Emil Bisttram

1895 (age 81)

Hungary

When he was 11 years old, his family immigrated to New York City. He was a talented artist, and after a few years began his schooling at the National Academy of Art and Design, then Cooper Union, Parsons, and The Art Student"s League. He began teaching soon after completing school, first at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, and then at the Master Institute of the Roerich Museum. Bisttram first visited Taos in the summer of 1930. He later fell in love with the scenery and moved there. The fellowship enabled Bisttram to travel to Mexico where he studied mural painting with the world famous muralist Diego Rivera. Numerous mural commissions were to follow throughout his career (the Department of Justice in Washington District of Columbia, The Taos County Courthouse, New Mexico, and the Federal Courthouse in Roswell, New Mexico) In 1938, Bisttram founded the Transcendental Painting Group with Raymond Jonson and several other Santa Fe artists. In 1970, Emil Bisttram served as a judge and monitor for a statewide arts grant competition for art to be placed in the newly constructed County Courthouse building, designed by architect Bill Menningbach of Taos. Bisttram oversaw the project for the next two years, and in June 1972 Drew completed the installation. Then-Senator Joseph Montoya and other dignitaries from Santa Fe officiated at the dedication ceremonies. In 1975, his birthday, April 7, was declared "Emil Bisttram Day," a New Mexico state holiday. His work can be found in the following public collections: New Mexico Museum of Art Albuquerque Museum Philadelphia Museum of Art Phoenix Art Museum Smithsonian American Art Museum Los Angeles County Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art - Utah State University.

Emil Bisttram

Edit Profile

painter

Background

Bisttram was born in Hungary, near the Romanian border, in 1895. Emil grew up in the tenement buildings that had become the destination for so many Eastern European immigrant families.

Education

Art Students League of New New York

Career

When he was 11 years old, his family immigrated to New York City. He was a talented artist, and after a few years began his schooling at the National Academy of Art and Design, then Cooper Union, Parsons, and The Art Student"s League. He began teaching soon after completing school, first at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, and then at the Master Institute of the Roerich Museum.

Bisttram first visited Taos in the summer of 1930.

He later fell in love with the scenery and moved there. The fellowship enabled Bisttram to travel to Mexico where he studied mural painting with the world famous muralist Diego Rivera.

Numerous mural commissions were to follow throughout his career (the Department of Justice in Washington District of Columbia, The Taos County Courthouse, New Mexico, and the Federal Courthouse in Roswell, New Mexico) In 1938, Bisttram founded the Transcendental Painting Group with Raymond Jonson and several other Santa Fe artists. In 1970, Emil Bisttram served as a judge and monitor for a statewide arts grant competition for art to be placed in the newly constructed County Courthouse building, designed by architect Bill Menningbach of Taos.

Bisttram oversaw the project for the next two years, and in June 1972 Drew completed the installation.

Then-Senator Joseph Montoya and other dignitaries from Santa Fe officiated at the dedication ceremonies. In 1975, his birthday, April 7, was declared "Emil Bisttram Day," a New Mexico state holiday. His work can be found in the following public collections:

New Mexico Museum of Art

Albuquerque Museum

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Phoenix Art Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art - Utah State University.

Achievements

In 1931 he won a Guggenheim Fellowship to study mural painting. In 1952, Bisttram co-founded the Taos Art Association, and later in 1959 won the Grand Prize for painting at the New Mexico State Fair. Ken Drew, a local sculptor, won the competition.

Main Photo

School period

College/University

Career

Achievements

Membership

Awards

Other Photos

Connections

Connections

Emil Bisttram

Background

Education

Career

Achievements

Born

Died

Nationality

Education

Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship