Jose Caraballo (born 1930 in Santurce,

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

) moved to

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with his parents at the age of 14. In 1947 Jose studied

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...

and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

in a

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workshop. That same year he had the good fortune to meet the great Mexican artist

Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec peoples, Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th cen ...

at the Rufino Tamayo Studio at the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

where Rufino Tamayo was teaching art. Jose Caraballo exhibited paintings in 1950 in

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. He then exhibited at the Oller-Campeche-Gallery in Puerto Rico, Galleria II, Galleria Tito, Allen Rich Galleries, Duncan Galleries in

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, and many other Galleries throughout New York. Jose Caraballo also had exhibits at the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

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, Mount Sinai Hospital, and

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in NYC. Jose Caraballo has had extensive television coverage of his paintings and other works of art. In 1979, while President of the Hispanic Arte League (H.A.L), Jose Caraballo organized the 1st Latin American Art Biennial in NYC. For that exhibition Jose invited his friend Rufino Tamayo to attend as guest of honor. Rufino Tamayo was by then the most famous living artist in Mexico so it was a great honor for Jose Caraballo that Rufino Tamayo accepted the invitation and came to NYC to spend a few weeks with Jose Caraballo and his family. Rufino Tamayo helped inspire the works in stencil that Jose Caraballo would create after that visit. Jose Caraballo was one of the first artists to depict the life and culture of the Taino Indians of Borinquen. Caraballo also explored other aspects of Puerto Rican culture and artistic horizons, through his paintings, drawings, graphics, and tapestries. He was awarded "The Palma Julia de Burgos" Cultural award in 1978. In 1978 Jose Caraballo was included in the famous book "Painting and Sculpture of the Puerto Ricans" by Peter Bloch. This is part of what Peter Bloch wrote "It is Jose Caraballo who first made a specialty of Taino themes, in drawings, paintings, graphics and relief work. When he had thoroughly explored Borinquen's pre-history in his art, he continued with other aspects of Puerto Rican culture and history but also creates surrealist and semi-abstract work which is always ingenious and fascinating. In his paintings and drawings on Puerto Rican themes he cultivates a stylized realism. His horizons are wide; and he is one of the truly eminent Puerto Rican artists". Peter Bloch also included 4 images of

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of relief printing in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief printing, relief surface. A design i ...

s and pen and ink drawings by Jose Caraballo in this book. Jose Caraballo died in

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in 1992 at the age of 62. His work continues to be exhibited throughout the US. Hispanic Art Scene - TRIBUTE TO PUERTO RICAN ARTIST JOSE CARABALLO
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caraballo, Jose 1930 births 1992 deaths People from Santurce, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican painters 20th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American male artists

See also

References