DECEMBER 21, 1985

GUATEMALAN MAYAN ARTIST CARLOS MERIDA DIED

Born Carlos Santiago Ortega on December 2, 1891, near Guatemala City, Merida was of Maya-Quiche heritage. He studied painting at the Instituto de Artes y Artesanias before going to Paris where he met Picasso and others. In 1914, he returned to Guatemala and focused on folklore and indigenous themes. His later works, linked to the Mayan world with geometric elements, initiated the first pro-Indian art movement in the Americas. Like Rufino Tamayo, Merida fused European Modernism with subjects specific to the Americas. He won the acquisition prize at the IV Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (1957) and received the Order of the Quetzal from the Guatemalan government (1958). The annual arts prize of the Instituto de Bellas Artes of Guatemala was named after him. He had retrospectives of his work in 1966, 1981, and 1992. In 1980, he received the Orden del Águila Azteca–the highest honor Mexico gives to foreigners. Mérida’s work is found in major collections worldwide.

Sources:  
"Carlos Merida, Guatemalan (1891 - 1985)," Ro Gallery.  Retrieved 7/23/2019, https://rogallery.com/Merida_Carlos/Merida-bio.htm
Wikipedia
Photo:  Florence Arquin (1900-1974), 1950.  Smithsonian Collection.  Fair Use.