The politics of redemption: Dynamic symmetry, theosophy, and Swedenborgianism in the art of Emil Bisttram (1895--1976).
Item
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Title
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The politics of redemption: Dynamic symmetry, theosophy, and Swedenborgianism in the art of Emil Bisttram (1895--1976).
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Identifier
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AAI9969715
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identifier
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9969715
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Creator
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Pasquine, Ruth.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Marlene Park
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Date
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2000
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History
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Abstract
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Emil Bisttram's (1895--1976) drawings and paintings executed between 1920 and 1945 are examined in the context of his use of various aesthetic and occult systems. The two aesthetic systems primarily investigated are dynamic symmetry, a system of picture composition based on Euclidean geometry developed by Jay Hambidge, and Denman Ross's color system. The author argues that Bisttram adopted these systems as a way of effecting the redemptive process described in theosophy, Swedenborgianism, and Rosicrucianism. Bisttram took these occult philosophies, which described redemption as a resolution of opposites in geometrical terms, and applied them to his art-making. This argument is supported by examining Bisttram's teaching curricula and notes, in addition to his drawings and paintings. In Chapter 2 the author shows that many other artists were similarly interested in grid systems and the occult during the period, and proposes that Bisttram's approach was analogous to Mondrian's.;Bisttram was introduced to dynamic symmetry and the occult in the 1920s in New York; his New York occult circle included Howard Giles, Leo Katz, Nicholas Roerich, Claude Bragdon, and Manly P. Hall. After studying with Diego Rivera in Mexico City in the summer of 1931, Bisttram moved to Taos, New Mexico, where he began experimenting with cubist, futurist, and geometric styles, in addition to specifically occult subjects. The author argues that Bisttram's turn to abstraction was influenced by the occult milieu he found in Taos, exposure to Native American culture, the theories of Carl Jung, and his friendship with Dane Rudhyar, a theosophist who became one of the writers for the Transcendental Painting Group, which Bisttram and nine others founded in New Mexico in 1938. The ways that William Blake, Adolpho Best-Maugard, Picasso, and Kandinsky influenced Bisttram's work are also discussed. The dissertation concludes with a chapter on the founding of the Transcendental Painting Group.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
