Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group, 1938–1945

(Los Angeles—December 5, 2022) The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group, 1938–1945, the first comprehensive museum exhibition devoted to the Transcendental Painting Group.

In 1938 in New Mexico, a loose configuration of artists came together to form the Transcendental Painting Group. Led by New Mexico painters Raymond Jonson and Emil Bisttram, and joined by painters such as Agnes Pelton and Lawren Harris, the members of the group sought to explore spiritually heightened abstraction by employing free-wheeling symbols and imagery drawn from the collective unconscious. 

Organized by independent curator Michael Duncan and the Crocker Art Museum, Another World showcases 80 works by 11 artists associated with the group, with paintings and works on paper from the 1920s through the 1950s, including four works from LACMA’s collection. The LACMA presentation is curated by Leah Lehmbeck, Department Head, European Painting & Sculpture and American Art.