In 1948 Rufino Tamayo traveled to Paris for the first time and increasingly established himself in the French capital over the following years. There, in 1950, Tamayo returned to printmaking and especially color lithography. Later in Paris Tamayo completed a suite of lithographs titled Mujeres (Women). This collection of twenty lithographs primarily explored the stylization of the female form, with two prints featuring watermelons, a signature motif of the artist. Woman’s Torso belongs to this series. Circles for her eyes, breasts, and navel and a triangle for her nose map geometric signs onto the figure. The layering of different colored inks develops a sense of depth in the print and demonstrates Tamayo’s mastery of the medium.

For more information see the catalogue entry by Rachel Kaplan in Rufino Tamayo: The Essential Figure, 2019, pp. 40–41.