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Emil James BisttramPrecipitation, 1960s Abstract Oil Painting of Floating Shapes, Purple White Gray1961
1961
About the Item
Original 1961 mid-century modern abstract painting by New Mexico Transcendentalist, Emil Bisttram (1895-1976). Abstract floating shapes painted in shades of purple, blue, gray, white and black. Presented in a custom frame, outer dimensions measure 33 x 37 x 1 ¾ inches. Image size is 32 ½ x 36 ¼ inches.
Painting is clean and in very good vintage condition - please contact us for a complete condition report.
Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote.
About the Artist:
Emil Bisttram grew up in the tenements of New York City after his family emigrated from Hungary when he was a young boy. Bisttram studied at Cooper Union, the National Academy of Design, and at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art. During his training, Emil studied under Ivan Olinsky, Leon Kroll, Howard Giles, and Jay Hambidge. Bisttram later taught at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, Parson's School of Design, and at the Master Institute of the Roerich Museum in New York.
Bisttram opened the nation's first freelance advertising art agency by the age of twenty-one. However, he soon abandoned the business in pursuit of a career in Fine Art.
In 1930, the artist made his first visit to Taos, New Mexico, where he reportedly found himself "blocked" by the open spaces, intense light, and color that define the region. In 1931, he traveled to Mexico where he studied mural painting with Diego Rivera on a Guggenheim Fellowship. While Emil was in Mexico, his wife lived in Taos where the couple established permanent residence upon his return.
In Taos, Bisttram opened the area's first commercial art gallery, the Heptagon Gallery. He also founded the avante-garde Taos School of Art, later known as the Bisttram School of Fine Art.
In 1934, Bisttram was among artists selected to paint murals for the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). While commissioned by the W.P.A., Bisttram worked on murals in the County Courthouse in Taos and he completed a mural in the Justice Department Building in Washington, D.C.
Although he continued with representational painting, much of Bisttram's work in the late 1930's became increasingly abstract. Along with Raymond Jonson and seven other artists, Bisttram founded the Transcendental Painting Group in 1938. The group's goal was to "carry painting beyond the appearance of the physical world."
Exhibited: Philadelphia Watercolor Club, 1926 (prize), 1931 (medal); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1926-28, 1933, 1941, 1954; American Watercolor Society, 1927 (prize), 1930 (prize), 1931 (prize); Art Institute of Chicago; Corcoran Gallery, 1932, 1935; Whitney Museum of American Art, 1951; Martin Diamond Fine Art, 1984.
Works held: Roerich Museum, New York; Albright Art Gallery; Taos County Courthouse; Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. (mural); United States Post Office, Ranger, Texas (mural).
Further Reading: Art in New Mexico, 1900-1945: Paths to Taos and Santa Fe, Charles C. Eldredge, Julie Schimmel & William H. Truettner, published by Abbeville Press, New York for the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1986.; The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, Peggy and Harold Samuels, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976.; Modernist Themes in New Mexico: Works by Early Modernist Painters, Barbara G. Bell, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989.; Taos Artists and Their Patrons, 1898-1950, Dean A. Porter, Tessa Hayes Ebie and Suzan Campbell, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, 1999.; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 1. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds., Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.
©David Cook Galleries, LLC
- Creator:Emil James Bisttram (1895-1976, American)
- Creation Year:1961
- Dimensions:Height: 33 in (83.82 cm)Width: 37 in (93.98 cm)Depth: 1.75 in (4.45 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Frame IncludedFraming Options Available
- Condition:very good to excellent vintage condition.
- Gallery Location:Denver, CO
- Reference Number:
Emil James Bisttram
Emil Bisttram was born in Hungary in 1895 and emigrated with his parents when he was eleven to America. Bisttram choose a more economically promising career in commercial art design due to his economic conditions and opened his own art agency at the young age of twenty. During this time, he took classes with Leon Kroll at the Art Student League and with Jay Hambidge, an advocate of Dynamic Symmetry, at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (renamed the Parsons School of Design). Dynamic Symmetry is a system of spatial balances and had a lifelong impact on Bisttram. Bisttram taught at Parsons from 1920 to 1925 and at the New York Master Institute of United Arts at the Roerich Museum from 1925-1930. The Institute was a spiritual inspiration to Bisttram because it advocated linking the fine arts together. However, his style of painting was more influenced by Kandinsky and he began to experiment in non-objective art. Bisttram received many awards including a Guggenheim fellowship in 1931 to study mural painting. However, he decided to go to Mexico study with the great Mexican Muralist Diego Rivera. After returning from Mexico, Bisttram participated in an exhibition at the Whitney Museum for Guggenheim fellows in 1933 and received a commission to create a mural for the Taos, New Mexico courthouse. The Taos School of Art (renamed Bisttram School of Fine Art) which explored spiritualism and meditation was opened by Bisttram in 1932 where he taught some famous painters, including Florence Miller Pierce. Together with Raymond Jonson and Lauren Harris, the Transcendental Painting Group was formed in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 1938-1942. This group was considered very radical for the time and the community reacted with much disdain. Nevertheless, Bisttram continued to teach and paint, and it is thought that Bisttram’s art truly represents transcendental ideas. Exhibited: Philadelphia Watercolor Club, 1926 (prize), 1931 (medal); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1926-28, 1933, 1941, 1954; American Watercolor Society, 1927 (prize), 1930 (prize), 1931 (prize); Art Institute of Chicago; Corcoran Gallery, 1932, 1935; Whitney Museum of American Art, 1951; Martin Diamond Fine Art, 1984.
Works Held: Roerich Museum, New York; Albright Art Gallery; Taos County Courthouse; Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. (mural); United States Post Office, Ranger, Texas (mural). ©David Cook Galleries, LLC
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