Rafael Ríos Rey

Rafael Ríos Rey
Born	Rafael Ríos Reyes 28 July 1911 Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died	April 1980 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Known for	Muralist, Painter, Draftsman
Patron(s)	Puerto Rico Iron Works Capitol of Puerto Rico Ponce YMCA Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña

Rafael Ríos Rey (28 July 1911 - April 1980) was a Puerto Rican muralist. He is credited with being the first Puerto Rican muralist whose work received international recognition.

Ríos Rey was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 28 July 1911 in a family of artists. His father was Octavio Ríos De Jesús (1886-1933) who was an scenographer for Russian dancer Ana Pavlova from 1918 to 1921. Ríos Rey studied art under Miguel Pou with such other disciples as Olga Albizu, Horacio Castaign, and Luis Quero Chiesa.

In 1934 Rios Rey studied mural painting under the migrant Spanish mural artist Ismael D'Alzina. In 1936 Rios Rey traveled to New York City where he was exposed to the American muralist movement and the main expositors of Mexican muralism such as Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Sequeiros. He returned to Puerto Rico in 1937 where he established his painting studio. In 1950, Rios Rey traveled to Mexico where he studied metal engraving with Carlos Alvarado Lang, scenography with Antonio López Mancera, mosaic with Jorge Best Benganzo and mural painting with José Chávez Morado.

Ríos Rey works the subject of the farm worker, the landscape of the island of Puerto Rico and the many industries and infrastructure building projects that embodied the life of the Puerto Rican people in the first half of the twentieth century.

Ríos Rey is the one Puerto Rican muralist that produced the largest number of murals in Puerto Rico - over eighty. His murals can be seen today at the Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño, Cervecería India, Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín, Little Rock School of Medicine, Ponce YMCA Building, and Puerto Rico Iron Works, in addition to many private residential locations.

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