Rafael Ríos Rey

Early years Ríos Rey was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 28 July 1911 in a family of artists. His father was Octavio Ríos De Jesús (1886–1933) who was a scenographer for Russian dancer Anna Pavlova from 1918 to 1921.

Career In 1934 Rios Rey studied mural painting under the migrant Spanish mural artist Ismael D'Alzina.

Murals Outstanding murals by Rios Rey are: Tradiciones ponceñas. [Ponce Traditions] (1953) at Plaza del Caribe, Ponce La Fundición. [The Foundry] (1953) at Empresas Ferre. (Now housing Trinity College of Puerto Rico), Barrio Playa, Ponce. El Hombre. [Man] (1955) at the Ponce YMCA Building, Ponce.

There are also several Ríos Rey murals in the first floor of the Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño building (today, 2019, it is called Banco Santander), and at the "Mural de la Música" at the former Parque de Bombas on the southeast corner of Calle Cristina and Calle Mayor (now, 2019, Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos).

Last years and death Rios Rey died in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 29 April 1980.

Honors and legacy University professor Néstor Murray Irizarry, wrote a biography of Rios Rey in 2001 titled Rafael Ríos Rey: ensayo de ensayo. It was published on the 90th anniversary of the birth or Rafael Rios Rey (2001).