Untitled

Alma Thomas’s Untitled is an abstract composition of overlapping shapes in blue, brown, yellow, purple, and green. Blue colors dominate, forming uneven rectangles that anchor the center of the canvas. More translucent washes of yellow, purple, and green expand outward toward the edges of the composition. Black paint applied in thin lines, dashes, and drips on the surface of the canvas adds a sense of overall movement.

The painting is an example of the artist’s early exploration with abstraction rooted in nature. In 1950, at the age of 59, Thomas enrolled in night and weekend classes at American University, and the influence of these courses would contribute to her art’s evolution over the next ten years. Encouraged by instructors and peers to move away from representational art, she gradually came to experiment with an abstract style that emphasized pure color and dynamic compositions. Her brushwork became freer and she focused more intently on color relationships. Especially influential was her professor Jacob Kainen, an established painter and curator who supported Thomas in her experimentation and introduced her to younger Washington Color School artists such as Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and Gene Davis. Thomas found inspiration in their geometrical compositions and use of color but she did not adopt their techniques.

In summer 1958 Thomas traveled to Europe with a group of fellow artists on a trip sponsored by the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, visiting art museums in London, Amsterdam, Florence, and Rome. Her paintings from 1958 to 1960 show expressive brushwork and deep shades of blues and browns. She often thickly applied oil paint with both brush and palette knife to create texture. She experimented with thin, curved lines or paint drips, as in Untitled. Retiring in 1960 from her extensive career as an art teacher at Shaw Junior High School, Thomas began to focus full-time on her painting. This period marked a significant transition in her artistic career, as she gradually embraced abstraction and abandoned oil paint in favor of acrylic.

The artist gave Untitled to her niece Alma Louise Holcomb (née Bell, 1922–1994), inscribing it “to Alma Lou.”

“Alma Thomas: Moving Heaven & Earth, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1958-1978, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY, March 19– May 16, 2015.

“Alma Thomas,” The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Ar–  Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, February 6–June 5, 2016; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, July 14-October 30, 2016. [exh. cat.]

Kino, Carol. “Giving Alma Her Due,” 1stdibs Introspective Magazine, New York, NY, April 27, 2015. https://www.1stdibs.com/introspective-magazine/alma-thomas-michael-rosenfeld-gallery/. Detail online (color).

Berry, Ian, Lauren Haynes, eds. Alma Thomas. New York: Prestel, 2016. Text p. 248; ill. p. 24-25 (color).

Howell, Zaria, “Studio Museum in Harlem holds Alma Thomas exhibit,” Amsterdam News, New York, NY, July 28, 2016. https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2016/07/28/studio-museum-harlem-holds-alma-thomas-exhibit/. Ill. in installation photograph (color)

CHR [Rowell, Charles Henry]. “Alma W. Thomas,” Callalloo. Vol. 39, no. 5, 2016. Ill. p. 1121 (color).