Skip to main content
Items Similar to Visionary Abstraction — Signed Encaustic, Transcendental Painting Group, 1939
CHARLES FODOR - Composite #6, Abstract Geometric Shapes, Mid-20th Century
Composite #6, Abstract Geometric Shapes, Mid-20th Century
Unknown - Important Early American School Abstract Geometric Precisionist Signed Painting
Important Early American School Abstract Geometric Precisionist Signed Painting
Unknown - Antique American Modernist Geometric Abstract Framed Oil Painting
Antique American Modernist Geometric Abstract Framed Oil Painting
Mary Long - Crops 2: Abstract Geometric Painting, Encaustic Mixed Media, Framed
Crops 2: Abstract Geometric Painting, Encaustic Mixed Media, Framed
H. Wilson Smith - H. Wilson Smith California Artist Geometric Abstract Painting, circa 1940s-1950s
H. Wilson Smith California Artist Geometric Abstract Painting, circa 1940s-1950s
Mary Long - Ocean 1 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed
Ocean 1 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Emil Bisttram
Visionary Abstraction — Signed Encaustic, Transcendental Painting Group, 1939

1939

$8,500
£6,430.56
€7,515.28
CA$12,165.31
A$12,360.99
CHF 7,002.79
MX$150,402.83
NOK 82,114.44
SEK 82,561.81
DKK 56,218.62

About the Item

A unique, beautifully composed, large-scale geometric abstraction encaustic, with fresh colors, on fibrous buff, wove paper; the image extending to the sheet edges, in excellent condition. Signed and dated '39, lower left; estate stamped lower right, verso. The artist’s delicately stippled rendering in contrasting values produces the effect of shimmering color. Image size/sheet size 12 3/8 x 9 inches (314 x 229 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. THE ENCAUSTIC MEDIUM Dating to ancient Greece, encaustic painting is one of the oldest and most enduring painting techniques. Pigments are suspended in molten beeswax and fused to the support through repeated applications of heat, producing a surface of exceptional permanence and subtle luminosity. Unlike oil paint, encaustic resists yellowing and moisture while allowing artists to build delicate layers of color with remarkable depth and clarity. When polished, the wax develops a soft, radiant sheen that enhances both the color and tactile presence of the work. ABOUT THIS WORK Among Emil Bisttram's most elusive and intellectually ambitious works are the intimate geometric encaustics he produced between 1936 and 1947. Unlike his paintings exhibited throughout his lifetime, these highly personal compositions remained largely unseen, shared only privately with close friends and collectors during his later years. Today, they are recognized as a remarkable and independent body of work that reveals the philosophical foundations of one of America's foremost pioneers of non-objective painting. Executed in the demanding encaustic medium, this exceptional composition demonstrates a level of precision and refinement seldom encountered within the series. Carefully balanced circles, triangles, squares, and rectangles are organized into a harmonious visual structure whose symbolism recalls both sacred geometry and the meditative traditions that informed Bisttram's lifelong search for universal order. Rather than functioning as purely formal abstraction, these geometric relationships become a visual language through which the artist explores the correspondence between the material and spiritual worlds. Distinguished by its unusually large scale, impeccable craftsmanship, and luminous wax surface, the present work ranks among the finest examples of Bisttram's encaustic paintings to appear on the market. Its architectural clarity and remarkable state of preservation reveal the artist at the height of his technical and philosophical maturity, transforming geometry into a contemplative expression of balance, unity, and transcendence. More than a study in abstraction, this painting represents an intimate statement of Bisttram's conviction that art could serve as a vehicle for higher consciousness—a visual meditation whose quiet power continues to resonate more than eight decades after its creation. ABOUT THE ARTIST Emil James Bisttram (1895–1976) was one of the foremost pioneers of American non-objective painting and a leading force in the development of modern art in the Southwest. A painter, teacher, and theorist, he sought to unite geometry, color, and universal symbolism into a visual language capable of expressing spiritual realities beyond the material world. His work occupies a central place in the history of American abstraction and remains among the most distinctive expressions of Transcendental art. Born in Hungary, Bisttram immigrated to New York as a child and studied at the National Academy of Design and the Cooper Union before furthering his education at the Art Students League and in Europe. In 1930 he settled permanently in Taos, New Mexico, where the landscape, Native American cultures, and the region's spiritual traditions profoundly shaped his artistic vision. While deeply respectful of Indigenous philosophies, Bisttram believed they preserved a harmony between humanity and the cosmos that modern Western civilization had largely forgotten. In 1938 Bisttram joined Raymond Jonson in founding the Transcendental Painting Group, whose members sought to move beyond representation toward imagery that conveyed universal order and inner experience. Rejecting abstraction as an end in itself, the group viewed non-objective painting as a means of exploring higher states of consciousness and the unseen structures underlying the physical world. Although the group formally disbanded after only a few years, its influence established New Mexico as an important center of American modernism. Throughout his career Bisttram worked in a variety of media, but his intimate encaustic paintings occupy a singular position within his oeuvre. Executed primarily between 1936 and 1947, these meticulously crafted geometric compositions were never publicly exhibited during his lifetime and were shown only privately in his later years. Their circles, triangles, squares, and precisely balanced fields of color function less as formal exercises than as meditative diagrams of spiritual order—personal mandalas through which Bisttram explored the relationship between material existence and transcendent reality. Today these rare works are increasingly recognized as among the artist's most personal and philosophically profound achievements. Bisttram remained an influential teacher and advocate for the arts throughout his life. In 1952 he co-founded the Taos Art Association, helping to establish Taos as one of the country's leading artistic communities. His many honors included the Grand Prize for Painting at the New Mexico State Fair in 1959. In 1975, the State of New Mexico proclaimed April 7, his birthday, as "Emil Bisttram Day" in recognition of his extraordinary cultural contributions. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Joslyn Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and numerous other public and private collections.
  • Creator:
    Emil Bisttram (1895 - 1976, American, Hungarian)
  • Creation Year:
    1939
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.375 in (31.44 cm)Width: 9 in (22.86 cm)
  • Medium:
    Encaustic
  • Movement & Style:
    Abstract Geometric
  • Period:
    Mid-20th Century
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Myrtle Beach, SC
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 985681stDibs: LU53232414313

