Rini Templeton
American, 1935 - 1986John De Puy
American, born 1927Untitled, form Portfolio, "Homage to Neruda", 1970
Not on view
Woodcut on paper
Dimensions19 × 12 1/16 in. (48.3 × 30.6 cm)
Image: 15 7/8 × 10 3/4 in. (40.3 × 27.3 cm)
Gift of Mr. Jack B. Pierson in memory of Mr. Robert Martin Purcell, 1979.124.7
Rini Templeton devoted her life to socially progressive movements in the Southwest United States, Mexico, Cuba, and Central America. She opposed racism and exploitation of minorities and believed that art and activism were inextricably linked. She identified with the Chicano Movement (Mexican American Civil Rights Movement) and contributed to various Chicano publications, producing Punto Critico the oldest leftist magazine published in Mexico.
In 1973 Rini Templeton and John De Puy produced Homage to Neruda: A Portfolio from New Mexico to the Chilean Poet and His People to raise funds for the people of Chile. The Spanish Civil War and the murder of a close friend caused Neruda to join the Republican movement. After 1937 Neruda’s poetry reflected political and social issues and he is revered by many as one of the most important writers of the 20th century.
In this work Templeton and De Puy plead with their audience to help the victims of violence and war with dramatic imagery and the but haunting words of Neruda.
Come and see the blood in the streets.
Come and see
the blood in the streets.
Come and see the blood
in the streets!
