Circulating on social media is news of the recent passing of Puerto Rican artist Rafael Rivera Rosa (1942-2025). We send our deepest condolences to his family and circle of friends.

Dedicated to Rivera Rosa, All About Art presents a special edition of their popular series “Masters of Puerto Rican Art.” The organization also announced Rivera Rosa’s inclusion in the select group of guest artists in their forthcoming exhibition, “Art in the Times of Pandemic,” which premieres on Facebook on May 15, 2025. All About Art writes:

Rafael Rivera Rosa was born in 1942 in Comerío, Puerto Rico. He held a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Pratt Institute, New York, 1989; a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BA) from University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, 1987; an Asso ciate of Arts in Architectural Drawing from the Commercial Institute of Puerto Rico, 1962; serigraphy and woodcut from the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, under graphic artist Lorenzo Homar, 1960-1962; and painting with the painter Domingo García, 1959-1964. In 1970, he founded the Taller de Arte Gráfica Bija with René Pietri and Nelson Sambolín. He presented thirty-four solo exhibitions and participated in more than three hundred local and international group exhibitions.

Rivera Rosa expressed himself through mediums such as drawing, painting, graphic arts, digital art, and silkscreen and digital posters. His work ranges from symbolism, surrealism, and pop art to geometric art, abstract expressionism, and figurative art. He was an art professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, and professor of painting at the San Juan School of Fine Arts. Rivera Rosa was [recently] the Artist in Residence for the Puerto Rican Contemporary Art Collection of Cooperativa de Seguros Múltiples de Puerto Rico.

For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/artaboutall

Also see https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/notas/fallece-el-artista-plastico-rafael-rivera-rosa/ and https://autogiro.cronicaurbana.com/es/fallece-el-grafista-y-pintor-rafael-rivera-rosa-a-los-82-anos/