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Mural

Puerto Rican artists from the island have been some of the most frequent sojourners as migrants to the United States and other countries. Because of the nature of their trade, many of them have studied, resided, held exhibitions, or achieved critical acclaim abroad. Even many of those who are based on the island maintain a continuous exchange with Puerto Rican artists born or raised in the metropolis. Quite often their artistic works share similar preoccupations around issues of cultural identity, resistance to assimilation, and Puerto Rico's colonial condition.

The struggles and accomplishments of Puerto Rican artists during the last half century often show some of the same trials and tribulations faced by several of the earlier masters, particularly their pilgrimages to many parts of the world seeking training or the mentorship of established foreign artists, thus increasing their chances for recognition. Their depiction of some of the most powerful images of the native landscape, such as the ones represented in Francisco Oller's (1833-1917) "The Wake" (El velorio, 1849), and Ramón Frade's (1875-1954) "Our Bread" (El pan nuestro, 1905), inspired the generations that followed. The recreation of native scenes and symbols of distant and inhospitable environments is a persistent leitmotiv among the visual artists of the diaspora.

Art historian Susana Torruella Leval (1998) in her essay "Puerto Rican Artists in the U.S.A.: Solidarity, Resistence, Identity," included in the book Puerto Rico Arte e Identidad (Río Piedras: Editorial de la Universidad de PR, 1998), divides the activities of Puerto Rican artists in the United States into three different cycles. The first, beginning in the 1950s, opened the dialogue between the artists from the island and the metropolis around cultural issues of self-definition. The second cycle takes place during the ethnic revitalization movement of the 1960s and 70s and focuses on social protest and community empowerment; and the third one links U.S. Puerto Ricans to the cultural debates and struggles of a wider panethnic Latino(a) experience.

During the second cycle, major artistic institutions were established that now provide a solid foundation for the promotion of Puerto Rican art in the United States: the Taller Boricua and the Museo del Barrio in New York, the Taller Puertorriqueño in Philadelphia, and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center located at the Paseo Boricua in Chicago.

The decades prior to the 1950s witnessed the arrival of a few Puerto Rican artists who settled in the United States and worked mostly without the benefit of a supportive artistic environment and often in isolation from each other. Among them, was Juan De'Prey, an artist of Puerto Rican and Haitian descent. He came to New York in 1929 and became known for landscapes that illustrate his nostalgia for his native land and his mulatto racial background. According to Peter Bloch in his book Painting and Sculpture of the Puerto Ricans (New York: Plus Ultra, 1978), De'Prey's style has often been compared to that of Gauguin, particularly his portraits of children. Before he became one of Puerto Rico''s most internationally acclaimed artists, Lorenzo Homar lived in New York in the early 1930s and worked as a designer for the famous Cartier house of jewelers. Rafael D. Palacios was also part of this early period, arriving in New York in 1938. Although he was a painter, he developed a more prominent career as a book illustrator and cartographer for U.S. publishing houses. His exquisitely drawn maps are the perfect complement for most of Isaac Asimov's history books, the World War II memoirs of Dwight D. Eisenhower and other generals, and Bruce Catton's books on the Civil War. Art critic Marimar Benítez in her essay "The Special Case of Puerto Rico," included in the book The Latin American Spirit: Art and Artists in the United Status, 1920-1970 (New York, NY: Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1988), notes that Olga Albizu was another Puerto Rican painter who achieved some recognition in New York before the 1960s. She exhibited her work at the Organization of American States Gallery and did many designs for RCA Victor record album jackets.