Collection Online as of January 29, 2023
Estampas del Popol-Vuh
Part of a set. See all set records
Carlos Mérida
(Guatamalan, 1894–1985)
Color lithograph
Sheet: 41.3 x 31.2 cm (16 1/4 x 12 5/16 in.); Image: 30.9 x 27 cm (12 3/16 x 10 5/8 in.)
Gift of Mitzie Verne in memory of Dr. Daniel Verne 1999.145
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico City
Location
not on view
Description
Like many of his Mexican contemporaries-Diego Rivera or José Clemente Orozco, for instance-Merida fused modernist styles with the ancient indigenous traditions of the Americas. This set of ten color lithographs, created to accompany text taken from the Popol-Vuh, the creation story of the Mayan people, combines Abstract Expressionist gesture with the linear drawings found in the wall murals of ancient Mayan buildings.