Tino Villanueva Analysis

Tino Villanueva was born on December 11, 1941 in south-central Texas in a town known as San Marcos, where both of Villanueva’s parents worked as migrant field workers which embarrassed him (Tino Villanueva Biography). Although his parents were identified as Mexican, many people deemed Tino Villanueva has “Chicano”.

A Chicano is, “an American (especially a man or boy) whose parents or grandparents came from Mexico” (Merriam-Webster). Many have said that Villanueva was and is an important voice of Chicano expression, specifically in the early 1970s because his poems and artwork reflected his personal endeavors as a writer. His pieces were stimulated by the struggle, “for socio-political emancipation and the heightened cultural awareness that

The second stanza especially used to allude to other works saying:

“Right then my mind leaps to Cezanne: his dark-blue vest in Self-Portrait (1879–1880); the Seven Bathers (ca. 1900) wallowing in blue; his blue beyond in Château Noir (1904)” (Villanueva).

This one small stanza alludes to three other works; Self-Portrait, Seven Bathers, and Château Noir. Upon a single read, the poem appears to only be referring to the artwork Untitled by Alberto Valdes and how the movement of the piece looks. Villanueva’s inner thoughts are revealed as he ponders what the shapes and lines are doing, thinking things like, “..Will they keep their shape, I wonder, or break up and rearrange themselves into a brighter, more memorable pose... into a bigger elemental thing?” (Villanueva). Furthering, there could potentially be a deeper and much more sophisticated implication of the piece. When Villanueva states in the final stanza,

“I’m really asking this:

When they run into the landscape of blue, will these figures lose their logic of

Many immigrants have to travel across oceans in order to reach America, so it is somewhat conceivable that this line could be discussing that and in a way relating to his family life. The next line, then, could be alluding to the wealth and riches many think that they will obtain by moving to North America and asking if they will lose themselves in the process. Lastly, asking whether or whether not his parents will still acknowledge him as their new “American Dream” lifestyle slowly