New Acquisition: A Transcendental Painting Group Original Work of Art November 04 2025, 0 Comments
We recently fulfilled a mission of ours to acquire a historically significant work of art created by one of the founders of the Transcendental Painting Group. Founded in 1938 in New Mexico, the group set out to establish a new style of painting in the American West. Their importance was quickly recognized in exhibitions over the next two years at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, the New York World’s Fair, the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (now the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum) and the Museum of Modern Art.
The new addition to our collection, “Voice of Silence,” was painted by Emil Bisttram in 1970. Far more information about Bisttram and his life can be read alongside images of the painting, which you will find amongst other significant works of art in the “Works Available By” section of this website. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy learning more about the Transcendental Painting Group. Much of the following information is sourced from the wonderful archives at the University of New Mexico Art Museum.
The Transcendental Painting Group sought to climb through their time, to establish a style of painting that constantly moved in the direction of deeper spirituality found within abstract painted forms. The forms in their art sought to establish a, “higher, freer, and always transcendent life,” according to the introduction they wrote for their group on April 18th, 1939 (titled “Introducing the Transcendental Painting Group,” published by the University of New Mexico). Their paintings often moved from dull to glorious color; they are rife with balance, simultaneously exploring the idea of suspension and movement.
The group was founded in response to claims that “abstract and non-objective painting have had their day.” They sought to paint, “great examples of highly emotional and integrated concepts in purely non-objective forms.” The group specifically cites Pablo Picasso and Wasily Kandinsky as inspirations, calling upon their “background of infinite experimentation” in helping to form the group’s desire to paint in ways that defy established theory and vocabulary, while remaining fresh and, hopefully, timeless.
The artists chose to resist their backgrounds as classical painters in search of painting something more spiritual. They trusted that their ways of living, thinking and feeling would lead to works the world may consider sacred. Their art was a response to their time, exploring the world through an abstract lens as Europe was spiraling into conflict and the rest of the world would soon follow. They painted at a connected time in history, aware of those that came before them and paved the way, aware of previous art movements that either stood the test of time or faded from consciousness, aware of their freedom and connection to the landscape in the American West.
Emil Bisttram's "Out of Space" painting as seen at the Harwood Museum of Art's Pursuit of Happiness exhibition, hanging now through May 31, 2026
The Transcendental Painting Group’s work was derived from the belief that art is a representation of the best in people, that it can represent our hopes. They found that the best way to do this was to elevate spirituality in their paintings. They believed that in creating abstract art they would provide the opportunity for people to live a fuller life through experiencing new ways to think through, explore and embrace age-old values. Nearly a century later, their art has clearly achieved its goal of finding timelessness, of connecting with people as a subtle reminder that our spiritual selves are as ever present as our physical being.
Their paintings carry a significant amount of influence in our galleries’ collections, showing itself in the works of Sushe Felix, Anna Elise Johnson, Autumn Hunnicutt, Chris Cantwell and a soon-to-be announced new addition. Each artist is carrying the torch of seeking higher meaning in painting, in creating artwork that pushes, “beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual.” (from the Transcendental Painting Group Brochure published in 1940)
