[Rarebooks] FS: MEXICAN COSTUME

[Kaaterskill Books]

We offer for Sale:

Merida, Carlos. MEXICAN COSTUME. TWENTY FIVE 
COLOR PLATES AND TEXT BY... With a note by Rene 
d'Harnoncourt. Chicago: Pocahontas Press, 1941. 8 
pp. + 25 leaves of plates. Illus. with 25 silk 
screens. Folio [41 cm]. Portfolio of quarter 
orange cloth over paper covered boards, text and 
plates loose as issued. First edition. One of one 
thousand portfolios. Silk Screens executed by 
C.W. Belden. Text printed at Lakeside Press.

Carlos Merida (1891-1985), Guatemalan painter and 
printmaker, "began to revalue indigenous art not 
for its folkloric aspects but for its essential 
local values prior to the Spanish conquest [after 
his return from Paris before WWI].... In the 
early 1920s Merida settled permanently in Mexico, 
although he always retained his Guatemalan 
nationality. The Mexican muralist movement was 
just beginning when he arrived, and he 
collaborated with Diego Rivera on his first mural 
work. His withdrawal from political concerns and 
from official art, however, distanced him from 
the movement, and in the 1940s he emerged instead 
as a member of the avant- garde in conscious 
opposition to Mexican muralism. On his return to 
Mexico after another stay in Paris in 1927, 
during which he had got to know Picasso, Vasily 
Kandinsky, Joan Miro, Paul Klee and Joaquín 
Torres García, he explored Surrealism, geometric 
abstraction and Torres Garía's Universal 
Constructivism. His work oscillated thereafter 
between Surrealism and abstraction, emphasizing 
his qualities as a draughtsman and colourist" 
(Louise Noelle, Grove). Through his life Merida 
remained interested in native arts, dance, 
costume, crafts, which are reflected in his many 
book illustrations and silkscreens such as Trajes 
Indigenas de Guatemala and Mexican Costume. 
"Merida has given us the very essence of the 
subject in his illustrations for this book. He 
has carefully selected contemporary Mexican folk 
costumes which are genuine regional developments, 
untouched by the influence of stage, screen, and 
tourist trade. In these costumes Merida, the 
painter of abstractions, has discovered every 
subtle relationship in color and design; Merida, 
the admirer of Indian craftsmanship, has noted 
every essential detail with a faithfulness that 
reflects his deep respect of the genius of the 
Indian craftsman. Each illustration is a 
penetrating visual analysis of the costume it 
portrays," (D'Harnoncourt).

Portfolio rubbed, slight soiling to edges of 
title page, one plate with a marginal crease and 
small tear at the upper edge not affecting image; 
otherwise plates fine to near fine. A beautiful 
set.  [32797] $1200.00

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Regards,

Charles Kutcher
Kaaterskill Books
P. O. Box 122
East Jewett, NY 12424
email: books at kaaterskillbooks.com
phone: 518-589-0555
www.kaaterskillbooks.com
Members ABAA/ILAB/IOBA


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