Background
Alma Woodsey Thomas was born on September 22, 1891, in Columbus, Georgia, United States. She was a daughter of John Harris Thomas, a businessman, and Amelia Cantey Thomas, a dress designer.
Armstrong Technical High School, Washington, D.C., United States
In 1911, Alma finished Armstrong Technical High School.
2400 6th St NW, Washington, DC 20059, United States
In 1921, Thomas entered Howard University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fine Arts in 1924.
116th St & Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
In 1934, Alma got a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University.
4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016, United States
Between 1950 and 1960, Alma attended American University.
4200 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008, United States
In 1911, Alma entered Miner Normal School (present-day the University of the District of Columbia), where she studied until 1913, specializing in early childhood education.
Alma Woodsey Thomas was born on September 22, 1891, in Columbus, Georgia, United States. She was a daughter of John Harris Thomas, a businessman, and Amelia Cantey Thomas, a dress designer.
Alma began showing her skills in art when she was a child. She enjoyed making small pieces of artwork, such as puppets, sculptures and plates, mainly out of clay from the river behind her childhood home. In her early years, she also took music lessons from her mother, as she played the violin. While at school, Thomas was good at Math, Science and Architecture.
In 1907, Alma's family relocated to the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., due to racial violence in the place, where they had lived before. In 1911, Alma finished Armstrong Technical High School, where she took her first art classes. Then, she entered Miner Normal School (present-day the University of the District of Columbia), where she studied until 1913, specializing in early childhood education.
Some time later, in 1921, Thomas entered Howard University as a home economics student only to switch to fine art after studying under art department founder James V. Herring. It was at that time, studying under Herring and another professor and artist, named Loïs Mailou Jones, that Alma began to experiment with abstraction. This technique was avant-garde at the time, since abstract art had not yet become popular in the American mainstream. In 1924, Thomas graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fine Arts.
In 1934, Alma got a Master of Arts degree in Art Education from Columbia University. From 1950 till 1960, she also studied Art History and Painting under a painter Jacob Kainen at the American University.
At the beginning of her career as an educator, until 1914, Alma held a post of a substitute teacher in Washington. In 1914, she obtained a permanent teaching position on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, working there till 1916, when she started teaching kindergarten at the Thomas Garrett Settlement House in Wilmington, Delaware, remaining in that position until 1923. The following year, in 1924, Thomas was appointed a teacher at Shaw Junior High School, holding the post until her retirement in 1960. It was during her tenure at the school, that Thomas started a community arts program, that encouraged students' appreciation of fine art.
In 1960, Alma retired from teaching and began her career in art. Her early work was representational in manner. Later, her work, influenced by James V. Herring and Lois Mailou Jones, became more abstract. In her later years, Alma's works turned to a color-filled, impastoed geometric abstraction of tessellated brushstroke patterns. Moreover, her style has often been compared to West African paintings, as well as Byzantine mosaics. Among Alma's first works was "Watusi (Hard Edge)", created in 1963.
During her artistic career, Thomas worked in her home studio. Her technique involved drawing faint pencil lines across the canvas to create shapes and patterns and filling in the canvas with paint afterwards. Her pencil lines are obvious in many of her finished pieces, as Thomas did not erase them. In addition, she didn't apply masking tape to outline the shapes in her paintings.
In 1966, Thomas's first retrospective exhibition took place at the Gallery of Art at Howard University. Her series of works, entitled "Earth Paintings", was presented at the exhibition. Some time later, in 1972, Alma became the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The same year, another exhibition of her works was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Moreover, several posthumous exhibitions, dedicated to Thomas's works, were organized after the artist's death. Those included "A Life in Art: Alma Thomas, 1891-1978" at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (1981), "Alma Thomas: Phantasmagoria, Major Paintings from the 1970's" at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery and Women's Museum: An Institution for the Future (2001), among others.
Earth Sermon, Beauty, Love And Peace
Ressurection
Evening Glow
Wind and Crepe Myrtle Concerto
White Daisies Rhapsody
A Glimpse of Mars
Late Night Reflections
Snoopy Sees Earth Wrapped in Sunset
Elysian Fields
Red Sunset, Old Pond Concerto
White Roses Sing and Sing
Untitled (Floral Abstraction)
Iris, Tulips, Jonquils and Crocuses
Watusi (Hard Edge)
Springtime in Washington
Red Violet Nursery Viewed from Above
New Galaxy
Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music
Red Abstraction
Sky Light
Orion
Atmospheric Effects I
Starry Night and the Astronauts
Air View of a Spring Nursery
Red Rose Cantata
Oriental Garden Concerto
The Stormy Sea
Atmospheric Effects II
Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze
In 1963, together with her friend Lillian Evans, an opera singer, Alma participated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Alma Thomas was the painter, who viewed nature as a colorful, abstract mosaic. Through her eyes, leaves, fluttering outside her window, became a swirling dance of autumn hues, an eclipse would be a kaleidoscope of luminous tones and a flower garden exploded into brilliant fireworks.
Thomas incorporated strong design, large-scale format and pure colors into her abstractions. However, she favored a more gestural style, drawing pencil lines, which are usually visible in the finished work, and retaining active brushstrokes.
Alma always denied labels, placed upon her as an artist, and would not accept any barriers, inhibiting her creative process and art career, including her identity as a black woman. She believed, that the most important thing for her was to continue to create her visions through her own artwork and work in the art world despite racial segregation. Despite this, Thomas was still discriminated against as a black female artist and was critiqued for her abstract style, as opposed to other Black Americans, who worked with figuration and symbolism to fight oppression.
Quotations:
"Creative art is for all time and is therefore independent of time. It is of all ages, of every land and if by this we mean the creative spirit in man, which produces a picture or a statue, is common to the whole civilized world, independent of age, race and nationality; the statement may stand unchallenged."
"The use of color in my paintings is of paramount importance to me. Through color I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness in my painting rather than on man's inhumanity to man."