Puerto Rico Painter Tufino Dies at 85

Painter Rafael Tufino, who became a major Puerto Rican cultural figure with his depictions of traditional island life, has died at age 85, prompting two days of official mourning in the territory.

Tufino died March 13 of lung cancer at a hospital in San Juan, said Carlos Ayala, a spokesman for the Puerto Rico Museum of Art.

Known as the "painter of the people," Tufino was lying in state Monday at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ahead of burial later this week at a cemetery in colonial Old San Juan.

"We have lost one of our most devoted artists," said Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, who declared two days of mourning in the U.S. …