Vita Cola
Artist
Rafael Tufiño
(Puerto Rican, 1922-2008)
Date1961
Object number62.0282
Mediumoil on Masonite
Dimensions36 1/4 x 48 in. (92.1 x 121.9 cm)
frame: 41 1/8 x 52 7/8 x 1 3/4 in. (104.5 x 134.3 x 4.4 cm)
frame: 41 1/8 x 52 7/8 x 1 3/4 in. (104.5 x 134.3 x 4.4 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Collections
DescriptionIn the 1950s and 1960s, Tufiño documented the image of the Puerto Rican proletariat. In his prints and paintings, the artist clearly denounced social inequality in Puerto Rico. Vita Cola depicts a house built from discarded wood panels, raised above the water on fragile wooden piers. The painting takes its name from the sign for a soft drink brand used to patch the precarious structure. From a doorway, two barefoot children look out directly at the viewer. The scene portrays the poverty in mid-century Puerto Rico that Tufiño likely witnessed in the communities on the banks of the Martín Peña Channel in San Juan.
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