Art is the Solution

Las Tentaciones de San Antonio Source: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico Puerto Rican artists have a long and proud tradition of excellence in modernist art. However, the work of painter Rafael Trelles stands alone when it comes to creativity and originality.  Trelles, who studied in both Mexico and Spain as well as in Puerto Rico was inspired by the Surrealist movement as well as by mythology and world literature. These fantastical influences are on full display in his painting Las Tentaciones de San Antonio (which translates to The Temptation of Saint Anthony ). The piece depicts an incident from the life of Saint Anthony the Great, a Christian hermit who lived in the wilderness in Egypt. He was best known by European Christians for the many temptations he endured. As the story goes, during his journey into the desert, the devil confronted the saint with many temptations (including, among other things, boredom, laziness, and naked women) in an attempt to break his faith. Natura...