Untitled #226

FLORENCE MILLER PIERCE, 1918-2007

Having become aware that Taos, New Mexico was an art center from visiting her grandparents, who lived there, she persuaded her parents to allow her to go alone to Taos in 1936 for a summer to study at the Studio School with Emil Bisttram, who not only was a highly accredited teacher but who also had a dedication to meditation and spiritualism. She returned to Taos in the winter of 1937, and the next year, she returned, at Bisttram’s invitation, to take part in the forming of the Transcendental Painting Group (TPG). These founders were nine artists dedicated to abstract art expression, grounded in creative art imagination and the transporting of painting beyond objective recognition. In 1938, they banded together to share ideas and organized mutual exhibition venues that made the public aware of non-objective and abstract art. She was the youngest member and outlived all the other members of the organization, which held together for several years until World War II sidetracked their ability to remain a cohesive entity.