Rafael Muñoz López (Mexico City, 1914 – 2004) was a professor of drawing and advertising illustration at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (National School of Fine Arts) and a founding member of the Sociedad para el Impulso de las Artes Plásticas (Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts). He participated in the 1943 Salón de Pintura (Painting Salon), organized by the Galería de Arte y Decoración (Gallery of Art and Decoration).

In 1950, he took part in the group exhibition La Ciudad de México interpretada por sus pintores (Mexico City Interpreted by Its Painters), organized by the newspaper Excélsior. He participated in the 1954 Miguel Hidalgo Contest, exhibiting work at the Cervantes Library. He also painted a mural in an old house in Comitán, Chiapas, now home to the Rosario Castellanos Cultural Center.

Muñoz López’s work shows a certain kinship with that of Roberto Montenegro, with whom he collaborated on the illustration of the book Trajes Populares en México (Traditional Costumes in Mexico), published by the Galería de Arte Misrachi in 1961. In November 1962, he held a solo watercolor exhibition at the Galería del Instituto de Arte de México (Gallery of the Mexican Art Institute), a medium in which he developed an extensive body of work.