Rodolfo Morales was born in 1925 in Ocotlán de Morales in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico and passed away in Ocotlán de Morales January 30, 2001. Morales studied at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas San Carlos in Mexico City. He returned to Oaxaca and taught art to high school students from 1953 to 1985. Morales was "discovered" by Rufino Tamayo at his first one-man exhibition in Mexico in 1975, and he has exhibited extensively ever since. Morales’ art, which has varied little over the years, is perhaps the most directly evocative of Oaxacan culture. His scenes of local villages with their peasants and vendors - often peopled with fabulous floating figures and always saturated with brilliant color - are amongst the most magical to emerge in contemporary Mexican art. Morales’ distinctive work is known internationally, and he is considered a national treasure of Mexico. Morales recently created his Fundación Cultural Rodolfo to foster the cultural heritage of his state, and to stimulate the academic development of the young people of his native village of Ocotlán.
