Alma Thomas (1891 – 1978) was born in Columbus Georgia and in 1906 moved to unsegregated Washington DC at 1530 15th Street in a house now claimed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She was a prolific acrylic painter, painting in her kitchen and her living room which had a bay window and shutters that shed patterns of light onto the furniture and floors. Thomas held a degree from Minor Normal School in Early Childhood Education (specifically kindergarten) and she spent many years teaching arts & crafts to the children of DC. Her hope was that she might be a positive influence to the children, and in fact, she is credited for establishing one of DC educational system’s first galleries. She attended Howard University for costume design and in 1924 was the first student to graduate in painting. She worked in education all her life and worked also on obtaining her masters from New York’s Columbia University.
Thomas retired in 1960 and began painting full time at 69 years of age despite arthritic difficulties. She was in the inner circle of the Washington Color School Theorists and had an initial interest in figurative painting until she was encouraged by many prestigious mentors to embrace abstraction where she found a venue for nature and music in harmony. Thomas was very interested in color theory, although remained true to her own voice. Thomas was influenced by the gardens and landscape of DC (as evidenced by her many Cherry Blossom works) as well by her studies in puppetry, the idea of fabric, and the example her couture designer and seamstress mother impressed upon her at an early age.
In 1972, a year prior to Red Rose Cantata‘s execution in 1973, Thomas was the first African American woman to have a one-person exhibition at the Whitney in New York. Demands for inclusion of African American art were piquing due to a large sense of marginalization, the positive advancements of the 1960′s race relations, and the growth of the women’s moment in 1970′s. Thomas’ work was deemed attractive, positive, and optimistic and it was the 1972 year that was key for this breakthrough artist who advanced art despite her race, age, or sex.
While some have compared Red Rose Cantata to mosaic work, others believe it was the formative light through a Holly Berry bush, or the vertical light through the shutters, or the rippling effect of looking through old glass, or perhaps the waning sight of an elderly woman that make this work so compelling. The piece has a juxtaposition of order and disorder. There is density, openness, intense color, and subtle variations (especially in re-worked white over red areas). Thomas is said to have had a deep connection to the Rose Hill neighborhood of Columbus where flower beds were in bloom nearly year round. Some see bark patterns, others see rotated and turned canvas, and some see something like a window in the middle of the piece. Close examination reveals a near weaving pattern with multiple reds in blood orange, deep red, dusty or dusky reds, and a bit of blood or burgundy red.
The work is a gift to the National Gallery of Art by fellow Georgian, Vincent Melzac and the lecture notes for this article came primarily from the book, “Alma Thomas Phantasmagoria, major paintings from the 1970s” by Alma Thomas, publisher Michael Rosenfeld Galleries (2001). You can see the work in the East Wing of the Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art and learn more by docent tour guide. Thomas is a celebration for African American artists as well as for Women’s History.
