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| This Untitled watercolor from Alma Thomas's Space Series, circa 1969-72, is featured in our October 9 auction. |
Alma Woodsey Thomas, abstract painter and art educator, was born on this date in 1891 in Columbus, Georgia--today would have been her 113th birthday.
In 1960, Thomas retired from Shaw Junior High School in Washington, DC after 35 years as a teacher, and began a full-time career as an artist. By 1972 she had received national acclaim with her one-person exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, a first for an African-American woman.
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| Also featured in our October African-American Fine Art auction is this Untitled (Stripe Composition), watercolor and pencil, 1971. |
Today we recognize in her bold colors and brush strokes a keen sense of the beauty of abstraction found in nature. Thomas found inspiration close to her Washington DC home--from the azalea blossoms in her garden to the Apollo landings broadcast on television.
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| Untitled (from the Atmospheric Effects Series), 1971, is another watercolor coming up for auction in October. |
Swann is lucky to have three strong examples of her work in our October 9 auction--each of these watercolors conveys the powerful simplicity of her unique style of abstraction.
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| In February 2012, Swann sold Thomas's March on Washington, oil on canvas, 1964, one of the artist's few representative works from the 1960s, for $72,000. |