A position paper directed to revitalizing a fine modern tradition / by Ed Garman
name: label: Creator
content: Garman, Ed
label: Names
content: Transcendental Painting Group (N.M.)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New Mexico
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- New Mexico
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- California
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated by art dealer Martin Diamond in 1993.
creator: label: Creator
content: Garman, Ed
setName: label: See more items in
content: A position paper directed to revitalizing a fine modern tradition / by Ed Garman
abstract: label: Summary
content: "A position paper directed to revitalizing a fine modern tradition" by painter and author Ed Garman measures 0.01 linear feet and is dated 1993. The collection consists of a single copy of Garman's essay in which he creates a model for the search for the ideal in modern art.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Painter and author Ed Garman (1914-2004) was active in New Mexico and California and was one of the chief spokespersons for the Transcendental Painting Group (1938-1942). 

Based in New Mexico, the group's manifesto stated it's purpose "to carry painting beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual." Members sought to push the boundaries of art beyond the traditional and representative, towards the abstract and non-objective.

As well as being the group's chief spokesperson, Garman was also the archivist and chronicler for the Transcendental Painting Group and wrote a historical art study of member Raymond Jonson's work. He wrote the essay "A position paper directed to revitalizing a fine modern tradition" at the age of 79, stating it was the result of his "attempts to understand art in relation to life and grow as an outward looking, spiritual minded humanist."
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.01 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1993
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.garmed2
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was microfilmed on reel 4994 (frames 1058-1122) after receipt. The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Stephanie Ashley in 2023 and was digitized in 2023.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2023 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: "A position paper directed to revitalizing a fine modern tradition" by Ed Garman measures 0.01 linear feet and is dated 1993. The collection consists of a single copy of Garman's essay in which he creates a model for the search for the ideal in modern art. Garman examines the work and ideas of artists Robert Delaunay, Wassily Kandinsky, Frantisek Kupka, Kasimir Malevich, and Piet Mondrian as examples of artist-prophets who achieved the ideal in painting and who transcended the merely physical in art. Without mentioning the Transcendental Painting Group, Garman establishes the group's position on art and links it to the ideals of these past modernists.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds the Ed Garman autobiography (1998) and an oral history interview with Ed Garman (1998 Mar. 25-30).