“Tres Personas (Three People)”, a masterpiece of the famous Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo, was created in the year 1970. Among many of his other famous creations, Rufino named it strangely different. Driven by fantastic and powerful artistic capture, “Three People” is a viewer’s delight. This masterpiece of ‘Abstract Art’ shows three people, a man, a woman and a child, as key subjects and thus as a name. The vibrant shades of purple, orange and yellow have been used which add splendor to the canvas. The painting is concrete proof of Tamayo’s creative mastery and mastery of color combinations. Brightly colored canvas has an inherent miraculous shine.
In Houston, Texas, a resident purchased Rufino’s painting “Three People” in 1977 as a memorable gift for his beloved wife. However, after 10 years, he disappeared from the couple’s storage locker in a mysterious way. Luckily, before being declared lost and forgotten, a woman, Elizabeth Gibson, found it in 2003, on a Manhattan street, among the garbage. The colorful oil on canvas was striking enough to catch the eye at first glance. Although she was less knowledgeable about modern art and painting, she still brought the 38″X51″ piece to her crowded apartment. In effect, Elizabeth unwittingly extended a great favor to the global art industry. Without even having the slightest idea of its origin or market value, she was glad to own it.
Gibson didn’t have to wait long for the painting to show off his lucky charm. After four years, he learned from a PBS website that this painting had been featured in an episode of Antiques Roadshow. After reading more about the missing “Three Characters”, Elizabeth and the first owner decided to sell the painting at Sotheby’s auction, which is one of the oldest operating auction houses. Finally, in November 2007, Elizabeth received a reward of $15,000 plus a portion of the auction sale price of $1,049,000.
Regardless of its monetary value, “Three People” remains priceless, extending a high altar of aesthetic creativity. Today, art lovers remember Rufino Tamayo with deep reverence. The Nobel Prize-winning poet Octavio Paz has rightly said: “If I could express in a single word what distinguishes Tamayo from other painters, I would say without a moment’s hesitation: Sun. Because the sun is in all his paintings, whether to see it or not.