Signed “BISTTRAM” l.r., titled, signed and dated on verso, masonite 25” x 40”, frame 31.75” x 46.5”. The NYC immigrant artist, Emil Bisttram (1895-1976), was a leading Southwest painter and cofounder of the Transcendental Art movement. However, on his first trip to NM in 1930, he encountered a hurdle as a young artist. “Whenever I tried to paint what was before me I was frustrated by the grandeur of the scenery and limitless space. Above all strange, almost mystic quality of light.” This painting is evidence of Bisttram’s victory. The billowing yellow clouds consuming 4/5ths of the composition are set against a periwinkle sky that fades to pink and bright sea green, with fuchsia and burnt orange mountains painted in the foreground. The layers of mountains, clouds, and hues not only succeed in capturing the grandeur of the West but also the mystic light of NM.

Good, some scratches l.l., u.c. and u.r.