[Ed Garman autobiography] / by Ed Garman

Scope and Contents

Garman's autobiography covers the years 1914-1943, which includes his years in Taos, N.M. and association with the Transcendental Painting Group.

Biographical / Historical

Painter; Taos, N.M. and California. Painter Ed Garman grew up in rural Pennsylvania, later studying theatre design at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. There he came in contact with Raymond Jonson, Emil Bisttram, Agnes Pelton, and William Lumpkins and joined them in an influential vanguard group of painters known as the Transcendental Painting Group (T.P.G.). He became one of the chief spokespersons, chronicler, and archivist for the group and wrote a definitive historical art study of Jonson's work. In an early trip to Mexico he encountered José Clemente Orozco, whose murals were influential for his own work. During his years in New Mexico, he painted in a non-objective style that was finding an audience in the 1930s Southwest and became involved with the broader arts community. He moved in 1946 to Southern California participated in the art activity of the Post-World War II era. Garman has remained an independent-minded artist working in a non-objective style for more than fifty years.