More From This Seller

View All
Bird Abstraction Gouache Painting, Mid-Century Modern, Signed, 1953

Stephen HartyBird Abstraction Gouache Painting, Mid-Century Modern, Signed, 1953, 1953

Bird Abstraction Gouache Painting, Mid-Century Modern, Signed, 1953

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Stephen Harty, Untitled (Bird Abstraction), gouache, 1953. Signed and dated lower left. A fine, meticulously rendered, mid-century, modernist gouache painting, with fresh colors on 1...

Category

1950s American Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gouache

'Astral Comic' — Modernist Abstraction

Edward August Landon'Astral Comic' — Modernist Abstraction, 1978

'Astral Comic' — Modernist Abstraction

By Edward August Landon

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Edward Landon 'Astral Comic', color serigraph, 1978, edition 25, Ryan 12. Signed, titled, and annotated 'Edition 25' in pencil. A superb, painterly impression, with fresh colors, on ...

Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Color is Life — Mid-Century Abstract Expressionism

Ernest DieringerColor is Life — Mid-Century Abstract Expressionism, 1959

Color is Life — Mid-Century Abstract Expressionism

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Ernest A. Dieringer, Untitled (Color is Life), watercolor, 1959. Initialed 'ED' and dated ' '59' in red pencil at the top and bottom sheet edges—the artist's indication that the work can be viewed from either side. Signed 'Dieringer' in pencil in the bottom support board margin. A fine abstract expressionist work, watercolor on white wove paper, with fresh, bright colors; the image extends to the sheet edges, spot glued to the original cream wove backing board, in very good condition. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 9 x 10 15/16 inches; backing board size 13 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches. Provenance: ex. Collection Alexander Raydon. The collector/dealer's well-known 'Raydon Gallery' was established in 1962 on 82nd Street and Madison Avenue, New York City. ABOUT THE ARTIST Ernest Dieringer (1932–2016) studied at the Art Institute of Chicago on a National Scholastic Scholarship, beginning his career with the Chicago-based Wells Street Gallery in 1957. He showed his work with other abstract artists, including Robert Natkin and John Chamberlain. The gallery was considered a vanguard space in Chicago for exhibiting emerging abstract artists from the surrounding area. Artists associated with the gallery eventually became known as the Wells Street Group. Due to the success of the gallery, Dieringer and other group members were invited by the Manhattan-based contemporary art dealer...

Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

You May Also Like

Abstract Geometric Painting: Encaustic on Mixed Media, 2010

Mary LongAbstract Geometric Painting: Encaustic on Mixed Media, 2010, 2023

Abstract Geometric Painting: Encaustic on Mixed Media, 2010

By Mary Long

Located in Santa Fe, NM

Mary was born in Ohio and has lived in Memphis, Tennessee since the mid-1990s. Following studies in graphic design and painting, she began working in encaustic in 2001. Mary grew u...

Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Encaustic

Antique American Modernist Geometric Abstract Framed Oil Painting

Antique American Modernist Geometric Abstract Framed Oil Painting, 1960

Antique American Modernist Geometric Abstract Framed Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Nicely painted American school abstract geometric oil painting in a period frame. Signed lower right "Flemming" but without an artist determined.

Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ocean 1 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed

Mary LongOcean 1 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed, 2023

Ocean 1 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed

By Mary Long

Located in Santa Fe, NM

Brown, Orange, Blue, Pink, Green, Yellow, Red Mary was born in Ohio and has lived in Memphis, Tennessee since the mid-1990s. Following studies in graphic design and painting, she be...

Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Encaustic

Summer Moon Encaustic Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed, 2010+

Mary LongSummer Moon Encaustic Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed, 2010+, 2024

Summer Moon Encaustic Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed, 2010+

By Mary Long

Located in Santa Fe, NM

Mary was born in Ohio and has lived in Memphis, Tennessee since the mid-1990s. Following studies in graphic design and painting, she began working in encaustic in 2001. Mary grew u...

Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Encaustic

Ocean 2 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed

Mary LongOcean 2 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed, 2023

Ocean 2 Encaustic Mixed Media Painting, Abstract Geometric, Framed

By Mary Long

Located in Santa Fe, NM

Mary was born in Ohio and has lived in Memphis, Tennessee since the mid-1990s. Following studies in graphic design and painting, she began working in encaustic in 2001. Mary grew u...

Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Encaustic

More Ways To Browse

Evil Eye Painting
Felrath Hines
Flavio Painting
Flying Phallus
Forrest Bess
Francois Aubrun
Frank Farmer
Frank Wimberley
Fraser Smith
Fred Kenknight
Fred Samuelson
Gene Hatfield
George Chaplin
George D Green
George Jay Rogers
Georgia Whitaker
German Expressionism Oil Painting
Gertrude Schoeler
View All Popular Abstract Paintings Searches