry dedicated to the artists Balthus, Antoni Tàpies, Joan Miró, Marcel Duchamp, Roberto Matta, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1945, Paz became part of Mexico’s diplomatic corps only to resign in 1968 in protest of Mexico’s violent suppression of student protests. In 1990, he received the Nobel Prize for literature.
This essay is one of three written by Paz on Rufino Tamayo. Tamayo (1899–1991) was a Mexican artist whose Zapotec origin is often cited in analyses of his work, and he was inspired by Mexican popular art as well as European movements like Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. Paz’s other two essays address the relationship between Tamayo and his paintings, and between Tamayo’s work and contemporary painting. This essay analyzes Tamayo’s work in relation to the aesthetics and ideology of Pre-Columbian art. Paz denies the concept of artistic heritage, delving deeper into Mexican artists’ actual motivation in appropriating elements from Pre-Columbian and popular art.