Carlos Mérida was a transformative figure in 20th-century art, instrumental in bringing abstract art to Mexico. Unlike many of his muralist contemporaries like Rivera or Siqueiros, who focused on social realism, Mérida sought to create a new “universal” language by synthesizing European Cubism and Surrealism with the ancient geometric patterns of his Mayan heritage.

His works are held in the permanent collections of the MoMA (New York), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Museo de Arte Moderno (Mexico City).